PIAA girls soccer: Ashlee Libby, Seneca Valley dominate Altoona in Class 4A first round
ALTOONA — In its quest for a WPIAL championship last week, the Seneca Valley girls soccer team was held scoreless over 110 minutes of play by Peters Township.
The Raiders had no such trouble Tuesday against Altoona.
They fell behind briefly to the Mountain Lions before three players combined to score five first-half goals as SV coasted to a 6-1 victory over the District 6 champions in a PIAA Class 4A first-round playoff at Mansion Park Stadium.
The effort came just four days after the district championship loss.
“We took Saturday off, came back Sunday and practiced under the lights,” SV coach Mark Perry said. “We had some music playing, and it was good for the girls to just have some fun. Then we started to really prepare for tonight on Monday and that practice was terrible, so I didn’t know what to expect in this game. I think giving up that early goal was a wake-up call for us.”
Lia Sankey scored for the 17th time this season in the seventh minute to give Altoona the early edge. But SV’s speed and accurate shots soon took over.
Ashlee Libby put a shot past Lions goalie Haylee Rodriguez in the 10th minute after a corner kick from teammate Maddie Marcotte.
It was the first of four goals in a nine-minute span for SV (15-3-2). Cassie Leonard scored in the 16th minute off a great pass from Gianna Donatucci, Libby made it a hat trick with tallies in the 17th and 19th minutes and Bella Gianfrancesco added another score late in the first half to push the lead to 5-1 by halftime.
“It felt good to get that fire back,” Leonard said of the scoring outburst. “It took me a couple of days to get over (Friday’s) loss, but I knew there was another game to get ready for.”
Altoona struggled to deal with SV’s speed all over the field. It led to a bevy of scoring opportunities for the Raiders, including 10 corner kicks, and thwarted many chances for the Lions (15-6).
Marcotte scored the final goal in the 42nd minute.
“We have some very skilled players and when we’re clicking, we are able to put a lot of pressure on other teams,” Perry said.
Goalies Sydney Postler and Abigail Rombach split time in net for the win.
The Raiders will play Saturday in a state quarterfinal at a site and time to be determined against District 1 fifth seed Conestoga, which beat Manheim Township 1-0 Tuesday.
