ADAMS TWP — Playing with a one-goal lead isn't so bad.

“We're rather used to it,” Knoch boys soccer coach Malcolm Cook said. “We've been dealing with a lot of injuries all year, so we've played a lot of games like this.”

The Knights defeated Ambridge, 1-0, in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game Saturday at the Mars Athletic Complex. Eight of Knoch's 13 wins this season have been by a one-goal margin.

Knoch (13-4-2) will take on Montour — a 5-0 winner over Thomas Jefferson — in the quarterfinal round Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Junior forward Jeremiah Smith scored the game's lone goal, his 16th of the season, Saturday, in rather surprising fashion.

Teammate Nathanial Webb was in a battle for possession of the ball to the right of the Ambridge net and managed to squirt the ball free, over to Smith.

Smith was standing in front of the net, about 15 yards out.

“To tell the truth, I was surprised how open I was,” Smith said. “There was nobody near me. I was able to focus on just making a good shot.”

He drilled the ball into the right corner of the net with 16:50 left in the first half.

Neither team had a lot of scoring chances in a tight defensive game. The Knights did have six shots on net in the first half, but only one in the second.

The Bridgers (9-10-0) had all four of their shots on goal in the second half, but missed a number of opportunities in a frantic final 10 minutes.

“We could have scored five or six times in this game,” Ambridge coach Drew Lewis said. “We drill two shots right into their keeper, hit a couple over the crossbar, roll a couple wide ... It was one of those days.

“Sometimes they just don't go in.”

Ambridge had three corner kicks on the day to Knoch's two. Senior goalkeeper Andy Pipes got the shutout win.

Cook admitted Ambridge came on strong late, looking for the tying goal.

“We kept our composure there, though,” the coach said. “Andy is very strong in goal and stays calm under pressure. (Senior defender) Jesse Fesel and (sophomore) Adam Walker did a great job back there, too.”

Midway through the second half, David Stuebgen's shot deflected off the bottom of the crossbar, straight down, but stayed out of the net.

Before an Ambridge player could deflect the ball in, Knoch senior defender Tyler Holland calmly booted the ball out of bounds.

Pipes came well out of the net to take a breakaway chance away from Christian Fisher with 15:30 left in the game.

Ambridge had one final chance to score when Fisher took a free kick from 18 yards out. Pipes made the stop and the rebound was sent wide.

The loss was a stunning one for Ambridge, which entered the day on a five-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 18-1 in those games.

“We were fourth in our section, but it's the best soccer section in the WPIAL,” Lewis said. “We were not an underdog today. The seeding (Knoch at 3, Ambridge 14) may say otherwise, but that wasn't the case.

“We came here to win. We expected to win.”

Knoch missed some second-half scoring chances as well. Smith fired a rebound just past the right post with 12:50 to play and Goldinger sent a pass to Eli Keller, who headed a shot just wide with 5:45 left.

The Knights' Ian Robb drilled a shot off the crossbar with 3:30 to play.

“I feel like we could have had a couple more,” Smith said. “We could play with more consistency. But when it comes to heart? We have plenty of that.”