BUFFALO TWP — It was the first playoff soccer contest Freeport had ever hosted at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. According to senior midfielder Akina Boynton, the 2-0 win over Southmoreland Tuesday night was just another day in the office for the Yellowjackets.

“We come out every game with a chip on our shoulder,” she said. “We say, ‘How can we be better?’ This was just a normal game. We wanted to play how we normally do and treat it like we always did (in the regular season).

“It was nothing different.”

The collected attitude starts at the top for Freeport (14-2-0).

“We say, ‘Play the game, not the occasion,’” 'Jackets coach Joe Treglia said. “They’ve just got to come out and play their game and, if they do, I don’t think there’s a team that can beat them. They’ve just got to have faith and they have the ability.”

It felt as if the field was sloped in Freeport's favor. They piled up 28 shots, half of which came in the opening half.

“We’ve got the girls in the right spots this year and they play the ball well,” Treglia said. “They play left, right, through. They did everything in that first half but score.”

Three minutes out of the intermission, senior defender Katie Borromeo controlled a ball that dribbled out of the box on a Boynton corner kick. Borromeo’s first offering was blocked. She looped the second over the Scotties’ goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Boynton scored a goal directly off a corner kick in the 59th minute, doubling the advantage.

“You know, I didn’t even know that it went in,” Boynton said with a laugh. “Everyone was silent.”

“If you watched her in practice, it’s exactly where she put it the last two days, so it wasn’t a surprise,” Treglia interrupted.

Seniors Nora Mahan, Aleah Parison, Brooke Schreckengost, and Crystal Zembrzuski each fired at least one shot at the woodwork. As did freshmen Peyton Los, Abby Watson, and Nia DiSanti. Southmoreland (11-4-1) could muster only one shot as senior goalie Olivia Giancola earned a shutout.

“They’re physically a good team,” Scotties coach Josh Pajak said. “They’re big, fast, strong. I thought their technical level was pretty high … They’re pretty formidable.”

The defeat was the Scotties’ earliest exit from the postseason in Pajak’s three-year tenure.

Freeport advances in the WPIAL Class 2A tournament. They’ll play No. 2 seed Mt. Pleasant on Saturday at a time and place to be determined. The Vikings raced past West Mifflin, 12-0, on Tuesday night.

In the game held prior to the ‘Jackets’, fourth-seeded Knoch — who edged Freeport out for the WPIAL Section 2-2A crown — was toppled by Hopewell, 2-1, in their first-round matchup. The Vikings, two seasons removed from going winless, completed the upset bid without one of their key pieces.

With junior Our Lady of the Sacred Heart transfer Tiger Santia ruled ineligible for postseason play, a few breaks came in handy for Hopewell (7-9-1).

“We gave up a cheap PK, (which) just kind of took a weird bounce,” Knights coach Greg Hess said. “We lost some momentum in the second half … They finished their chances, we didn’t finish ours, and that’s kind of what the difference is in playoff soccer.”

A free kick by the Vikings’ Mary Adams resulted in a Knoch handball, setting the stage for the penalty kick Hess alluded to. Sophomore Angela Campbell made good use of the chance and evened matters at one goal apiece in the 56th minute.

The Knights (14-4-1) initially took the lead on junior midfielder Brooke Galcik’s close-range marker in the 27th minute. Her side controlled possession and generated more quality opportunities over the first 40 minutes.

“At the halftime, I think we were just able to talk to them and get them calmed down,” Hopewell coach Chet Gapczyinski said. “Because they didn’t know if they would even be able to be on the field here at this level.

“I just think them realizing they could do this is what made the difference.”

On a corner kick from Adams, freshman Allison Ramaley netted the go-ahead marker in the 65th minute.

“She was someone who hadn’t really played much for us all year,” Gapczyinski said of Ramaley. “But because of our numbers, when our goal-scorer went down, we picked her to be the one to step up and be in there.”

With a little over 11 minutes to go, Knoch freshman Kamryn Burtner’s try smacked off the left post. Junior midfielder Macrina Robb’s rebound sailed high.

“It’s just a game of inches when it comes down to these games,” Hess said “I’m really proud of them. They fought until the very end.”

Gapczyinski took over for the Vikings in 2020 and the team lost each of its 13 games that year. He’s made do with a thin roster, with participation numbers climbing bit by bit.

“Just keep it going forward, that’s what we’re hoping for,” he said.