WHITEHALL - It was a bit of déjà vu for the Seneca Valley boys soccer team.

On Sept. 4, the Raiders lost 1-0 to Baldwin in the championship game of the Highlanders' own tournament.

Fast forward to Monday night, and you'll see the same matchup and the same venue produced same result.

Senior Goran Rashan scored off a throw-in by teammate Mike Seth early in the second half to lift the Highlanders (19-0-2) to a 1-0 win in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs at Baldwin Stadium.

"They were almost identical," said Seneca Valley coach George Williams of his team's two losses to Baldwin this season. "I thought we matched up well with them, but we just couldn't capitalize on our scoring chances."

Baldwin coach Erik Duffy said he didn't see any reason to stray from the strategy his team employed in the first meeting.

"When you're 18-0-2, you're not going to change too much," he said. "We just wanted to keep going with what got us here."

Highlanders goalkeeper Craig Bieltz earned the shutout with nine saves while Seneca's Dave Monteleone stopped 14 of 15 shots.

"We kept the pressure on (Seneca Valley) tonight," said Duffy. "We played at a high speed and had the better scoring chances."

At the beginning of the game, the Highlanders controlled the tempo, as the majority of play was confined to the Raiders' end of the field.

And the ball was bouncing Baldwin's way.

The Highlanders had a number of corner kicks, free kicks and throw-ins, all within 20 yards of the Seneca goal.

But Monteleone and the Raiders' defense withstood the flurry of scoring chances.

"Generally, when a team gets that many chances close in like that, they end up scoring," said Williams. "But I've got to give credit to our guys for keeping the game scoreless."

In the last 20 minutes of the first half, the Raiders (9-7-1) began to assert themselves in the offensive end.

In the 28th minute of play, Seneca's Zach Nichols booted a corner kick and Shane Kunder put a solid shot on goal, but Bieltz was there for the save.

Bieltz made another stop in the 38th minute of play off the foot of Ahmad Salim to keep the game a scoreless tie.

Following Rashan's goal in the 46th minute of play, the Raiders had a few more opportunities to score, but Bieltz and the Highlanders' defense thwarted each attempt.

The Raiders were the No. 15 seed while Baldwin was No. 2.

"I'm very proud of our kids' effort tonight," said Williams.

The Highlanders move on to play the winner of Monday's game between Pine-Richland and Norwin.