It was all smiles walking out of the Lehighton Athletic Stadium on Tuesday evening - and for good reason.

For the first time in school history, the girls’ soccer program has etched out a District 11 win, knocking out Pocono Mountain East 4-0 in the quarterfinal round of the 3A tournament.

The Indians put the pedal to the proverbial metal early and often, gushing out to a 3-0 first-half lead and were never contested after that.

Karissa “Kar” Moyer had a jolly good night with a pair of goals, and an assist. She netted the first score for the Indians less than eight minutes into the contest.

“It’s all about our team,” said Moyer, a junior midfielder. “I really feel that we play well as a team. We’ve made big improvements and that’s what it’s all about, getting better every game.”

Three years ago, Lehighton was a forgotten team. It managed just three wins in the first year of coaching for Carl Wolter. It took a lot of determination to turn this program into a winner.

“Three years ago when I was handed this program, we were 3-13,” Wolter would say chocking back his emotions, knowing all of the hard work that brought the team to this point. “We’ve come a long way. No matter who we put out there tonight, they responded.

“I told them if we wanted to win, we had to come out and jump on them early.”

Those words were prophetic. After Moyer’s first score, she set up the next one when she took a direct kick from 15 yards out. The ball bounded off a Pocono Mountain East player in the box and into the net for what was officially scored an own score.

“Yeah that was kind of weird,” Moyer said. “I saw it going off their (defender)… but they all count, and it was a big goal for us.”

Before the half closed, Lehighton registered its third goal. This time, forward Charli McHugh, off a direct kick from the right corner, sent the ball into the net for a 3-0 lead.

“Pocono Mountain is a very, very good team, and we didn’t want them to get any momentum at all,” Wolter said.

Lehighton made sure it didn’t as its offensive attack rattled off six first-half shots, converting on half. Meanwhile, the defense was relentless with its pressure as well, never allowing the Cardinals to get consistent pressure.

PME’s best opportunity to threaten came when Campbell Demarest broke free and raced down the field, but Lehighton’s sophomore midfielder Leah Uyvari busted it and ran down Demarest to ward off any shot attempt.

Her teammates, Mylee Lutsko and Lily Caruso, were charging to the fore on defense, too. And when East tried to dent the scoring column, rangy senior goalkeeper Clara Bohrel thwarted all seven shots.

The Tribe put the final touches on the scoring when Moyer booted her shot to the back of the net for her second score midway through the second half, this one coming from 23 yards on a free kick.

COUNTING IT UP … It was all Lehighton in the stat book. It had 13 shots and five corners, while East managed seven shots and only one corner.

UP NEXT … Tribe meets Whitehall Thursday in the semifinal round of the tournament at a site and time to be announced.