BUTLER TWP — Brittnie Spithaler rose from her sprawled position on the damp grass at the Butler Intermediate soccer field and threw her arms out to her side in jubilation.

Spithaler’s acrobatic goal put the exclamation mark Monday night on one of the biggest wins in recent Butler girls soccer history.

Butler 3, Seneca Valley 0.

It had been nearly 13 years since the Golden Tornado had beaten the section rival Raiders.

In that span, Butler had gone 0-22-2 against Seneca Valley.

“It does one major thing for us: we have won a couple of games where those games were won because we were the more athletic group,” said Butler coach Steve Perri. “This shows we can get back to the type of soccer we are best at.

“As much as it puts us back in the section race and as much as it helps us in the standings,” Perri added, “the one thing it does is it reaffirms this is the type of team we need to be going forward.”

A team with a killer instinct.

After a scoreless first half in which Seneca Valley had the better of the action, Butler (6-3, 3-2) made a few adjustments for the second half.

The biggest one was getting the Tornado center-midfielder more involved.

That turned out to be predominantly sophomore Aidyn Trettel.

“Our offensive center-mid was a huge part of that second half because she received the ball more from other players,” Perri said.

That allowed Butler to threaten more than it did in the first half.

Kelly Kriley scored with 27:25 remaining in the second half.

Hannah Hays followed just five minutes later with a breakaway goal and Spithaler put the finishing touches on the rousing win with her athletic goal at the 14:25 mark.

“It wasn’t the (first) goal that got us going,” Perri said. “It was the performance we had put on. We just needed to tweak one or two things. That’s when the flood gates opened.”

Seneca Valley (6-5, 3-2) was playing without its head coach, Mark Perry, who received a red card in a match Saturday.

Assistant coach Laura Domena filled in for Perry.

“I wouldn’t say we’re disappointed,” Domena said. “The girls played their best. We changed formations and did everything we could. After the first goal was scored, we gave up way too many corners and free kicks.”

The loss broke a three-game winning streak for the Raiders.

“It’s a tough loss,” Domena said. “It’s a tough place to play. We’ll just regroup from this — our next section game is Wednesday. The girls are confident it was just a bad night.”

Butler is playing without Odile Enslen, who tore her ACL last week.

But the Tornado have a deep roster.

“We’re going to miss her,” Perri said. “I already miss her. I turn to put her in the game, but then I remember she’s out. We have a deep team, so hopefully we won’t feel that loss as deeply as we should.”

The win also has Butler believing.

“The talent has always been here,” Perri said. “It was just a matter of getting them to believe and getting that close-knit team. This is as close-knit a team as I can remember.”