Resilience, fighting, courage.

Those were some of the words Lehi girls soccer coach Brett Bergholm used to describe his team after the Pioneers gutted out a 3-2 win against Olympus in the first round of the 4A state playoffs on Tuesday at Lehi.

Twice, the Pioneers had to repel the Region 6 four-seed Titans, overcoming a 1-0 deficit, then regaining the lead late in the second half after an Olympus penalty kick tied the game 2-2.

Forward Jessica Vanderhoef was the hero of the second half for Lehi, putting two loose balls into the back of the net for two goals, including the game-winner. The two goals against Olympus were the same number of strikes Vanderhoef has scored all season.

"She was relentless, what a forward she be," Bergholm said. "She was in a zone today and she played really well. She rose to the occasion with that style of play."

Vanderhoef gave Lehi a 2-1 advantage in the 49th minute after the Titan goalkeeper overran a high bouncing ball in the goalbox. With the endline close and an Olympus defender quickly reaching the loose ball, Vanderhoef sprinted forward, getting her foot on the ball first and hitting nothing but net.

Lehi's lead was short-lived. Just six minutes later, Marci Castillo put away a penalty kick after a Pioneer defender was called for holding on a potential one-on-one situation in the box.

"I got a little frustrated for a second," Vanderhoef said. "But I just kept telling myself we can do this, we can pull it through."

The minutes continued to tick down for both teams, but Lehi dominated control of possession throughout the second half until Vanderhoef could score again. In the 81st minute, a scrum formed in front of the Olympus goal after the Titan keeper couldn't handle a low shot. Vanderhoef found herself in the right spot, punching the ball in from a few yards out for the goal.

"The goalkeeper hit it off and I was like, 'Okay I'm just going to go for it,' " Vanderhoef said of the play. "I just shot it hoping it would go in."

The win gives Lehi its first playoff victory since 2006, when the Pioneers defeated East in a shootout. Lehi has gone home early the last two seasons, getting outscored 7-0 over that time.

As the top seed from Region 7, Lehi will also host the quarterfinals of the playoffs on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Pioneers' opponent will be Region 9 two-seed Snow Canyon (10-4-3, 9-2-1), winners in the first round against Maple Mountain.

With the wind against them throughout the first half, the Pioneers struggled to find any consistency on offense. Olympus (8-8, 7-5) met Lehi (14-3, 11-1) with an underdog's mentality, playing the Pioneers physical until eventually the Titans' Savannah Spere crossed a ball into the Lehi goal to give Olympus the halftime advantage.

"They pinned us down there a lot in the first half with seven or eight corners," Bergholm said. "We had a difficult time in the attack."

Switching to a 3-5-2 formation gave life to the midfield quickly in the second half, as Kyleigh Royall scored the Pioneers' first goal on a penalty kick just four minutes into the period.