MINERSVILLE - Four years ago, Northern Lehigh’s girls soccer team wasn’t even thinking about district playoffs.

But on Saturday, the Bulldogs found themselves one win away from playing in a district championship game.

Unfortunately, a spot in the finals will have to wait as Grace Motuk’s goal was all Minersville needed to gain a 1-0 victory. While the semifinal loss stung for Northern Lehigh, it didn’t take away from the season being a memorable one for the Bulldogs.

“I said to the underclassmen, ‘You now understand what we want every year,’” said Nolehi head coach Jason Reinhard. “They haven’t been around to know anything about the 11-0 losses four years ago, and being done with your season when you only have two or three wins. Our seniors this year, they won only one game when they were freshmen.

“In four years, to go from winning one game to the district semis with a realistic chance to going to the district final, is a real testament to the program.”

Despite the Miners being the top seed and sporting a 16-2 record, the Bulldogs felt they had a good shot at gaining a win.

“Honestly, we were every bit as good as them,” said Reinhard. “Every bit. The game could not have been more evenly played. Both teams had chances.”

The Bulldogs managed seven quality shots, and even had a goal from Shaina Mazzocca called back on an offsides call.

Megan Horan, the Miners goalie who has 11 shutouts to her credit, was just able to get her hands on one of those shots, while another prime opportunity just sailed a few inches left of the net.

With 11 minutes to go, Motuk was able to produce the “perfect” shot that eventually turned into the game-winner. But the performance, and not that goal, by Bulldog senior goalie Erica Detweiler will be what Reinhard and the Bulldogs’ faithful will remember.

“Erica absolutely stood on her head today,” Reinhard said. “She saved two break-a-ways. She stopped every shot taken that foreseeably she could get her hands on.

“It just was that one that was so perfectly hit (by Motuk) that I honestly don’t know if there’s a girl goalkeeper in the state that gets that ball where it was hit (upper right of the net).”

That one goal, however, ended what was a historical year for Northern Lehigh.

“Up until this year, our best season ever was five wins. And this year, with a shortened season, we had six,” Reinhard said. “We had never knocked off Saucon Valley, and we did that. We had never beaten Moravian Academy, and we did that in the (Colonial) League playoffs.

“We had never made any playoffs at all, and here we make both the league and district playoffs. That’s one heck of an accomplishment.”

LEFT THEIR MARK … Erica Detweiler, Riley Griffith, Mazzocca, Brooke Bower, Emily Hunsicker and Maddie Seier all played their last game as a Bulldog. They all have been a part of the turnaround from where we were to where we are now, which is a huge accomplishment for those girls,” said Reinhard.

DISPLAYS A GRAND ATTITUDE … Bower is listed as a midfielder, but over the last four years, she could be seen playing anywhere on the field. This year, she was usually the first one off the bench. “God bless her. She’s such a good soldier,” Reinhard said. “She didn’t play as much this year because some of the younger kids were just a little bit better than her. But, she never complained. When it was her turn to go in and do her job, she went out there and did it.”

MORE THAN OK … Reinhard feels the program has more than turned the corner. “I had a couple of people ask me if I was OK after Saturday’s loss, and I was like, ‘How can I be upset?,” Reinhard said. “How can I be anything other than overjoyed?’ Obviously, I wish we would have had a different result ... but the steps forward we took this year were unbelievable.”

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ... Minersville advances to Wednesday’s title game, where it will face Moravian Academy at Lehighton High School. The No. 2 seeded Lions advanced with a 5-0 win over Williams Valley.