BUTLER TWP — Down 3-0 just 20 minutes into the match against rival Seneca Valley, Butler girls soccer coach Steve Perri was not thinking about a comeback.

He simply wanted to see his team play better than it had.

“I'm not much of a yeller, per se,” Perri said. “But I challenged them a little bit at halftime. It was just, 'Guys, to be better going forward, we have to be better than this.'”

Freshman Chloe Weiland, though, did think the Golden Tornado could rally for a win.

Butler (9-5-2, 7-4-1) nearly did in the first meeting between the two schools when the Raiders jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 victory.

Weiland stored that experience in the back of her mind.

Her teammates did, too.

Weiland made sure this comeback was completed, scoring the match-tying and match-winning goals in the second half to cap a wild and improbable 4-3 home win over Seneca Valley Monday night.

“I knew we could do it,” Weiland said. “We knew we could do it. We just got fired up and got our momentum going.”

Seneca Valley (13-2, 10-2) had all the momentum in the first half.

Breana Valentovish scored a pair of goals in the first 20 minutes off perfectly executed corner kicks off the toe of Julia Redilla.

Redilla also scored on a header to give Seneca Valley a 3-0 lead in a match that looked to be a rout.

But McKenna Robinson cracked the scoreboard for Butler late in the first half to give the Tornado something to build on.

Emily Fleeger then cut the lead to 3-2 with 24:55 remaining in the second half and Butler suddenly had life.

Seneca Valley coach Mark Perry lamented that his team “quit playing, and they started to play.”

“They were down 3-0 the last time we played them and almost came back,” Perry added. “We didn't learn from it. You have to give them credit. His girls gave a great effort and mine didn't, and we got the outcome we deserved.”

For Weiland, who has been playing soccer since she was 3 — in fact, she said one of her earliest memories is of booting a soccer ball — coming up big in the section finale was incomparable.

Her goal that knotted the score at 3-3 came on a breakaway as she made a move around a Seneca Valley defender to open up a shooting lane and bent a shot into the net past Morgan Sinan.

Her winning goal with 10:06 remaining in the second half was also a perfectly placed shot in the top right-corner of the net from 20 yards away.

“It's exhilarating,” Weiland said. “Super exciting.”

Seneca Valley had several chances to launch a comeback itself.

Lauren Sileo got past the Butler defense and had an open right side of the net, but her soft shot skimmed off the turf and hit the post.

“She did the right thing there,” Perry said. “It just hit the post.”

The loss may cost Seneca Valley, the section champions, the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, even with a 3-0 win over Norwin — the other possible top seed — this season.

Norwin finished its section schedule undefeated.

What Perry hopes is really altered is his team's attitude going forward.

“It's one game and we'll move forward,” Perry said. “Now we know we have to work hard because we know anyone can beat us.

“Hopefully our girls now realize if we lose again, we're done,” Perry added. “We have a good seven to 10 days to work hard at practice and correct what is known to be our weakness, which was shown tonight.”

Both keepers played exceptionally well.

Sinan finished with eight saves, including two in the second half that could have given Butler and even bigger lead.

Butler keeper Paige Miller had seven saves in the first half to staunch the bleeding and had nine in the match.

Despite the win, the Golden Tornado are still the No. 4 team out of Section 1-4A.

But a win like this certainly bodes well for Butler going forward after rallying from three goals down.

“You don't see that a lot, especially against a team that could be the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL,” Perri said. “This should give them a lot of confidence.”