SHALER TWP — Elizabeth-Forward coach Gary Myers saw a chance to contain Knoch — and it worked to near perfection.

The Warriors, who slowed down a strong Knights offense, took the lead midway through the first half and never surrendered it in a 3-1 WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal victory Wednesday at Biles Field.

“We had a scouting report and knew Knoch liked to go to the outside,” said Myers. “We wanted to try and limit their opportunities on the outside. If we do that and hold the middle with our defense, we could seek opportunities when it came.”

“(EF) was able to get people behind the ball,” Knoch coach Steve Perri said. “When we'd lose the ball, they would get as many people behind the ball and defend. I think that was the deciding factor.”

Perri said the Warriors were only the second team to do so, the other being Mars in a loss Oct. 17. The losses also proved to be the Knights' only ones this year.

Knoch (16-2-2) had trailed 2-0 late before Danielle Sharbaugh scored off a free kick by Olivia Sharbaugh with 14:16 remaining.

The Knights made a late push to try and score the equalizer — including three corner kicks inside the final three minutes, but could not convert.

After Knoch goalie Maranda Tano made one final kick upfield in the final seconds, the Warriors were able to gain control and Alison Pastore found Josie Madden breaking past Tano.

Tano tried to retreat back to the goal, but Madden's shot found the back of the net with four seconds left to seal the win.

“Knoch is an excellent team,” Myers said. “They're susceptible to letting touches through.

“We're ecstatic. We were the 13th seed and this is the first time in EF history getting this far. We've been in the WPIAL since 1983 and it's only the second time we made it past the first round.

“Getting invited to states for the first time in almost 30 years is great,” he added.

Elizabeth-Forward (12-7-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when freshman Jessica Palady took a pass between a pair of Knoch defenders and fired a shot over Tano with 19:18 left in the first half.

Knoch almost tied the game just 3:15 into the second half when Olivia Sharbaugh's shot rested on top of the net.

But the Warriors countered with another goal with 29:49 remaining when Jackie Kutzfara took a pass through a cluster of players and rushed to the net with a defender in tow before scoring.

Perri wanted to let the team enjoy the positives of the season, not dwell on the negative.

“I told them no one will ever look at you and say, ‘you had a good year but you lost 3-1,” Perri said, “but you went (16-2-2), scored 97 goals and let up only 20. That's what people will remember.'

“And we got a result against Mars (a 2-2 tie midway through the season) we hadn't gotten in the last 10 tries,” Perri added.

Warriors goalie Jennifer Keefer made three saves while Tano finished with two.