BLOOMSBURG — It wasn’t a great start for Jim Thorpe.

But while things eventually got better for the Olympians in their PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal contest against Dallas on Saturday, a late Mountaineer goal ended up being the difference.

Dallas scored with 9:45 left to play in the second half to take a 2-1 lead, and then held onto that advantage the rest of the way to end Thorpe’s magical carpet ride during the postseason.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak by the Olympians during the playoffs.

“(We’ve) never been a fast starting team … we started out with a real conservative setup,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mike Dudak.

“We didn’t want to fall behind, and we just wanted to get used to (their) speed of the game.”

The Olympians did fall behind, though, thanks to the play of Devon Nelson — who scored both of his team’s goals to keep his squad alive in the chase for a state title.

Nelson was at the right place at the right time to send both of his goals to the back of the net.

His first tally came when a pass was intercepted from 20 yards out with barely four minutes off the stadium clock as he raced ahead and scored to push his team to an early 1-0 lead.

What transpired after that was an Olympian squad that kept digging, hustling and trying their darndest to advance to the next round.

Thorpe (15-8) received a super effort from senior Noah Geiser, who was buzzing all over the turf at Central Columbia High School. And then it got a crucial scoring play by junior Conor Holland at the 19:10 mark of the opening half that equaled Dallas on the scoreboard.

All of sudden, that slow start — which went from a tortoise-like crawl to a speedy and rapid up tick — was forgotten.

Jim Thorpe got the feel of what the District 2 champions from Back Mountain (Wilkes-Barre) had working, and from then on it was an all-or-nothing assault in hopes of a victory.

“We knew No. 18 (Geiser) was such a good player, one of their primary guys, their go-to player who has a great engine, so we knew we had to contain him,” said Dallas head coach Jesse Williams.

“Geiser plays up top, who can score from 30 yards out … We kind of got worried a few times he got (free) and took those shots, and that was a little scary. And we had to keep No. 32 (Ehren Hassler) off the ball and in space, and we’d be OK.”

Without a doubt, Hassler, Geiser and Holland were surging but unable to find the back of the net.

Near the end of the half, it looked like Dallas had come up with its second goal, however it was waved off due to an offside call, thus averting the go-ahead goal with under 30 seconds to play before the intermission.

“In the second half, I thought we were controlling it, we had them pinned down in their end,” said Dudak. “It was an evenly-played game both ways. The first (goal) was a mistake (on us).”

Dudak also felt there was a bit of luck for Dallas on its winning score off the foot of Nelson.

Teammate Rowan Laubach booted a zinger, which clanged off the right post and caromed to the opposite side where Nelson was positioned.

And bang, Nelson knocked home the go-ahead goal.

“(That) second goal was the luck of the draw the (way) it bounced … but it is what it is,” Dudak said. “Our defense was really strong. We didn’t let much through on the back. This was a close, close game.”

One thing for sure is that it was a great late season run by the Olympians. That fact wasn’t lost on Dudak and his coaching staff.

“We were healthy at the end of the season,” Dudak said. “Once we were seeded for districts, I just laid out the path (with the team) and said here is what we are faced with. I was after a district title, to be honest. I thought it was really doable. We executed in districts, and we had a four-game run.”

The last hurrah did come to an end, but the memories made by the 2024 Jim Thorpe boys soccer team will always be remembered, and a banner will eventually hang in the high school gym.

THE ARITHMETIC … Unofficially, Thorpe had five shots on goal, six saves and two corners. Dallas had eight shots on goal, four saves and one corner. Plaudits also go out to Thorpe goalkeeper Liam Off for his effort.

TOUGH OUT … Dallas kept ducking a revved-up Jim Thorpe offense from the middle of the first half throughout the remainder of the game. The Mountaineers got a superb effort from Nelson, goalkeeper Cole Kutch, Laubach and Cole Johnson.

QUOTABLE … “Ehren Hassler had an outstanding season. (Dallas) was double and tripling team … they knew once he got the ball, he was extremely dangerous,” said Coach Dudak of his senior standout.

LAST TIME … Thorpe loses six seniors. Besides Hassler and Geiser, Hayden Hum, Jayden Lawrence, Jack Sanwirja and Henry Snyder will all graduate.