HEMPFIELD TWP —Practice does not always make perfect, but it certainly had Seneca Valley's boys soccer team well prepared for a game-defining sequence Tuesday night.

The Raiders were caught in a 2-2 stalemate with District 3's Hempfield as the PIAA Class 4A first-round contest reached the 22nd minute of overtime.

SV was awarded a corner kick, which A.J. Mills took to the left of Hempfield's net. Initially, the Raiders were unable to capitalize, but the Black Knights were unable to clear the ball.

Raiders' midfielder Tanner Howard played the ball back into the box, where Keegan McVicker was waiting. The senior defender possessed the ball with his back to the net, turned around and made good on an unobstructed shot for a 3-2 victory.

“We practice that,” said McVicker. “On corner kicks, if we don't score right away, we have to stay in position in case the ball gets played back in.

“I turned around, saw the goalkeeper and put the ball where he wasn't. That is by far the biggest goal I have ever scored.”

And it advances Seneca Valley to the quarterfinals against Abington (21-2) Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

“This was a great game between two evenly-matched teams,” said Knights' coach Mark Ashley. “Seneca Valley is well coached and excellent on the attack.”

SV held a 2-1 lead for the entire second half until the 73rd minute. Raider keeper Will Gallagher was forced to come off his line and challenge Jake Suchar on the left side of the box. The ball was booted to the right of the net before being sent into it by Ryan Hepler, tying the game at 2.

“I am really proud of the way our guys hung in there,” said Ashley. “Ryan's goal was just a tremendous effort.”

The Raiders (18-2-1) were coming off their first-ever WPIAL title, won Saturday over Norwin. Maybe they had a bit of a hangover when they fell behind less than four minutes into Tuesday's game on a goal by Hempfield's Cameron Graybill.

“It is so hard to get up for a game after a big win like that,” said SV coach George Williams. “As the game went on, though, the stronger we were.”

That was definitely the case after the Raiders found themselves down for the first time this postseason.

Luke Rupert tucked a shot past Hempfield keeper Tristan Green in the 21st minute to tie the game.

Then, less than two minutes before halftime, Marshall Malin fed a pass that Jackson Wotus turned into a goal as the Raiders led 2-1 at intermission.

“That was a big goal. It gave us more momentum and confidence entering the second half,” Williams said.

Both keepers provided clutch saves. Gallagher stopped nine shots, including a diving save of a shot by Hepler minutes after the latter had tied the game late in the second half.

Green made 12 saves, nine of them coming in the second half. The senior made several diving stops.

“He's been a very good keeper for us,” said Ashley, “but this was the best game of his career.”