Seneca Valley Sweeps Soccer Titles

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It was a successful day for Seneca Valley at Highmark Stadium in Station Square on Saturday. Both the girls and boys soccer programs won Class 4A WPIAL championships.

In the first game, the top-seed girls team prevailed in overtime against No. 3 Peters Township, 2-1.

Peters Township freshman Casey Brier gave the Indians the lead in the 36th minute. It looked like that would be all Peters Township would need to hoist the championship trophy, but Seneca Valley tied it up just before the final buzzer.

With three seconds remaining in the game and the Peters Township faithful all but celebrating a win, junior Breana Valentovish scored on a free kick.

With all the momentum on their side, it didn’t take long for the Raiders to put the finishing touches on their championship. Just 1 minute and 40 seconds into overtime, senior Lauren Sileo scored on a corner kick.

It was the fifth championship for the Seneca Valley girls soccer program.

Seneca Valley will play Central Dauphin, the District 3 runner-up, in the PIAA first round on Tuesday at Hempfield Area High School at 7 p.m. Peters Township will play District 10 champion, McDowell, on Tuesday at Dollinger Field in Erie, Pa. at 3:30 p.m.

It was a less dramatic, but just as fulfilling outcome for the boys team on Saturday as the top-seed Raiders defeated No. 2 Norwin, 5-2. It was the boys’ first WPIAL title in program history.

The Raiders scored 32 seconds into the contest on a goal from junior Luke Rupert. Norwin settled down and was able to keep the score where it was for the next 25 minutes, but it was only a matter of time before Seneca Valley found the back of the net again. In the 26th minute, senior A.J. Mills made it 2-0.

Norwin responded and was able to cut the lead in half on a goal from senior Carter Breen. That momentum would be short-lived on a goal three minutes later by senior Jackson Wotus for the 3-1 lead.

In the second half, the Raiders picked up goals from Rupert, his second of the game, and sophomore Zachary LaValle.

Seneca Valley will play Hempfield, the fourth-place finisher from District 3, on Tuesday in the PIAA first round at Hempfield Area High School at 5 p.m. Norwin will play District 6 champion, State College, at Bald Eagle Area High School at 6 p.m.