KARNS CITY — Northern Potter goalkeeper Sinjin Haring stopped all the tough shots that came his way.

Curving ones, knuckling ones, even the ones seemingly impossible to turn away.

It was just the soft ones that fouled him up.

The Karns City boys soccer team peppered the Panthers' keeper all contest and Haring was equal to the task, except for the two dribblers that squirted past him as the Gremlins emerged with a 2-0 win in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals Friday afternoon.

"He played a good game," said Karns City coach Roy Parker. "We could have scored four, five, six goals against any other goalkeeper."

When Parker met up with Haring while the two teams exchanged handshakes, he stopped the goalkeeper and said, "We threw everything at you but the kitchen sink."

Haring is as big as a washer and dryer and turned away several scoring opportunities for Karns City early. But Dan Thuronyi found himself in front of the net and five yards from the goal with an open shot.

He nearly whiffed.

But the ball trickled past Haring and rolled softly into the net with 16:05 remaining in the first half for a 1-0 Karns City lead.

Northern Potter (9-10-1) wasn't about to let Karns City have easy access to the goal.

The Panthers packed the defensive end of the field and sacrificed offense in the process.

Karns City (16-2-1) struggled with the tactic in the first half, but made an adjustment at halftime.

"We went to three forwards, and that system crushes the pack-it-in strategy," Parker said.

The Gremlins had 10 shots in the first half and 24 in the final 40 minutes.

Karns City got an insurance goal with 21:56 remaining in the second half when Mark Ferguson punched the ball past Haring off an assist by Andrew Harmon. It appeared Haring didn't see the soft shot until it by him.

The key for Karns City might have been the play of Dale Grimm in the defensive end. Grimm helped the Gremlins keep the ball in the Northern Potter end of the field.

It made for a lonely day for Karns City goalkeeper Zach Fleeger, who made only three saves. Northern Potter managed only six shots and only one was a real threat to hit the net.

"It's hard to get offense going when you pack it in," Parker said.

Karns City will host Coudersport at 5 p.m. Monday. The Gremlins girls will host Brookville at 7 p.m. Monday.

Parker wasn't too dismayed by the low number of goals despite the high number of chances.

"You are a little worried when you have that many chances and don't score that many goals," Parker said. "But I wasn't worried. They really never had a real threat to score."