WEXFORD — Amy Travis had a difficult time holding back the tears.

Her Knoch girls soccer team had an equally difficult time holding back North Allegheny's attack.

Travis, who has coached the seniors on the Knights' soccer team since grade school, had to accept the fact early in the second half that the season was about to come to a sudden and sad end in a 3-0 road loss to North Allegheny in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs Saturday evening.

"I've had these girls since they were in middle school," Travis said. "This was my first group, and I've been with them for six years. This is hard."

What was even harder for Knoch (12-7-1) was generating any kind of offensive push against the Tigers (14-5-2).

Knoch managed just two shots at the NA net in the first half. The Tigers, meanwhile, generated 12 shots.

But the Tigers had just one goal on a header by Kelly Langhans off a corner kick by Kellie Cope 13 minutes into the match.

That gave Knoch reason for optimism.

It didn't last long however, as NA scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the second half. The first came off a header by Leigh Cullen just two minutes into the second half. The final goal was put in the net by Maura Romano with 32 minutes remaining in the match.

"We told them that the game could change if we could get that (second goal)," said North Allegheny coach Chet Gapczynski. "We could have earlier, but we were just off because of anxiety and pressure. I told them if we can stay composed and get that goal right away, it would break their back."

It did.

NA's defense did the rest.

It didn't help that Knoch's second leading scorer and assists leader P.J. Abels was hampered by an injury. Abels caught a knee in the hip and played sparingly in the second half.

"We knew they had a good defense," Travis said. "When P.J. came out of the game, that very much hurt."

Down by three goals instead of one also changed Knoch's game plan significantly.

"We felt lucky (to be down 1-0 at the half)," Travis said. "The third goal was the kiss of death."

North Allegheny's defensive strategy was simple: take Knoch leading goal scorer Amanda Sharbaugh out of the game.

Sharbaugh, a junior, came into the game with 33 goals this season. She had just two shots on goal in the match.

"Our middle back, Kelly Langhans, is just amazing," Gapczynski said. "When the other team has a superstar, they just can't get around her."