The Mt. Lebanon boys soccer season began the season competing at Highmark Stadium in the East-West Classic, going 0-1-1.
No question the goal this season for the squad was to play another game on that field.
The No. 2 Blue Devils (15-4-1) accomplished that feat on Saturday with a 2-1 win against No. 3 Seneca Valley (14-4-1) at Moon. The Raiders were the defending Class 4A WPIAL champions.
The win also avenged a 7-0 loss to Seneca Valley in last year’s quarterfinals.
It was a sluggish start for the Blue Devils, who fell behind 1-0 in the first five minutes of the game. Ben Francis, an all-section first team pick, scored the first goal of the game to give Seneca Valley a 1-0 lead.
Senior Giuseppe Croce, an all-section first team pick for Mt. Lebanon, made sure this wasn’t going to be his last high school game.
Croce evened the score in the 18th minute and found the back of the net again in the 45th minute, which proved to be the game-winner.
Mt. Lebanon is going to look for a clean sweep in the Class 4A WPIAL Championship Game against Canon-McMillan. The Blue Devils won both regular season matchups by scores of 3-1 and 4-3.
The Blue Devils will be making their first appearance in the WPIAL Championship Game since 2009 and first time since it moved to Highmark Stadium. The date and time is still to be determined.