Senior moments at SV
JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley girls soccer team really knows how to celebrate Senior Night.
Four of the team's six seniors netted goals, starting off with Rachel Leake's tally just 1 minute, 31 seconds into the game in a 6-0 Section 2-AAA victory over Butler Wednesday at NexTier Stadium.
“We were trying to do that,” Raiders coach Dave Sylvester said. “You don't want to do that against someone. We moved Misha (Demchuk) up and she got a goal, we moved Melissa (Lynskey) up, she got a goal.”
The quick score by Leake, which came off a block by a high-reaching Mackenzie Troyan in net, set the tone early in the game, according to Butler coach Steve Perri.
“We thought the major turning point the last game (a 3-2 Tornado loss) was we scored two minutes into the game. This time, they score 1 1/2 minutes into the game. It's hard to compete when they go up 1-0. When we did that, it gave us some confidence but they had the experience to come back.
“For us, people start to think differently. They feel it as a weight piles up. Some try to do too much,” Perri added.
The Raiders (15-1, 11-1) captured their 15th consecutive win after a 1-0 loss to Hampton in the season opener.
“We weren't ready to play in that game,” Sylvester said. “I don't want to say that was a good thing, but we may not have been as good.”
The Raiders doubled their lead with 20:03 left in the first half when Caroline Miller took a pass from Kayli Kumanchik and fired past Troyan.
Just over three minutes later, Mary Kate Zahorchak buried a shot from 35 yards away to give the Raiders a three-goal advantage at the break.
In the second half, Bilka scored, this time off an assist from Melissa Lynskey, with 23:55 to play before Demchuk and Lynskey added their goals, the latter with Kelsey O'Connor picking up an assist.
For Butler, the loss dropped the squad to 7-8-1 overall and 3-8-1 in the section. A win in the season finale against visiting Brashear on Saturday will give the Tornado a .500 record.
“My goal at the beginning of the year was eight to 12 wins,” Perri said. “I told them that the first time we met, you can do it if you do your part.
“We have seven wins with one to play ... In years past, that would have been fantastic.”
Notes: The Raiders' other two seniors were leading scorer Morgan Williams, who missed her third consecutive game due to a foot injury, and Mallory Accamando, a defender ... The Raiders have outscored their opponents 45-10 this season ... Troyan finished with 11 saves while Raiders keeper Jessica Neill made four stops ... The Raiders will close out regular-season play Saturday as they host Gateway.
