The 2009 Norwin High School girls' soccer team did not win the section championship.

Nor were the Knights WPIAL champions or PIAA champions. They were not runners-up for either title.

Yet there is one tag that will be associated with this year's Knights -- giant killers.

It was Norwin's unprecedented ability to win as an underdog role that allowed it to play soccer further into the season than any other WPIAL Class AAA girls' squad this year.

Norwin finished the season Tuesday, its first under new coach Danielle Baginski, 18-4-1 overall and in the PIAA semifinals. It lost, 1-0, in overtime to Erie McDowell.

Along the way to the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA semifinals, Norwin stunned two previously undefeated teams.

In the WPIAL quarterfinals Norwin stopped Moon's 17-0-1 season with a 1-0 victory. And in the PIAA quarterfinals, Norwin ended Seneca Valley's 22-0-1 season with a 2-0 win.

In the regular season, Norwin beat eventual WPIAL semifinalist Canon-McMillan, 3-2, and gave Bethel Park its only loss of the regular season, a 5-0 blowout.

"I have said it before, I don't make a big deal out of games like that," Baginski said.

"I'm not out there saying these are undefeated teams. It is just another game on our schedule. I don't want to get them all hyped up. It is just business as usual."

Things remained business as usual for Norwin, one of the more successful programs in the state the past 15 years, even after the coaching change. The Knights were a game away from qualifying for the PIAA finals, something the program had not done since consecutive trips in 1996 and '97.

Norwin faced District 10 champion Erie McDowell in an emotional PIAA semifinal. Baginski was Erie McDowell's coach last season and had been involved with the soccer program there for 10 years before taking the Norwin job this season. She continues to teach at McDowell and made the 41/2-hour round trip almost daily.

She had her former players in class this year and was with them before her own team on the day of the PIAA semifinals. The game was played at Neshannock about 90 minutes from Erie, but after leaving school on Tuesday Baginski still made the drive to Norwin.

"It's the western final I need to be on that bus," Baginski said on her drive to Norwin.

The game was emotional for the players who lost to Baginski and Erie McDowell last season in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.

"We never thought this game would happen," Baginski said. "I was joking with people at McDowell asking if I could get a ride down to the game. I had a couple girls ask me if they could come over and hug me after the game. At first I was like 'I don't want to play them, I don't want to knock them out and I don't want them to knock us out.' I was really on the fence but then I thought about it and I would prefer one of us to go [to the PIAA title game]."

It ended up being McDowell moving on to final, but Norwin certainly had its chances to win before overtime.

"I talked to their coaches after the game and they said had it not been for their keeper, it could have been 3-0," Baginski said. "Their keeper had an amazing game and they played a great game."

Finding the back of the net was not a problem for Norwin throughout the playoffs. It scored 14 goals in its previous five postseason contests. Sisters Dana and Rachel DelleFemine scored a goal each in the Seneca Valley upset. Dane is a senior captain and Rachel is a freshman.

Defenders Sam Vasy, Marisa Czapor, Maria Lanyi and Ashley Riley made up the back line of a strong defensive unit. Starting midfielder Elizabeth Debo and Casey Harsch, who came off the bench, emerged during the Knight's playoff run.

The 18 victory and trips to the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals mark the program's most successful season since a 22-win season in 2004.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.