Youth movement
JACKSON TWP — Let youth be served.
Seneca Valley sophomore midfielder Lauren Bresko lofted an arching shot over the shoulder of goalkeeper Ava Falcione and into the net in the 72nd minute Monday night. The shot gave the Raiders a 3-2 victory over Peters Township in a first-round WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer playoff game at NexTier Stadium.
Seneca Valley (13-5-1), with only one senior on its roster, reached the WPIAL quarterfinal round for the fifth successive year.
“At first, we didn't think we'd be able to do it this year,” said junior midfielder Jessica Frank, who had a goal and assist Monday. “But once we started playing together, we started to believe in ourselves again.”
The Raiders defeated a Peters Township (10-6-3) team that had seven seniors in its starting lineup.
“Nine of our girls were starting their first-ever playoff game,” first-year SV coach Mark Perry said. “The nerves were there. That showed in the first 10 minutes.”
The Indians controlled play early and 12-goal scorer Regan LaVigna slammed a shot off the crossbar from 27 yards out in the game's first three minutes.
LaVigna and 15-goal scorer Hannah Stuck — the only players on either team with more than 10 goals this season — were kept off the scoresheet Monday.
“We did a good job of limiting their opportunities. They are great players,” Perry said.
Frank scored the game's first goal in the 13th minute after Falcione bobbled a loose ball as it rolled toward her. As the ball bounced out of the goalkeeper's grasp, Frank was there to drill it into the open net for her eighth goal of the season.
“That's how most of the goals were scored tonight,” Peters Township coach Pat Vereb said. “It was more taking advantage of opposing mistakes rather than offensive creativity.”
Peters Township tied the game in that fashion. When a ball deflected away from SV goalkeeper Jessica Pollaci and a defender, PT senior Mia Toscano was there to deliver the equalizer with 2:39 left in the first half.
Frank dropped a pass back to sophomore midfielder Julia Redilla, who scored her ninth goal of the year in the 53rd minute to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.
Less than seven minutes later, Caitlyn Ulrich jumped on a ball that eluded Pollaci and the game was knotted at two.
“We had some communication issues back there we haven't seen all year,” Perry said.
Seneca Valley had not allowed a goal in its last six games before seeing a pair of shots find the back of its net Monday.
“That affected us a little bit,” Frank admitted. “We knew we'd have to get a little more aggressive on offense. We don't score a whole lot of goals.”
Redilla's nine goals lead the team.Bresko's goal enabled the seventh-seeded Raiders to move on to face No. 2 seed Canon McMillan (16-0-1) — a 5-0 winner over Hempfield — in the quarterfinals Thursday at a site and time to be determined.Pollaci made a couple of sprawling saves down the stretch to preserve the 3-2 lead.“We have three outstanding goalies and Jessica made some big stops,” Perry said. “Our winning goal may have been deflected. It had enough spin to carry it high in to the net.”Peters Township had a 10-9 edge in shots on net. Seneca Valley had five corner kicks to the Indians' two.“It was a game of bounces,” Vereb said. “We played hard. This is the finality, the reality of lose and go home playoff soccer.”
