Quick strikes
JACKSON TWP — In the end, Seneca Valley scored all the goals it would need within the first six minutes of the game.
Quick scores from senior forwards Jared Myers and Brad Banks put the Raiders' boys soccer team up 2-0. It was a deficit Butler was never able to erase in a 4-1 decision Thursday afternoon at NexTier Stadium.
Myers' tally came just five minutes and 22 seconds into the game, followed by Banks' goal 30 seconds later.
“To get a 1-0 lead early is nice,” said SV coach George Williams. “Getting up 2-0, that was a very big boost for us.
“But an early lead like that can be dangerous because a team can get comfortable,” he added. “We were able to keep working hard and kept Butler from getting back into it.”
Obviously, Butler coach Troy Mohney saw the game's opening minutes from a different perspective.
“We weren't ready to play right from the start today,” he said. “It's tough to come back from that (a 2-0 deficit), but at that point, there was still plenty of time and we had our chances.”
One of them came in the 20th minute of play when Butler senior Matt Huey was awarded a penalty kick, but SV goalie Colton Smith dove to his right to make the save, keeping the Golden Tornado off the scoreboard.
The Raiders made it 3-0 later in the first half when Jorge Olan found the back of the net, seven minutes before Cassian Widenhofer scored Butler's first and only goal and the score remained 3-1 at halftime.
Butler did earn three corner kicks in the second half, but none of them produced a score.
SV senior forward Kyle Jennings capped the offense with a goal late in the second half.
Smith finished the day with four saves while Adam Voelker had nine stops for the Tornado.
The Raiders (13-1-1, 11-0), who had already clinched a Section 2-AAA title, can cap a perfect section slate with a win at Pine-Richland Saturday.
“It's something that we haven't talked about much,” said Williams, “but I can tell it means a lot to the boys. It's going to be a tough game, it always is with Pine-Richland.”
Butler (9-6, 7-4) clinched a WPIAL playoff berth for the first time in five years with Tuesday's 4-3 overtime victory at Hampton.
“It's tough to think about after losing a game like this,” said Mohney, “but it is a great accomplishment for the team. Making the playoffs was one of our goals at the start of the year.”
