WINGATE - Central Mountain eliminated Bradford 2-0 in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA soccer playoffs Tuesday on a cool and damp night.

Central Mountain opened the scoring early with the Wildcats' Lauren Heimer sending the ball flying into the corner of the net at the 36:53 mark.

Bradford attempted to respond, but was held off by a strong Wildcats' defense.

The Lady Owls nearly scored at the 28:39 mark as the ball slid just past the corner of the goal and sailed out of bounds.

The Wildcats responded with a strong drive, but their shot missed the mark.

The Lady Owls once again drove down the field, and at the 24:57 mark were in Wildcat territory. However, a shot went wide of goalie Courtney Walsh and slid outside playable turf.

Bradford had another scoring opportunity at the 19:08 mark, but Walsh made the save.

With six minutes left in the half, the Wildcats made a lineup change, sending Morgan Walker into the game. The tactic was successful as Walker found the net with 5:31 left to put Central Mountain up 2-0.

"Our defense did a good job of limiting their attack," Bradford coach Tony Doriguzzi said. "Megan Gill of Central Mountain set the team record on goals and she didn't score tonight.

"The two who scored aren't normal scorers for the Wildcats so our defense forced them to do different things.

"Central Mountain is a good team, but we came into this expecting more. We definitely played right with them. We made a couple of tactical errors early that cost us goals.

"Central Mountain made good decisions and played well in the midfield. We had trouble getting the ball out of our end."

Chelsea Rinfrette had five saves in goal for the Lady Owls, who finish the season 13-4-1.

"The preparation has killed us," Doriguzzi pointed out. "The last three weeks we have practiced in six different places and had a hard time getting in good playing time with the fields in such bad condition. That just added one more distraction for us."

Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities in the second half, but were stymied by superb goaltending.

Despite the loss, Doriguzzi was satisfied with his team's season.

"At the beginning of the season, I never dreamed we'd get this far," Doriguzzi said. "I'd like to thank coach Joe and coach Jared for the phenomenal job they did this year."

Central Mountain (15-2-3) advances to the quarterfinals Saturday against Owen J. Roberts.