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JACKSON TWP — North Allegheny girls soccer coach Danielle Baginski was hoping her team had a short memory. Seneca Valley coach Dave Sylvester was hoping his team had a good one.
Two weeks ago, the Raiders defeated the Tigers 7-1 in a Section 2-AAA contest.
On Wednesday, Katie Riley scored with 29:21 remaining in regulation to break a scoreless tie which sent the Raiders to a 2-0 victory at NexTier Stadium.
The win clinched the section title for Seneca Valley (12-1-1, 9-0), which owns a four-game lead over the Tigers (8-5, 6-4), Hampton (5-4) and Pine-Richland (4-4-1).
“I told the girls they are going to come in and remember what you did on their field (Sept. 19),” Sylvester said. “And, (North Allegheny) played well.”
“We got our heads in the game this time,” said Baginski. “Obviously we did not in that 7-1 loss. I told the girls they had to show up and play. Mark on the midfielders, run our offense.”
Neither team could break through in the first half as both defenses stepped up tremendously.
Tigers goalkeeper Madison Martin did make four saves in the first 40 minutes, including a diving stop in the right front corner off a Morgan Williams crossing shot with 17 minutes left in the half.
One minute earlier, Melissa Lynskey's free kick sailed to the front of the net. Martin made a save, but the ball trickled out and the Raiders couldn't bury the shot as it deflected off the post.
The Tigers' best shot was on a first-half breakaway by Katie Hohmann, but Raiders' freshman goalie Jessica Neill charged out from the net and corralled the ball.
Finally, Riley took a pass from Williams and lofted a shot from 30 yards out. The ball deflected off the crossbar and bounced in for the game's first score.
“We talked about at the half that their keeper was really flying out of the net,” Sylvester said. “If we got an opening, keep your head up and get a couple of long balls going.”
That almost happened with 27:50 left when Marykate Zahorchak's shot from 35 yards away hit the crossbar and rolled out, almost making it 2-0.
Seneca Valley got an insurance goal with 13:51 remaining when Williams took a pass from Alex Bilka through a pair of defenders on a breakaway and fired past Martin for the score.
“I told the girls what an improvement this was from the first game,” said Baginski. “We didn't play to the whistle, though. Our girls were calling offside and stopped, but didn't keep playing.”
With the section crown wrapped up, Sylvester is hopeful his team will not lose its focus.
Having won WPIAL titles in 2007 and 2009, the team regressed last year with a 6-7-3 record. Now, the Raiders have placed themselves among the top teams in Class AAA.
“These girls now were freshmen and sophomores when we won our last WPIAL title,” Sylvester said. “We were so young last year. People needed to realize we had lost a lot of senior leadership.
“Now, they've had a year to mature. This is a nice bunch of kids,” he added.
Notes: Neill finished with seven saves; Martin with six ... Seneca Valley has outscored its opponents 43-7 this season, including nine shutouts. The Tigers entered the game with consecutive shutouts ... The Raiders return to action Thursday at Moon.
