BRIDGEVILLE — Catherine Messmer pulled her jersey over her flushed face to hide her pain and to soak up her tears.

It was a heartbreaking Thursday night for the Seneca Valley senior and her soccer team.

Raiders coach Dave Sylvester put his left arm around Messmer as her teammates flocked to her side to console her.

Nothing, though, could take away the source of her anguish: a loss to Peters Township in the second round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs on penalty kicks.

"This is the worst possible way to lose," Sylvester said.

After playing 110 minutes at Chartiers Valley High without deciding an outcome, Peters Township scored a 5-4 win in penalty kicks.

Messmer was the only Raiders shooter to misfire when Indians goalkeeper Megan Junker made a diving save to her left.

All five Peters Township strikers scored, capped by a kick by Hannah Weyrick that glanced off the hands of Seneca Valley keeper Keara Lydon and into the net for the winning tally.

Messmer's penalty kick, angled low and to the left of Junker, wasn't a bad one. But the junior keeper anticipated the shot and got enough of it to keep it from crossing the goal line.

"You have to feel for (Messmer)," Sylvester said. "She's a senior. She's one of our leaders. It could have happened to anybody. Unfortunately, it happened to her."

Just getting to the penalty kicks was an accomplishment for the defending WPIAL champions.

Peters Township (17-1-2) outshot the Raiders 22-4 and controlled the tempo from the kickoff.

However, by the end of regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods, the score was tied at 1.

Seneca Valley (17-3) had few scoring opportunities, but made the most of its first when Katie Kelly split two defenders and lofted a perfect shot over the outstretched hands of Junker with 19:06 remaining in the first half.

Meanwhile, Peters Township had plenty of scoring chances, but saw Lydon and the Raiders defense turn it away near miss after near miss

Lydon had 15 saves in the contest; few of them were easy.

"Keara did a nice job," Sylvester said. "She's not had to do a lot of work for us this year. But when we needed it, she came up big tonight."

The only shot that got past Lydon before the penalty kicks was off the head of Peters Township leading scorer Ali Forbrich with 7:50 remaining in the first half.

Shelli Spamer set up Forbrich's 30th goal of the season with a perfectly placed corner kick.

The Indians threatened to score several times off corner kicks. Their best chance in the second half was turned away after the ball bounded around in the box for several seconds before it was cleared.

Seneca Valley's plan from the start was obvious: make Peters Township earn every scoring chance.

The Raiders kept four players back on defense and tried to control the midfield. But Sylvester said his team didn't control it enough.

"I would have liked to do a better job," Sylvester said. "They are a very talented team."

Seneca Valley must hope that talent carries the Indians to a WPIAL title.

Should Peters Township win the championship, the Raiders will get a second life in the state playoffs — and a return engagement with their WPIAL ouster.