SHALER TWP — South Park needed only to look back to last season for inspiration.

After losing in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals and not qualifying for the state tournament, the Eagles girls soccer team has been trying to recapture its place among the elite soccer teams.

Unfortunately for Freeport, South Park showed it's definitely back.

The Eagles erased a 1-0 Yellowjackets lead with three first-half goals and went on to post a 5-1 victory in the semifinal round at Shaler High School's Biles Field.

Nikki Doria led the way with three goals to engineer the Eagles' advancement into the championship game Saturday against the Seton-La Salle-Greensburg Central Catholic winner.

"We just needed to play our game," said South Park coach Shelly Thropp. "We're a possession-type team. ... We settled down to play our game and we're able to control it."

"They scored and picked up momentum," said Freeport coach Autum Godot. "We never got the opportunity to re-group. With sports like football and basketball, you can a call a timeout."

Things looked good for Freeport (17-2) early when Courtney Boroski scored 5 minutes, 46 seconds into the game, but South Park (17-5-2) responded with a three-goal spurt in a 12:23 span to take a 3-1 lead.

Doria scored when her shot appeared to be stopped by Freeport goalie Allison McClelland, but the ball found the net with 26:36 left before the half.

Lauren Sauter scored with 14:30 left, then Doria scored 1:17 later to take the two-goal lead.

Freeport had allowed more than two goals just once this season, a 4-3 loss to Shady Side Academy on Oct. 3, the team's only regular season loss.

"We expected this to be a competitive game, to be able to play them, but we had an off-night," said Godot, "We didn't play our game, and you can't do that in single elimination."

In the second half, Brittany Pfaff and Doria tallied goals to close out the scoring, the latter with 16:27 left.

The Eagles did a good job keeping sophomore forward Kayla Eckman off the scoreboard. She leads the Yellowjackets with 40 goals, including two in the 2-1 overtime win last Thursday against Quaker Valley that helped the team qualify for the state tournament.

"We knew about her," said Thropp. "We never saw Freeport play, but knew she scored both those goals (against the Quakers). We told our defenders to keep an eye on her."

The Yellowjackets now will wait for the PIAA playoffs, which begin next week.

"This (game) is a lesson learned," said Godot. "We can't afford breakdowns. Every member on the team needs to do their role."

McClelland made nine saves and Eagles keeper Samantha Doby had seven.