BUTLER TWP - Butler kept the ball in Seneca Valley territory most of the night.

But the Raiders put the ball in Butler's net twice Wednesday evening and sneaked away with a critical 2-1 Section 2-AAA girls soccer victory over the Golden Tornado.

"They thoroughly outplayed us," Seneca Valley coach Dave Sylvester said. "They had us on our heels the entire game.

"That's the sport of soccer, though. Sometimes the team that played better doesn't win."

Senior forward Cassie Berlin scored the winning goal with 9:57 remaining in regulation when she took a lead pass from teammate Ashley Rees, beat a defender to the ball and rolled a shot into the near right corner, just past sprawling Butler goalkeeper Lisa Rodgers.

The Tornado (5-3-1, 2-3-1) had a 14-8 edge in shots on goal. They took seven corner kicks to Seneca Valley's two.

Other shots sailed over the net or wide of the goal.

"And Aly (Intihar) came up big for us in goal," Sylvester said.

Berlin's goal, her sixth of the season, came on the Raiders' third - and final - shot of the second half.

"This one's tough to take," Butler coach Marlene Peoples said. "We did everything but put the ball in their net."

The teams traded goals in the first half. Junior midfielder Jessica Meurer got the Raiders on the board when she lofted a shot from the left of the net.

The ball just got over Rodgers' outstretched arms as she leaped for it. The shot came down under the crossbar and into the net with 16:37 left in the half.

The goal was Meurer's fourth of the year. She scored three in a recent win over Pine-Richland.

Jamie Albert got Butler even 10 minutes later. Off an assist from Lindsay Hohn, she rolled a shot across the goal-mouth, past a lunging Intihar and into the left corner of the net. The goal was Albert's fourth of the campaign.

The Tornado are winless in their last three games, however, scoring just two goals in those contests.

"Unfortunately, goals are hard to come by in this section," Peoples said. "The competition is very good."

Seneca Valley (6-1-2, 5-0-1) has gotten the best of that competition thus far.

"To be halfway through section play now and not have a loss really puts us in good position," Sylvester said. "This was a gutsy win for us because Butler clearly wanted this game more than we did.

"This was our worst game, by far. But we made plays when we had to."

One such play was turned in by sophomore defender Logan Gamelier. Intihar chose to try diving on the ball before Butler's Kelly Hilderbrand could get away a shot just to the left of the net.

Intihar got a piece of the ball, but it would have trickled into the net had Gamelier not jumped into the goal crease and kicked it away, less than two minutes after the Raiders scored the first goal.

The night was a study in frustration for the Tornado offensively:

Hilderbrand headed a corner kick just wide early in the first half.

Karilee Cowan shot a penalty kick just wide late in the first half.

Albert and Jen Schwab were stopped by Intihar on shots right in front of the net less than two minutes into the second half.

Ashley Oluschak was robbed by Intihar on a deflection of a Schwab corner kick 11 minutes into the second half.

Intihar made a lunging save on a Hilderbrand header with 2:25 left in the game.

"That was a huge save," Sylvester said. "No way did we deserve to win this game, but I'm glad we got it."

Seneca Valley is 6-0-1 in its last seven games. The Raiders had a scoreless tie at Shaler last week.

The loss drops Butler two games out of a playoff spot.

"All we can do now is string some wins together and hope things work our way," Peoples said. "I don't think we can afford any more losses."