Girls Soccer: Seneca Valley gets past Butler, 4-1
BUTLER TWP — One girls soccer team snuggled into the upper portion of the WPIAL Section 1-4A table, the other was left to contend for the bottom two spots.
Both left feeling better than when they entered Art Bernardi Stadium.
Seneca Valley earned a 4-1 victory over Butler Wednesday night, getting back in the win column after a loss to North Allegheny and a draw with Fox Chapel. The Raiders (8-1-1, 6-1-1) began the season with eight straight wins and entered the second of two meetings with the Golden Tornado (7-5, 5-4) having allowed just five goals in nine fixtures.
“This kind of separates us a little bit,” SV coach Mark Perry said. “Unfortunately, the tie might come back to haunt us, because we still have to play N.A. and I don’t know if anyone is capable of beating them. If they have a mistake, then we have to make sure we win our games the rest of the way.
“This was a big game, because if we had lost, then we go back in the pack with them (Butler). ... It gives us a little bit of breathing room going into the next few games.”
Senior forward Ayla Ward broke the seal on the scoreboard in the 25th minute, prodding the ball home after a Gianna Donatucci corner kick fell into a mass of bodies in the box.
“The first one, I’ve got to trust my keeper — and usually, she’s not one to be too dramatic,” Golden Tornado coach Dan Buzzard said. “But, the bad thing is — with a scrum like that in front of the net — you know that the ref’s not going to have a great view at it. Normally, when you watch a lot of games, that usually gets blown dead.
“I talked to the refs. I understood. He said, ‘Listen, from my vantage point, I didn’t see she had possession.”
Junior Alexandra Shattahi doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 28th minute.
“My halftime talk was the fact that the last time we played this team, we completely collapsed and we just didn’t handle the pressure,” Buzzard said. “They are a fantastic team. ... I thought we played well tonight. I didn’t think 4-1 reflected.”
The Raiders out-shot the hosts, 9-2, in the second half. Senior Leah Deal scored on a Leah Weiland corner just before 10 minutes had passed out of halftime, pulling Butler within one.
SV pulled away later when sophomore Karly Majeski got on the scoreboard in the 68th minute and junior Addison Shank in the 75th.
The Golden Tornado were phasing players back in from injuries sustained earlier in the schedule and were coming off a frustrating perfomance themselves.
With the defeat, Butler slides behind Fox Chapel to fourth in the section standings. The top four teams in the grouping reach the postseason.
“I wanted to come out tonight and kind of get back the confidence and play the way we needed to play,” Buzzard said. “Generally — I know it was 4-1 — I thought we did that. ... If we keep playing the way that we have shown for the vast majority of the season — as long as we do our job — we’ll be fine.”
