Thursday night’s girls soccer game between Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua is one Brianna Monahan will always remember.

Not only did Monahan score the first goal of her varsity career, but in the process she also lifted the Olympians to a 1-0 victory that gave them a berth in the District 11 playoffs.

The loss prevented the Raiders, from qualifying for the Schuylkill League playoffs.

Monahan — who was playing just her second game after recovering from a knee injury — scored the goal with 14:53 to play in the first half. Teammate Lauren LeKites, a senior, set the sequence for the goal in motion by kicking the ball about 30 yards toward the Tamaqua goal, landing it inches to the side of the left post. Monahan saw the kick coming, ran toward the goal, and quickly pushed it past the goalie with her left foot.

“It feels great,” Monahan said after the game, adding it’s something she’ll never forget. “I’m just happy for our team.”

The game was a lot different than the first time the two teams met this season. Eleven goals were scored in that outing, with the Raiders winning 7-4.

One big difference this time around was that Tamaqua was playing without starters Sophia Boyle and Logan Hartney, both of whom are injured. Boyle had a major role the first time the two teams met, scoring four goals.

“Certainly we tightened up the defense,” Jim Thorpe coach Tom Condly said, explaining why scoring was lower than in the earlier matchup. “But all season we’ve had really good defense. I believe that this was our sixth or seventh shutout of the season.”

“We knew that if we won this, that we were going to get in the playoffs. That was the ultimate goal.”

Speaking about Monahan’s goal, Condly said, “I always told her, ‘When you get that first goal, get it in a meaningful game.’”

Condly also had praise for LeKites, a freshman, who had three shots on goal in the game. “She’s phenomenal,” he said. “Her skills are off the chart. Desire. Heart. She’s got it all. The size. And she can just possess that ball.”

Jim Thorpe goalkeeper Kate Bos won accolades from her coach as well.

“Kate was coming off that line as a goal keeper,” Condly said. “She didn’t have a lot of saves, but she prevented a lot of shots.”

Tamaqua coach Clem McCarroll added, “It really hurt not having Sophia (Boyle) out there.” He said Sophia and Emma Kuczynski, the Raiders leading scorer, complement each other during the games. Boyle is expected to be out for the duration of the season.

“It was a very defensive game. When we play Jim Thorpe, it’s a rivalry. It doesn’t matter what the records are,” said McCarroll. “They scored on that freak goal. It went in and that was the difference in the game. It’s a shame it had to come down to that, but somebody had to win.”

The Tamaqua coach said if he were to pick key players in the game, it would be Kuczynski and Katelyn Rudy. “They kept that pressure on (JT),” he said.

STATS ... Jim Thorpe had 10 shots on goal. Three were by LeKites and two each were by Nicole Carroll and Heidi Washel. Tamaqua had 12 shots on goal, including five by Kuczynski and three by Rudy.

BRITISH REFEREE ... One of the referees for the game was a native of England — a soccer hotbed. He said he moved to the U.S. about 10 years ago and lives in the Tower City area.

WINNING RECORDS – The win boosts Jim Thorpe’s record to 6-5-1 in the league and 9-6-1 overall. Tamaqua is 7-5 in the league and 11-6 overall.