Redemption has been a goal of the Penn-Trafford girls' soccer team's all season.

The Warriors had a full season to redeem themselves after opening with an 0-2 record with losses to perennial powers Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township.

As it turned out, the Warriors had to wait more than two months after those season-opening losses, but they finally redeemed themselves by beating Peters Township in the PIAA quarterfinals and Mt. Lebanon in the PIAA semifinals on their way to a state championship match against Conestoga Saturday at 5 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium.

"We have not been recognized publicly," P-T coach Achilles Vassilicos said after his team's win against Mt. Lebanon at Chartiers Valley Tuesday night. "Teams like Mt. Lebanon and Peters have much more wide exposure and my players are in a smaller community."

Penn-Trafford rallied from a 1-0 deficit against Mt. Lebanon Tuesday night and got a game-tying goal from Deanna Rowe with a little more than four minutes to play and then a game-winning goal from Rowe in the first overtime.

After falling behind to Mt. Lebanon late in the game, the Penn-Trafford attack gained a new sense of urgency as Rowe beat the defense and sent a shot across her body that sneaked in the top right corner of the net to tie the game.

In overtime she beat a defender then slipped the ball past the goalie and watched it slowly roll across the line as Mt. Lebanon defenders gave chase.

"It was like the ball moved in slow motion," Rowe said. "It was like Christmas came early, I was so excited."

Overlooked by many in the game was two critical saves by the Penn-Trafford defense. With the game still scoreless in the first half, senior defender Kaila Wilkie stopped a Mt. Lebanon shot at the goal line. Then, already down, 1-0, senior midfielder Kelsey Olinksi stepped up on the goal line to prevent Mt. Lebanon from adding an insurance goal.

Goalkeeper Sarah Kyper, another senior, was phenomenal, turning away 16 shots.

One of the biggest changes Vassilicos made entering this season was in setting his team's goals. In his first season last year, Vassilicos had his team aiming for a section title and advancing in the playoffs. It resulted in a third-place section finish and a first-round WPIAL playoff loss. This year he changed that.

"Last year we were pretty vocal about saying we're going to do this and win that and it can be distracting looking far ahead," he said.

"We didn't talk very much about winning the section or how far we are going to go [this season]. We basically set goals every week. 'We have this game next and that's the most important game of our season and we are focusing on that.'"

How far they have gone is the school's second berth in the Class AAA PIAA championship game and a shot at its first ever state title in girls' soccer.

Not too many would have imagined that Penn-Trafford would be in this position after losing its first game of the season to Mt. Lebanon, 1-0.

"Nobody expected us to be here," Vassilicos said. "I don't have any all-state players on my team as far as selections are concerned.

"I don't think we came out of nowhere; we deserve to be here."

Cara Colley along with Rowe scored the Warriors' two goals in the victory over Peters Township in the PIAA quarterfinals and Bethany Smyda scored both goals in the WPIAL first-round win over Moon.

Vassilicos said that scoring-wise his team comes at opponents with many different weapons and from many different directions.

All the success in the PIAA playoffs that Penn-Trafford has enjoyed has been without star player Brittany Contacos who incurred an ankle injury in the WPIAL semifinal loss to eventual champion Seneca Valley. Contacos, an Ohio State recruit, already missed most of her junior year with a knee injury.

Vassilicos said he built his offense around Contacos but the Warriors were able to adjust after she went down. Along with Coley and Rowe, Brittney Hamill also stepped up in her absence.