PINE GROVE - Not many people expected Tamaqua to beat Pine Grove on Saturday.

But the Raiders did.

Tamaqua stunned second-seeded Cardinals, 2-1, in a District 11 Class 2A quarterfinal game and are now advancing to the semifinals.

The last time the two schools met, Pine Grove - in the words of Tamaqua head coach Clem McCarroll - “totally embarrassed” the Raiders.

Pine Grove was 10-1 in the Schuylkill League (losing its only game on a forfeit to unbeaten Pottsville), while Tamaqua was just 6-6 in league play.

In two meetings this year, the Tams didn’t score a goal against the Cardinals. The Raiders lost one game by a score of 11-0.

Pine Grove scored 45 goals and registered eight shutouts during the season.

Before the contest, McCarroll told his girls, “If it’s the last game of the season, let’s play with some pride.”

That’s exactly what Tamaqua did.

“This is truly the best game we played by far,” said McCarroll.

It also means the season isn’t over.

Although the Raiders were fired up, the win didn’t come easy. Tamaqua found itself playing defense for most of the second half, deep in its own territory.

The Cardinals took 20 shots against Tamaqua’s 13, and most of the shots by Pine Grove came in the second half.

Goalie Zoe Seltzer turned in an amazing effort for the Raiders, making 15 saves, in comparison to only six by her counterpart McKenna LeVan.

Seltzer said she, along with her teammates, were excitedly looking forward to the game.

“We were very fired up,” said Seltzer. “The last time we played them, we had a big loss. We were hyped. We were going to take it to them.”

The Raiders drew first blood late in the first half.

After the two teams battled evenly throughout the half, Sophia Boyle smacked the ball into the net on a right angle shot with just 2:56 left before the break.

Pine Grove came right back, demonstrating its resolve. With only 40 seconds on the clock, Mel Love took a pass from Abby Frew and quickly hit it from an angle about 15 yards out to make the score 1-1.

In the second half, the Cardinals came on the field with a dominant aura. They controlled the ball, took shots, and forced Tamaqua to make mistakes. But the Raiders never broke despite the aggressive style Pine Grove employed.

With less than two minutes showing - 1:46 to be exact - the Raiders broke loose with the ball and took it down field. Lexi Thomas handled a pass from Boyle, then hit an arcing shot at the goal which went over LeVan’s head to make the final score 2-1.

“She’s everywhere,” said McCarroll of Boyle. “She’s the whole heart of the team.

“I would say almost every player had their best game of the year. It was collaborative.”

Boyle said scoring the first goal helped Tamaqua retain their momentum.

“When you first score like that, it just gets the team rolling, and that’s how you set the pace,” said Boyle. “I think our team played so well. Pine Grove’s obviously a great team. They played really well today, so we stepped it up.”

Pine Grove head coach Andrew Haas said his team was ready, but just couldn’t close on its chances.

“We were intense during warmups,” said Haas. “We did dominate the second half for sure. We just couldn’t finish. We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

NEXT UP ... Tamaqua, the seventh seed, will now face third-seeded Allentown Central Catholic at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals. The game will be played at the Iron Lakes Sports Club on Shankweiler Road.

WAS COVID A FACTOR? ... Coach Haas said his team hadn’t played for three weeks due to someone testing positive for COVID-19. “It was tough,” he said. “Two weeks off with no practices, and three weeks off with no game. That definitely played a part with the way we came out today.”

TIME TO REBUILD ... Ten of Pine Grove’s 17 varsity players are seniors, and only three are juniors, meaning it will be a rebuilding year next year for the Cardinals. Tamaqua has seven seniors on a varsity roster that lists 25 names. Six of those seven are starters.