HEMPFIELD TWP — Morgan Sinan rode the emotional roller coaster Tuesday night.

After prevailing as the winning goalkeeper in a 2-1 game decided by penalty kicks in Tuesday's PIAA Class 4A first-round playoff against Central Dauphin at Hempfield High School's Spartan Stadium, she struggled to hold back tears of joy.

“My sister, Mary, just graduated this past spring,” Sinan said with tears in her eyes. “She played soccer at Seneca, too, and won a WPIAL title and made it pretty far at states one year. Just being able to match what she did, it means a lot to me.”

Sinan's play was a big reason why the penalty kicks were needed. She then ended matters with a penalty kick of her own, clinching a 3-1 edge and sending the Raiders to the quarterfinal round where they will meet Souderton Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

Her score followed ones by teammates Julia Redilla and Ashley Rea. Meanwhile, Sinan stopped three of the four shots attempted by the Rams.

“I have practiced taking penalty kicks and it paid off for us tonight,” she said.

It wasn't an easy path to victory, however. In fact, there was a time during Tuesday's game when Sinan was in danger of sitting out the duration with an injury.

In the 25th minute, she came out to challenge a scoring chance by the Rams and took a foot to the side of the head.

“The pain was really bad, but what hurt even worse was walking off the field,” said Sinan. “I didn't want to let my teammates down.”

Lauren Sileo, normally a forward, stepped into the net and allowed a goal to Alex Murphy less than a minute later that tied the game at 1-all.

“The goal was not Lauren's fault,” said SV coach Mark Perry. “We had a breakdown on defense.”

Sinan returned to the game immediately after the score.

“For about five minutes after I went back in, I was really nervous, but after that, I was back to myself,” she said

And her play proved it. Sinan made eight saves over the next 84 minutes, thwarting several other Central Dauphin chances with her aggressive play.

“We are not a big team and all year, we have played teams more physical than us,” said Perry. “I thought they (Rams) were a bit better than us tonight. They won a lot of the balls in the air and had chances, but Morgan is a special player.”

SV's goal in regulation was scored by junior midfielder Mia Zec in the 14th minute.

“Our girls don't give up,” Perry added, “and we capitalize on enough of our opportunities.”

Sinan's counterpart, Central Dauphin's Cassy Baker, stopped seven shots. The Rams finish the season with an impressive 18-3-1 record.

“Winning the WPIAL (last Saturday), that is such an emotional high to come down from,” said Perry. “For us to open the state playoffs with a win over a team that is as good as any team we've played this year, it says a lot about our girls.”

The win improves SV to 17-2 on the season.