MIDDLETOWN — It didn’t take long for Desiree Zapata to pick right up where she left off.

Four days after netting a pair of goals in her first career playoff game, the Smyrna High freshman took just four minutes to put her team on the scoreboard Tuesday night.

The goal helped her No. 3 seeded Eagles defeat No. 2 Appoquinimink High 2-1 in the DIAA Div. I girls’ soccer state semifinals.

The Eagles (14-3) face top-seeded Padua Academy (15-1) in the state championship game on June 1 at Caesar Rodney High in what will mark the program’s first ever DIAA championship appearance.

“We’re super excited right now,” said coach Mike Osborne. “This is new territory for us, so we’re absolutely thrilled right now.”

The Eagles’ 4-0 quarterfinals win over Caesar Rodney High last Friday marked the program’s first ever tourney win. Zapata scored two goals with one assist in that playoff win over their division rival to set up the semifinal showdown at Appo.

This year marked Smyrna’s first state tourney appearance since 2016. The program had earned six tourney berths since 2009, including three straight from 2014-16, but went one-and-done each time before this season.

Appo and Smyrna met earlier in the season, with the Eagles also winning that one by a goal, 3-2 in overtime, on April 15. But Osborne knew that just because they won the first matchup doesn’t mean it would be easy this time around.

“We were both missing pivotal players the first time we played,” he said. “So it was going to be interesting to see how those two players impacted the game, but it certainly helped our girls knowing we had seen them before.”

In the 14th minute, senior Hannah Osborne took advantage of the momentum that Zapata’s early goal created and scored a goal of her own to extend the Eagles’ lead to 2-0.

“Our outside back Dru (Moffett) beat a couple girls and played a very beautiful ball,” she said of the play. “I didn’t even see the run and it was a perfectly-paced ball so I knew I had to hit it one time and I just tried to finish far post.”

Appoquinmink’s offense continued to put pressure on the back line of Smyrna, especially in the second quarter, but each time the Jaguars appeared to be on the verge of making a play in front of the net senior goalkeeper Sofia Lerro was there to make the save.

Smyrna had plenty of its own scoring opportunities, including a chance at a goal during stoppage time just before the halftime break, but Osborne’s shot just missed the net.

Taking the 2-0 lead into the fourth quarter, Lerro was faced with defending a penalty kick. Lerro read the opposing player perfectly to make the diving save and preserve the two-goal lead.

“PK’s are pretty much hit or miss, so I didn’t really know what to expect, so I just kind of used what I’ve learned to just pick a side and thank you God I was able to save that ball because that was a really great shot by her,” Lerro said.

“I did try to read her a little bit,” she added. “I saw that she was looking towards that side and she kind of closed her hips a little bit, so I was able to guess that side but sometimes players are pretty good at hiding that.”

The diving save proved crucial because a few minutes later, in the 64th minute, the Jaguars cut the lead in half when senior Olivia Sloan put the ball in the back of the net with an assist from sophomore Chloe Le.

From there, Smyrna’s defense locked in and made sure the Jaguars didn’t put the equalizer in the back of the net for the remaining 15 minutes of the game.

Padua has won the last two Div. I state titles, in 2018 and ’19, and have earned seven state titles dating back to the 2012 season (10 overall), with the Pandas' only loss this year coming to St. Mark's.

“We’ve got a week, so we have some rest and recovery to do and we have to get the girls hydrated and healthy and all that,” said coach Osborne. “Then we have to get a game plan together for a very tough Padua team, which we haven’t seen yet.”