KARNS CITY - Karns City boys soccer coach Roy Parker always has his team work on penalty kicks just in case.

And that practice turned out to be huge for the Gremlins Thursday.

In Thursday's District 9 Class A first-round playoff game with Redbank Valley, Josiah Grubbs nailed the game-tying penalty kick with 9:50 left in regulation.

Then with 1:15 left in the fourth overtime, Mike Ryan lofted a shot from the sideline to the opposite end of the goal to give Karns City a dramatic 3-2 victory.

With the win, the Gremlins (14-4) travel to Northern Potter for a 2 p.m. semifinal game Monday.

The Karns City girls squad made it a big day for the Gremlins as Brittni Grenninger scored three goals to help dispatch Clarion 6-1 in the first round of the Class AA playoffs.

For Grubbs, it was the first penalty shot he has ever attempted in a game, but Parker said he knew Grubbs was the right man for the job.

"We practiced kicks this week and Joe was 3 for 3 in penalty kicks," said Parker. "He faked our goalies pretty good."

Things didn't look good early in the game when the Gremlins fell behind just 79 seconds into the contest when Redbank Valley's Ethan Rowe smacked a header past Karns City goalie Mike Lopresti after a deflection on a corner kick.

With 23:22 left in the first half, the Bulldogs (12-6-2) doubled the lead when Michael Goth buried a loose ball in front of the net.

Still, Parker wasn't overly concerned.

"I knew they were light on subs, so I told the kids if they kept moving around, we could run them ragged," he said.

Mark Ferguson pulled the Gremlins to within one with 19:49 before the break, scoring off an Andrew Harmon pass.

"That was huge," said Parker. "As soon as we got the first goal, the fire was lit."

The Gremlins almost tied the game moments later when Harmon fired a shot and struck the crossbar.

"I think we kinda spent five, 10 minutes of the first half playing and eased up, then didn't have the same intensity," said Bulldogs coach Greg Campbell.

"Our kids came out and decided they were going to come here and win," he added.

In two earlier meetings this season, the Gremlins won 10-0 and 3-0, the former coming when Bulldogs goalie Giuseppe Monteleone did not play.

Both teams had opportunities in the second half, but Redbank had a golden chance to score when Nate Synder earned a penalty kick. His shot went over the crossbar with 25:41 left in regulation.

Grubbs got the same chance 16 minutes later and he shot to the right side of the net past a diving Monteleone.

Nathan Knox almost gave KC the lead a minute later when his shot kicked off the post and a follow-up shot went wide.

Redbank had one final chance with 46 seconds left in regulation, but Snyder's free kick was well over the crossbar.

After a pair of 10-minute overtimes and the five-minute period that followed, the teams were just 1:15 away from having to go to penalty kicks.

Ryan, however, ended the matter when his game-winning shot appeared to look like a pass towards the front of the net.

Parker also credited Lopresti for playing a sensational game in net after the first part of the first half.

"Mikey did a great job in the second half," said Parker. "He settled down. In the (KSAC) this year, he only gave up six goals.

The Gremlins (17-4) wasted little time in seizing control of this contest, scoring the first goal in 45 seconds, three in the first 5:32 and four in the first 9:09.Nikki McElroy registered the first goal off a pass from Grenninger, who then scored on an assist from Brittany Green.When Ashley Kepple scored with 34:28 left in the first half, the Gremlins led 3-0."I was thinking we wanted to try and open things up and 45 seconds in we scored," said Gremlins coach Joe Meshanko. "We were moving everyone everywhere, so that makes it kinda nice."This is the first year, the first time with three (starting) forwards and we have the personnel to do that," Meshanko added.Grenninger scored the Gremlins' next two goals, the latter with 6:32 left before the half.She was able to fake a defender while forcing Clarion goalie Vanessa Anderson to commit to the ball, which Grenninger flipped to the side before burying it in the net.Grenninger hurt her knee on the play and left the game but was ready at the start of the second half.Michelle Sweeney appeared to score on a header off a Grenninger pass with 25 minutes remaining, but the goal was waived off because of an offside call.The Cats (7-10) had a penalty kick with 5:40 left when KC goalie Keirsten Foreback banged into a Clarion shooter. Jessica Smith was inserted in net to stop the kick, which she did with a diving stop.Clarion did score with 4:18 left when Sarah Hileman's corner kick hit Kepple in front of the net past Foreback."In the two years I've been here, we've never scored a goal against them," said Clarion coach Andrew DeAntonio. "They have the most talented team in the section. It's a tough squad. They have a plethora of really good players."Julieanne Scott closed out the scoring when she took a loose ball off a corner kick by Green with 3:01 remaining.The Gremlins host Redbank Valley at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal contest.