Ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer and seeded first, Lenape (21-1) advanced to play in the state Group 4 semifinal against Central Jersey champion Jackson Memorial, 5 p.m., Tuesday, at Neptune.

Eastern, No. 6 seeded and ranked, finished 16-6.

"Even though we have some of the same players, we tell the players that this is a different team and it's their chance to establish their own identity," Lenape coach Kevin Meder said.

Lenape sophomore Katie Rigby broke the scoreless tie by tapping in a cross from Emmy Duffey with 14 minutes left in the second half for her 12th goal of the season.

Rigby was a major force on last year's undefeated state champion and she has been a clutch finisher again despite receiving increased defensive attention.

"Last year, we relied a lot on Tali," Rigby said about Natalia Torosian, The Inquirer's South Jersey Player of the Year who is now playing at Florida. "This year, we are getting leadership from so many girls and it's a great feeling to win this again."

Eastern missed a chance to take the lead in the first half when the Vikings shot wide on a penalty kick.

To the players' credit on both teams, the play was fairly crisp despite the frigid rainy weather.

Both teams moved the ball from 18 to 18, but neither generated many great scoring opportunities on the artificial turf field.

Eastern starting goalie Deana Wood, who was moved to forward later in the game, made a nice diving stop on a 20-yard direct kick from Chelsea Cannon.

Other than that, both teams had difficulties mustering much offense against top-flight defenses.

This is what one would expect from the teams that have won the last four state titles – Eastern in 2005 and 2006 and Lenape the last two seasons.

It was the first time these two played since Lenape won at Eastern, 3-0, in the opening game for both teams this season.

"This is a Lenape team that just finds a way to win," Eastern coach Jamie McGroarty said. "When we won our two state titles we found a way to win and now Lenape has that same karma."

Eastern   0 0 - 0

Lenape   0 1 - 1

Goals: L-Katie Rigby. Saves: L-Allison Johnson 5. E-Deana Wood 5, Kaitlyn Hertz 1, Lauren Minghenelli 0.

Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com