WEXFORD — Knoch had opportunities, but Thomas Jefferson had Sam Braun.

The Jaguars goaltender made 17 saves through regulation and two overtimes, but saved his best for last.

In a shootout, Braun made three consecutive saves on penalty kicks, giving TJ a 2-1 advantage, which, in turn, clinched a 2-1 victory over the Knights in the WPIAL Class AA boys soccer semifinal at North Allegheny.

"Sam Braun had an unbelievable game, probably the best game I've ever seen in all my years of coaching," said TJ coach Dr. Michael Kulish.

(Knoch) had chances. If not for Sam in goal, it would have been different. I've never seen three penalty kicks blocked in a row ever."

"I'm proud of our boys," said Knoch coach Doug Wood. "They played to their potential and played with pride and poise."

Braun's stellar play helped to set up the shootout, with two saves in the first overtime and three more in the second.

His counterpart, Cullen Hinterliter, was equally up to the task, making a combined three stops in the two overtimes. He finished with eight saves.

When it came time for the shootout, Knoch's Travis Tasker's shot was true to give Knoch the upper hand. Then, the Jaguars' Tyler Fabian answered with a goal of his own.

Then, five consecutive stops came along. Braun stopped shots by Adam Sharbaugh and Michael Hook while Hinterliter blocked Christian Angotti and Ryan Stroup.

Braun then made his third block when he turned back Kevin Wood's shot before Tyler Danzey fired his shot past Hinterliter for the 2-1 lead.

The Knights (15-2-1) needed Jordan Kennedy to score to stay alive, but his shot was high above the crossbar and the celebration began for No. 1 seed Thomas Jefferson (18-2).

Knoch controlled play for most of the game and almost scored 20 seconds into the first half when Sharbaugh split a pair of Jaguar defenders and rifled a shot that Braun deflected over the crossbar.

Despite the pressure, it was TJ's Alex Danzey who gave the team a 1-0 lead when he cut to the net, juked a charging Hinterliter and had a clean shot to the net with 29:39 left in the first half.

"Alex has 26 goals and (Fabian) has 33," said Kulish. "Show me another team that has two scorers like that."

Knoch trailed 1-0 at halftime, but Wood didn't want them to stop the pursuit.

"I told them they should be winning by a couple of goals, but that was not the score on the scoreboard,"said Wood.

It took the Knights only 2:52 to even things up when Sharbaugh's shot in front appeared to be deflected but was credited to him.

Kulish was very impressed by the Knights.

"That's is one of the finest teams we've faced all year," said Kulish. "They are a good possession team, a good passing team. They played smart."

Despite the loss, the Knights can reach the PIAAplayoffs. They will face South Park, which dropped a 3-2 decision to Mars Tuesday, in the third-place consolation final at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Shaler.

"They deserved to win this game," said Wood about his team. "They know it in their heart. They'll pick it up, though. We're still not done."