Winning is a priority anytime, but especially at the end of the season when a postseason berth is on the line.

For Jim Thorpe on Monday night, a victory over host Lehighton in its Schuylkill League finale meant clinching a spot in the upcoming league playoffs.

Sure, the Olympians could have secured one of the three Division 1 positions if North Schuylkill happened to lose to Pine Grove - which it did - but they wanted to earn it themselves.

Thanks to a gutty performance, Thorpe leaned on its offense - and a hustling and determined defense - to record an impressive 4-0 shutout and clinch that playoff berth.

“We needed this one, it locks us into the league (playoffs),” Olympians head coach Mike Dudak said. “We didn’t want to (back) into the leagues because someone else had to lose.”

The win gives Jim Thorpe (11-6 overall; 8-4 league) the No. 3 seed out of Division 1, trailing division champ Blue Mountain and runner-up Pine Grove. The Olympians will meet the No. 2 seed from Division 2 - yet to be decided - next Monday in the quarterfinals.

Thorpe had plenty of firepower against the Indians, peppering 29 shots at Lehighton goalkeeper Bryce Miller - who turned back 25 shots.

“If Bryce isn’t the top goalie in the league, he’s one of the top two,” said Dudak. “There were some balls that should have been in the back of the net, but he made some incredible saves.”

That fact wasn’t lost on Miller’s head coach Dave Yob.

“Bryce kept us in a lot of games,” said Yob, whose team was dealing with injures as three starters were sidelined.

The game plan was rather simple for the Olympians - make the plays up in the box.

It could have been an avalanche of scoring for Thorpe except for Miller. The only shot that reached the back of the net in the first half for the winners came off a booming boot off the foot of Henry Snyder at the 11:18 mark.

The goal was huge for the Olympians, who had 11 first-half shots, as it gave them momentum.

“I told my kids that you can’t just make shots from 40 yards out. (Miller) is too good of a goalkeeper,” said Dudak. “We started out conservative and were a possession-type team.

“We’ve got to pick our opportunities, instead of playing kick ball and running it down.”

Those possessions improved for Thorpe in the second half, and in particular from Noah Geiser.

Geiser registered a pair of goals in the second half, the first coming at 10:14 off an assist from Ehren Hassler.

Hassler made it 3-0 moments later with Kayden Spence providing the helper.

“Our goal was to come in and get the win so that we could be in the league playoff,” said Hassler, a junior.

Geiser then added the coup de grace, taking another feed from Hassler to make it 4-0.

NICE TOUCH … Lehighton’s band livened things up as it made an appearance during the game.

THE NUMBERS … The Indians (8-8-1; 4-7) managed just three shots on goal and had six corners, compared to Thorpe’s 29 shots and eight corners.

SENIORS … The Tribe are a young team with only two seniors - Jacob Hall and Avery Hosler.