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Coming into the season, the Paint Branch High field hockey team made its primary goal capturing the program's first divisional title. But today the Panthers have their sights set on a much larger prize: A spot in the 4A state championship game.

That goal is now one win away after top-seeded Paint Branch (15-2) captured its first-ever regional crown in the Class 4A South during a thrilling 2-1 victory over third-seeded Magruder (10-7) Thursday night on the Blair High turf field.

The Panthers, who captured that division crown earlier in the season, will now face 4A West Region champion Westminster (15-0), which defeated The Gazette's top-ranked team, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, 2-0, Thursday night. That contest will be held Monday night at Broadneck High in Anne Arundel County. The other 4A semifinal match will pit defending champion Severna Park (15-2) against Dulaney (13-4).

"I'm so excited about this for these girls," Paint Branch coach Dan Feher said. "They worked so hard for this. To be where they are, to be going to the state final four is fantastic. It's awesome."

Leading the Panthers to their first state playoff berth was the sister combination of Heather and Kelly Jenney, who set up and scored both Paint Branch goals, which came after a defensive-minded first half that produced three combined shots between both teams.

Heather Jenney set up her older sibling's first goal about four minutes into the second half, punching a hard shot at the goal during a fast break. The shot was saved by Colonels goalkeeper Amanda Pursel, but she could not clear it, allowing Kelly to streak in and clean up the rebound for a 1-0 advantage.

"When we get a fast break, we have a lot of power and our offense is really strong," Kelly Jenney said. "It was pretty much [Heather]. I just put it away. This is going to the final four and we never thought we'd get that far. We've done way more than we thought we could. ...

"We definitely wanted to win our division, but this is more than we could have thought of. Mr. Feher says we're playing with house money."

Magruder answered back roughly four minutes later on a penalty corner goal by Paige Twigg, who sent a shot through traffic from the top of the circle to the right corner of the goal to tie the match. The Colonels worked a few more corners during the second half, but to no avail.

Paint Branch, fending off Magruder's flurry of penalty corners, struggled to get much going offensively either until there 5:40 remained in the match. That's when Heather Jenney, after a quick restart, drove another shot to the goal that was deflected by Pursel to an open Kelly Jenney, who punched in the game-winner.

"They were beautiful plays," Feher said. "Heather had two great setups and Kelly had two phenomenal finishes. The sisters strike again."

The one-goal loss was the sixth endured by the Colonels this fall, including a 2-1 overtime loss to those same Panthers earlier in the regular season.

"[Heather] does a super job. She does what she's done all year," said Magruder coach Kathy Mulholland. "It's an even game if you look at the stats ... but they capitalized on the long ball when they needed to and that was the difference. It's a great playoff game. I'm proud of my team. We've done a great job."