Nagel knew she could bury it. As Nagel was getting prepared, Muncy’s defenders were talking about what formation and shape to take afterwards to defend with a lead. There was no doubt that Nagel’s shot wouldn’t go into the net.

Nagel did precisely what her teammates knew she was capable of doing. With 8:17 to play in the game, Nagel took a quick stutter step and drilled a shot to the far-right post, just out of the reach of a diving Rosie Martino.

Nagel has scored 37 goals throughout her career, but none of them were as huge or important as that penalty kick. Nagel’s goal gave Muncy a 1-0 lead which held on as Muncy made program history, winning the school’s first-ever District 4 Class A soccer championship in boys or girls history.

On a chilly, sunny Saturday at Milton, the Indians were absolutely golden.

JON GERARDI/Sun-Gazette Muncy girls players celebrate with each other after beating Southern Columbia to wi the District 4 Class A championship at Milton on Saturday.

“It’s amazing. I just couldn’t believe we won and it’s our first time winning with this team, it’s amazing,” Nagel said with her gold medal around her neck. “Just winning with this team in general, I love everybody on this team.”

“It means everything to me,” Muncy defender Emma McCormick said. “Our team works hard all year, we knew we could get here to this point and we just worked hard and played our hearts out this game.”

Gresh knew that a one-goal lead was far from breathing room, especially against a standout team like Southern Columbia, the No. 1 seed in the field. But Muncy’s back line did what they do best and held the Tigers without a momentum, game-shifting goal in those final eight minutes of regulation.

That meant neutralizing standout players like Kennadie Reamer, Kailee Helwig, Alyssa Conner, Olivia Jones and Macie Swank, a group of five Tigers who have combined for 69 goals entering Saturday.

“It’s unbelievable, and those last minutes just defend, defend, defense. Just get it out and do what you have to do,” Gresh noted. “Give Southern some credit, the first game there (in regular season), the first 10 minutes they really punched us in the mouth. Now it’s a matter of getting these girls to believe we belong here. They bought in.”

JON GERARDI/Sun-Gazette Muncy girls players celebrate with each other after beating Southern Columbia to wi the District 4 Class A championship at Milton on Saturday.

And Muncy definitely believed that it belonged in the District 4 championship game.

That regular-season loss fueled and motivated Muncy after falling 7-2 for its first loss of the year. And the team took away positives from it as to what to do in the rematch.

“We took the same style of play but we didn’t let that affect the way we played today,” Nagel said. “We just knew we had to go in and play our game and get whatever we could out of it.”

Neither team allowed the other on Saturday to get a lot of chances. Southern out-shot Muncy narrowly, 6-5. And of those six Tiger shots, four game in the second half. The Indians had just two second-half shots on goal, but Nagel’s PK was one of them.

With 6:03 to play, Ava Eyer got the ball just outside of the 18 and rifled hard shot low, but Southern keeper Martino blocked it to keep it a 1-0 lead as the Tigers hoped to press late to get a goal to fall.

With 25:40 to play in the second half, the Tigers had a great opportunity to score when freshman Bella Snyder fired a good hard shot low from 22 yards out, but Eva Snyder read it and dropped to save it and keep it scoreless at that point.

“Last time we played them it was 2-7, so coming back into it we were a little nervous, but we knew what we had to do to actually go put in the work in practice and come out strong,” Eva Nagel said.

And that’s what Muncy did by coming out strong and taking a scoreless game into the half against top-seeded Southern Columbia.

In the first half with 22:40 to play, Southern Columbia was awarded an indirect kick just inside of the 18. THe ball was quickly touched as Bella Snyder ran in and tried a high shot, but sent it just over the post. It was one of the Tigers’ best chances in the first half to put in a goal.

With 16:04 left until halftime, Eyer got a 1-v-1 look on a breakaway off a pass and got the ball just inside the 18. As Martino was trying to read her, Eyer shot the ball to the far left post. The ball was out of the reach of Martino’s reach, but hit the inside of the post and bounced outwards instead of going in, preventing a possible big goal early.

Muncy’s players all ran to one another in front of their bench and celebrated once the horn went off at Milton. To win a District 4 championship was a huge accomplishment for the Indians, and beating a tough team like Southern Columbia made it even more enjoyable for the Indians.

“I honestly think it’s such a big thing,” keeper Nagel said. “We’re all so close as a team and all of our seniors, this is just like huge to us.”

When the season started, Muncy had a list of goals they wanted to accomplish.

Nine wins and qualify for districts? Checked early in the year.

Win the Mid-Penn championship? Done.

Battle for a high seed in districts? Secured the No. 2 seed.

Win a District 4 championship? The ink just dried with that checkmark.

“So far, we’ve checked every box one at a time. Now it’s a matter of enjoying this and then we look at the next step which is Tuesday night. But we’re not going to overlook this because it’s never happened in boys or girls history,” Gresh said. “The amount of work they’ve put in.”

Muncy’s players were all smiles as they received their gold medals one by one, and they kept smiling once they held up the District 4 Class A championship plaque together. Given that it’s the program’s first district championship in soccer history, boys or girls, there’s no doubt those players are going to keep smiling a little bit more.

Muncy 1, Southern Columbia 0

(DISTRICT 4 CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP)

M–Ella Nagle (penalty kick), 8:17.

Shots: M 5, SC 6. Corners: M 1, SC 7. Saves: M 6 (Eva Nagel), SC 3 (Rosie Martino).

Records: Muncy (18-2-1), Southern Columbia (17-4).