SHALER TWP - When senior Drew Craig put some torque to his neck and directed the soccer ball into the net with a header midway through the second half, there was some hope.

The Slippery Rock High School senior forward had just tied the score against heavy favorite and state power Thomas Jefferson at 1. Not surprisingly, the Rockets' bench erupted.

And so did the belief in a colossal upset.

"I thought after that goal we had a chance," said first-year Slippery Rock coach Anthony Buzard.

Could the Rockets do it? Could they unseat a team that advanced to the PIAA Class AA championship game last year and become the first Slippery Rock soccer team to win a state playoff game?

No.

Three minutes later, Thomas Jefferson broke the tie with a shot that deflected off a Rockets defender. It added another goal a few minutes later as the Jaguars handed the Rockets a 3-1 loss Tuesday night at Shaler.

But the Rockets, who lost to Harbor Creek by five goals Saturday in the District 10 title game and were playing a team that beat Harbor Creek by four goals in September, put a scare into the Jaguars.

"That's a good team," said Thomas Jefferson coach Michael Kulish. "We did not play a good game. We made a lot of mental mistakes. But they are very good. Very good. You are not 18-3-2 and you don't get to the state playoffs without being good."

Thomas Jefferson (19-4-1) dominated play in the first half, outshooting Slippery Rock 13-0. But the Jaguars scored just one goal with those early opportunities when Michael Tortella pushed a skimming shot past Rockets goalkeeper Greg Walter 12 minutes into the match.

Slippery Rock had trouble simply advancing the ball past midfield.

But in the second half, the Rockets controlled play for most of the first 20 minutes and had several big opportunities to score.

Ryan Zarichnak launched a bending shot that Thomas Jefferson keeper Adam Ross deflected over the cross bar. Sweeper Steve Gallatin saved another goal by clearing the ball just before it crossed the goal line.

"That was a great defensive play by Steve," Kulish said. "He's been doing that all year."

But the Slippery Rock pressure, aided by a new strategy, yielded the Craig goal that tied the score and shifted the momentum.

"We went to a more kick-and-run approach," Buzard said. "We knew we couldn't control things on them. They adjusted pretty well."

Just three minutes after the Craig goal, Evan Braunie fired a shot that deflected off a Slippery Rock player and past Walter, who couldn't react fast enough to the ball's rapid change of direction.

Then the Jaguars' Michael Pappas cemented the contest with a header as he beat Walter to the ball in front of the net with 11 minutes remaining in the match.

"We played a bad game and still won," Kulish said. "That's a sign of a good team. I've seen this in the past. We came off a high-strung game against South Park (a 2-1 win in the WPIAL final) and we didn't play well."

Slippery Rock played as well as could be expected as a heavy underdog. The Rockets were making their first PIAA playoff appearance in five seasons.

"We kept fighting," Buzard said.

Slippery Rock will have some work to do in the offseason to replace its strong senior class, led by Craig, Zarichnak and Walter.

The trio became more than just players this season. They also became quasi-coaches when they went several weeks before the start of the season without a coach until Buzard came aboard.

"I'm not sad because we lost," Buzard said. "I'm sad because I don't get to be their coach anymore. What a great experience to have these guys around. They've just been great."