MOON -- The Deer Lakes girls soccer team never qualified for the WPIAL playoffs before this season, but the Lancers are making up for lost time.
Deer Lakes scored twice in the first seven minutes and cruised past Quigley Catholic, 3-0, on Thursday night in a WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals game at Moon's Tiger Stadium.
The Lancers are 2-0 in postseason play and headed to the WPIAL semifinals for the first time.
"It's amazing," Deer Lakes sophomore midfielder Kelly Butler said. "It's an incredible feeling."
No. 13-seeded Deer Lakes (16-4) will face No. 1 South Park (16-3-1), the defending WPIAL champion, in the semifinals next week at a time and site to be determined.
No. 12 Quigley Catholic (11-7) was eliminated from the playoffs.
With the win, Deer Lakes also qualified for the state playoffs because the top four finishers in the WPIAL Class AA girls tournament advance.
"We've never gotten this far before," Deer Lakes junior forward Paige Prato said. "This is our time. We want to prove everyone wrong and show what we have before the (six) seniors head off."
Just 5:19 into the contest, Butler started the scoring by burying a shot from about 25 yards out.
Less than a minute later, Prato controlled the ball during a scramble to the right of the net and chipped in another goal from about 10 yards. That gave the Lancers two goals on their first three shots.
Deer Lakes didn't let up the pressure.
Butler launched a corner kick to the far post, and senior forward Shelby Parks leaped into the air and headed the ball into the net with 14:13 to go before halftime. Parks has a team-leading 33 goals.
From there, Deer Lakes focused on defense and kept Quigley's scoring chances to a minimum.
Deer Lakes freshman goalkeeper Madison Moro made seven saves.
Lancers coach John Siget Jr. said his team probably deserved a higher seed heading into the postseason, but he isn't bitter.
"We hadn't paid our dues yet," Siget said, referring to winning playoff games and building a reputation. "We felt we should have been much higher. But I liked where we got seeded. We felt we could play against anybody."
Deer Lakes outshot Quigley, 13-7.
In the second half, Quigley generated more offense and earned six corner kicks, but the Lancers cleared the ball and stopped Quigley from changing the momentum.
Quigley took seven corner kicks, and Deer Lakes had two -- both in the first half.
"It's coming together," Siget said. "They're doing everything they need to do."
