JACKSON TWP — Though he has been a vital member of the Seneca Valley boys lacrosse team's offense this season with over 30 points, Nick Salvatore isn't used to being the leading man.

The role suited him just fine Tuesday night.

The junior midfielder scored five times as the Raiders wore down Franklin Regional to prevail 9-3 in a WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff at NexTier Stadium.

“Dan Rupert leads us with 60-some points this season, but Nick seemed to have the juices going tonight and we just let him go,” said SV coach Peter Tumbas.

“It's new for me,” Salvatore said of pacing the offense. “We try to stay as flexible as we can on offense, but I felt the adrenaline flowing tonight. I saw my lane and took it.”

SV's win came in the second game of a doubleheader. The first game saw Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's boys advance in Class AA with a dominating 18-6 win over Gateway.

Seneca came up empty on its first eight shot attempts before Salvatore beat Panther goalie Nate Seymour, tying the game at 1-1 with just over two minutes left in the opening quarter.

Two more goals from Salvatore followed a tally by Ryan Houser and the Raiders led 4-1 at halftime. It could easily have been a much larger lead if not for Seymour, who made nine of his 14 saves in the first two quarters.

“He played great tonight and has been solid all season,” Franklin Regional coach Justin Meenan said of his goalie. “This game matched two different styles. Seneca Valley likes to play fast and we like to play very slow.”

“He (Seymour) is a big goalie,” said Tumbas. “We knew we were going to have to move him and challenge him. Not all of our shots were good ones and we allowed him to make some easy saves. But he also made some big ones that kept them in the game.”

The Raiders' speed helped tilt the field in their favor, but despite controlling play, their lead was still just 5-2 midway through the third quarter.

That's when Nate Lewis scored for SV, igniting a 4-0 run that spilled over into the fourth period and effectively put the game on ice. The run included Salvatore's final two goals sandwiched around Rupert's second score of the night.

SV goalie Brady Moze made six saves in the win.

Franklin Regional's season ended with an 8-8 record.

The Raiders (14-5) will face Shady Side Academy in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pine-Richland.

Class AA CWNC 18, Gateway 6

There's no mistaking Don Bryant's philosophy on lacrosse.

“One thing I make very clear to our players is that we need to play fast, transition fast and be ready to play at the start of every whistle,” said Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's coach.

The Trojans executed that game plan very well and Gateway (5-13) paid the price.

Leading 2-1 with under four minutes remaining in the first quarter, CWNC hit another gear, scoring six more goals by the end of the period.

Three of the goals during the run belonged to junior attackman Seth Benson, but by the end of the game, eight different players had scored for the Trojans (11-4).

Benson and Keegan O'Shea both tallied five goals in the game and Chris Virostek scored three times.

“Early in the season, our scoring wasn't spread out,” said Bryant. “Our attack is tremendous with Seth, Chris and Alex Culbertson, but I like the way our (midfielders) have taken it upon themselves to contribute more on offense.”

Noah Sperling made five saves for CWNC before giving way to backup Ty Thompson in the second half.

The Trojans will take on Moon in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Thursday at Quaker Valley.