SV soccer flips shutout
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's girls soccer team has not responded well when behind on the scoreboard this season.
The Raiders did not have to worry about that Wednesday night.
SV tallied three goals in the first 20 minutes of a critical Section 1-4A meeting with Fox Chapel, downing the Foxes 3-0 at NexTier Stadium.
“The fast start was key for us tonight,” said Raiders' coach Mark Perry. “When we've scored first this season, we play well. When we don't, we struggle. We worked to attack from the beginning of the game.”
That pressure on Fox Chapel's Molly McNaughton paid off in the 11th minute when the goalie came out to challenge a charging Zoe Simpson, who tucked a shot just inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
Just over three minutes later, the Raiders had a throw-in to the left of Fox Chapel's net. It was first touched by SV's Natalie Matthews, then booted past McNaughton by Liv Senff.
SV's early success against the Foxes involved a lot of players.
“We were all working together up top,” said Senff, a sophomore. “We were connecting on our passes and taking shots. That put a lot of pressure on them.”
The third goal came following Mia Zec's free kick from 40 yards. Norah Seibel's shot in the 20th minute made it 3-0.
“We did not defend the set pieces well,” said Fox Chapel coach Peter Torres. “They (Raiders) are dangerous with that. Their throw-ins go from the sideline all the way to the box.”
Perry said of the scoreless second half: “We sat back a little more than I would have liked, but with a 3-0 lead, that's understandable.”
The Foxes (4-4, 3-3) had opportunities, none more glaring than in the 49th minute when SV goalie Morgan Sinan made a diving save and found herself out of position on the rebound. But sophomore defender Olivia Kamarec blocked the second shot and the Foxes remained unable to close the gap.
“We're not going to get 30 shots against Seneca, we know that,” Torres said. “But if we get five good ones in a game and we score on one or two of them, it keeps us in the game.”
Sinan finished with six saves while McNaughton stopped five shots.
“I thought we were solid on defense tonight,” said Perry. “Fox Chapel has some very good players and they like to play a lot of through balls. Morgan did a nice job of coming off her line to intercept them.”
The Raiders (4-2-1, 3-2) host Norwin in a non-section game Thursday. They entered Wednesday's game in fifth place in the section standings. Barring a tie for fourth place, only the top four teams will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.
“There are five teams in this section (North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Fox Chapel and Butler) who can legitimately claim to be the favorite,” said Perry. “It will be a shame if all five don't make the playoffs.
“This win was huge for us. We didn't want to fall any further back.”
