How about playing a best of three?

The Central Columbia Blue Jays (23-1-0) shook off a regular season loss to Northwestern Lehigh (23-2-0) by beating the Tigers in the 2A state semifinals, giving the Blue Jays a chance to defend their title from last season and keeping the Tigers from getting the first state championship in the program’s history.

Central Columbia advances to play Avonworth in Friday’s 2A championship game after a 4-0-win Tuesday in Hazleton against Northwestern.

It took Central Columbia 14 shots until they got one to go in, which came in the final minute of the first half. Before the goal, Central saw their shots go over the crossbar, wide left, wide right or be stopped by goalkeeper Olivia Reinhart. But with :56 left in the half, the two leading scorers for Central combined to come up with a late goal. Haley Bull, a junior, sent a pass to senior teammate Kayla Keefer, who came into the game with 51 goals on the season and 135 for her career. Keefer put a shot on goal that Reinhart made a good play on but was just unable to stop as the ball ricocheted off her hand and into the goal for the first score of the game.

“You give up a goal a minute before the end of the half and it’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Northwestern head coach Jordan Smith. “I tried to keep the girls’ heads up as much as I could at halftime, and I think they were ready to go.”

Before the Tigers could get settled in the second half, Keefer added to her assist totals when she sent a perfect cross that Kendra Stout was able to easily control and fire into the goal for a 2-0 lead just 2:09 into the second half.

Having a two-goal deficit against the defending state champs failed to be a knockout punch for the Blue Jays as the Tigers continued to look for a goal of their own. Unfortunately, the Central defense got tougher and limited time in the attack zone for Northwestern Lehigh.

Central Columbia also was limited in their opportunities but was able to add on a goal with 10:09 to play and again, it was Keefer and Bull who did the damage. Keefer fed Bull with a nice pass and the junior forward notched her 38th goal of the year.

Seven minutes later, Keefer became a real pest when she was able to get one-on-one with Reinhart and put a rocket into the top right part of the net from 10 yards out to make it 4-0 with just three minutes remaining.

“[Keefer] is a phenomenal player and she made an amazing play to get down the sideline and then just played it across for a great finish,” said Smith.

The Tigers had trouble getting an attack going and Central Columbia goalie Karsyn Cox found herself standing alone in front of the goal. On the night, Northwestern was able to generate just one corner, while the Blue Jays, who did not have a corner in the first 40 minutes had three in the final half of the game.

Northwestern Lehigh had just four seniors – Katie Brensinger, Cammy Fitch, Jayden Gillette, and Abby Pomajevich – on the roster and a number of younger players beneath them who contributed throughout the year.

“This was an amazing season, just phenomenal season, and phenomenal career for our seniors. We had 23 wins, a league championship, a district championship, and a trip to the semifinals. That’s a lot for these girls to be proud of and they earned everything they got,” said Smith.