Perhaps more than any other sport, soccer can produce matchups where one team can be put on its heels for long periods, but then a moment of brilliance changes everything.

For Donegal, those moments of brilliance came off the foot of senior back Blake Moyer and from the hands of senior goalkeeper and team captain Riley Patrick, leading the Indians to 1-0 victory over Conestoga Valley in the quarterfinals of the Lancaster-Lebanon League boys soccer playoffs on Thursday at Mount Joy.

Moyer’s moment came with about eight minutes left in the first half.

After bending but not breaking for over 30 minutes of chasing the possession all around their defensive third, the Section 3 champion Indians (12-5-2) played a ball up the left wing and earned their only corner of the first half.

Seconds later, Owen Becker lofted a cross, and, as the ball was bouncing around bodies in the box, Moyer crushed a shot into the top right corner of the net to send the green-clad home crowd into a frenzy.

“I told our guys all we needed was that one moment,” Donegal coach Andy Wagner said. “We had to be ready and boy was Blake ready.”

The Indians almost had a second moment in the waning seconds of the half, but a header off a rebound by Becker found the back of the net just after the clock hit zero.

After clinging to that narrow lead for 33 minutes in the second half, the Indians had to withstand a flurry of offensive chances by the Section 2 runner-up Buckskins (11-4-2) and, boy, did their senior goalkeeper deliver.

First, with about seven minutes left, CV senior Cayden Rosario ripped a shot that was headed for the upper left corner, but an outstretched and diving Patrick got a finger on the ball to deflect it over the crossbar.

Moments later, a cross into the goal mouth found the foot of Jacob Hallgren, but Patrick came off his line to make a sprawling save.

Finally, with about two minutes remaining, Patrick made one final diving save on a low, hard shot by Connor Lapp.

“Riley is our big stopper,” Wagner said. “He came up huge at the end.”

In addition to his magical saves in the final moments, Patrick, who finished with 11 saves, sacrificed his body all night, coming off his line on corner kicks and even sparking two counterattack breakaway opportunities for Donegal with his big boot.

The game’s first 30 minutes saw the Buckskins control the possession. Showing patience on the back line, CV switched the point of attack time and time again, waiting for its moments to attack.

And attack the Buckskins did with diagonal balls to their wingers that created a multitude of scoring opportunities.

Senior Prince Oracius was the central figure of the CV attack, using his speed and creative footwork to spark dangerous offensive chances all night, including two shots that sailed just wide and a number of crosses into the box that had to be thwarted by the Donegal defense.

But for all the challenges it faced, the Indians’ back line of Moyer, Drew Horst and CT Good, as well as midfielders Payton Scott and George Shaker, held strong.

It was a collective performance by a group that Wagner described as “workhorses.”

The stats, which included a shot advantage of 27-4 for the Buckskins, will show that Conestoga Valley controlled large portions of the game, but a gritty group of Donegal players and those moments of brilliance created a magical night in Mount Joy, propelling the Indians into Monday’s semifinals against defending champ Warwick, a 1-0 winner over Lancaster Mennonite on Thursday, at Hempfield at 5 p.m.