QUAKERTOWN — It could have been a momentum swing for Palmerton.

Instead, it pretty much sealed Faith Christian’s first-ever state playoff victory.

The Blue Bombers trailed by two goals late in the first half of Tuesday’s PIAA Class 1A first round matchup, however, the runners-up from District 11 were swarming around the Lion cage looking to cut the deficit in half.

But the host team fended off a penalty corner and some Palmerton pressure, eventually moved downfield and received a key goal from Gracie Longacre with 34 seconds left in the second quarter to take a 3-0 advantage.

That swing proved fateful to the Bombers, as Faith Christian pulled away in the second half to earn a 7-0 win and a berth in the state quarterfinals.

The loss ended Palmerton’s season with a record of 11-9-1.

“I think that sealed it,” said Lion head coach Jayne Longacre. “It did. Because you could tell they had a little bit of a momentum shift. They had the momentum, and it was a matter of if they would have put that ball in I think that would have changed our emotion a little bit.

“But I do believe having that third goal just kind of capped it off and that gave us the elevation that we needed to go into halftime, come in and make some necessary adjustments for the third and fourth quarters.”

It’s debatable that Faith Christian – in just its third year as a program – needed to make any adjustments, as its speed and stickwork were impressive throughout the contest, but the Lions came out strong in that second half and put in a fourth goal just 2:15 into the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

After gaining a corner, Longacre — the player — took a feed from Cheyenne Greene, and blasted a shot into the cage.

“We had opportunities,” Bomber mentor Meg Leadbetter. “Our girls are good, there’s no doubt about it. I was hoping that we’d get a couple in there to just prove the type of program that Palmerton is, but again when you’re playing against a strong team like this any little mistake that you have they’re going to capitalize on it, and that’s what they did.

“They’re a very, very disciplined program. They played tight, clean hockey ... and they did it the whole 60 minutes. We knew stepping in here that it would be a challenge and we wanted to make sure they worked for the win, and I’m pretty sure we did that.”

The teams were scoreless for about the first 10 minutes. While the field was tilted in the Lions’ favor, Palmerton did have some offensive chances — including a corner that Faith Christian defended and quickly transitioned to offense.

The ball stayed in the Bombers’ defensive end, and the District 1 champs received a number of corners. The extensive pressure eventually resulted in Greene taking a shot and Maddie Kocher knocking in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.

“We work hard at being able to swing the ball, moving the ball, and getting the ball up,” said Coach Longacre. “We had that defensive corner, and Cheyenne was able to bring the ball up and get it up high to our forward Gracie Longacre. Then we ended up getting a corner and scoring. That was outstanding.

“That was transition, and we talk about transition, because if you can make things happen in transition like that, you’ve got your opponent right where you want them, on their heels. And we have the speed to do that, and you’ve got to use what you’ve got.”

Another long rush by Faith Christian (18-3) at the end of the quarter made it 2-0. Dani Burns took the ball into the circle and got off a back-hander that found the mark with 24 seconds left in the period.

“Their speed was awesome,” said Leadbetter of the Lions. “Our goalie (Sarah Sabo) ... was taking some crazy shots, some beautiful shots, and the ones that went in were beautiful. But she’d come out and she’d have a smile on her face and was still focused because she knew she did everything she could, and I think every single one of my girls out there did that.”

Kocher added a pair of goals in the second half, both of rebounds close to the cage, to complete a hat trick, while Greene also tallied to add to her assist.

THE STATS ... Faith Christian ended with 12 corners and 14 shots, compared to Palmerton’s four and four.

END OF THE ROAD ... “I’m so proud of them,” said Leadbetter, summing up the season. “We had a lot of adversity ... this year the definition of it was every single girl out there on the field — all 11 of them, and there really was a core 11 — they got us here. They did exactly what they were supposed to do. We were here. We were at states back-to-back. We’re making a name for Palmerton field hockey, and that’s all I could ever ask of us.”

SENIOR FAREWELL ... Five seniors played their final game for the Bombers — Bella Catania, Sadie Delgado, Makayla Pengelly, Maddy Bennyhoff and Mackenzie Long.