FREEPORT — The angle was a difficult one for Kayla Eckman.

But the Freeport sophomore was undaunted.

She beat the Mount Pleasant sweeper to the ball and, with a quick flick of her left foot, sent it soaring into the net.

"Actually, it was a luck shot," Eckman said, laughing. "It wasn't easy. But, hey, we're glad it went in. That's all I can say."

The goal didn't win the match for the Yellowjackets; it simply put them up 2-1. But it broke Mount Pleasant's will just the same in a 3-2 win in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs on a frigid Tuesday night.

There was nothing frigid abut Eckman's play.

"That was an awesome goal, that second goal," said Freeport coach Autumn Godot. "That was an almost impossible angle. Any way you can get them, that's all that matters."

As has been Freeport's pattern this season, it fell behind early.

Caitlin Williams missed a shot off the left post for the Vikings, but it caromed right to Jarah Long in front of the net. All she had to do was gently kiss it with her toe for an easy goal 10 minutes into the match.

But for the Yellowjackets (16-1), falling behind has been nothing new this season.

"We had to get the initial jitters out," Godot said. "Once we got it under control, we got things going."

Eckman scored her first goal of the match eight minutes later on a direct kick that came seconds after a Freeport goal was nullified because of a penalty against Mount Pleasant away from the play.

With Freeport up 2-1 after Eckman's second goal, the Vikings' Kaylin Chain tied the match off an assist by Brianna Dombrosky.

The two teams went into the break deadlocked.

That wasn't a bad thing for Mount Pleasant coach Kelli Belanger. What was bad, however, was her team had given up two goals.

"It's odd because we were very strong defensively," said Belanger, whose team had recorded 10 shutouts this season heading into the game.

But Belanger acknowledged her team hadn't played against someone as dynamic asEckman.

"She's an excellent, excellent player," Belanger said. "She was everywhere."

Eckman has 38 goals this season, but she was on the sideline for a 12-minute stretch in the second half after suffering a painful cramp in her left calf.

"It was getting tight the whole game," Eckman said. "It just sort of caught up to me."

With Eckman on the bench, Mount Pleasant couldn't take advantage. Instead, Freeport scored the winning goal at the 26-minute mark on a fluke play.

Maurielle Blake tossed the ball near the right corner of the net on a throw-in. The ball deflected off Courtney Boroski and trickled into the net past stunned Vikings keeper Lauren Fearer.

"I don't know what happened there," Belanger said. "We had a bad angle and couldn't see it. As soon as they went up 3-2, you could see us let up."

Freeport dominated the play in the second half, firing 16 shots toward the goal. The only thing keeping the match from becoming lopsided was Fearer's play in net.

The margin of victory didn't matter to Freeport, however. Getting its first playoff win in school history did.

"It was tough, but I think we got a lot of confidence now," Eckman said. "This was the first time Freeport has ever won the section, and now this is the farthest any Freeport team has gone in the playoffs. We just want to keep it rolling."

Freeport will play Thursday against Quaker Valley, which routed South Allegheny 11-1 in its first-round match, at a site and time to be determined.