Stalemate
JACKSON TWP — The scoreboard revealed no winner in Seneca Valley's girls soccer season finale against rival Butler Monday night, but both head coaches focused on the positive as the WPIAL playoffs loom.
The Raiders entered the night one game in front of Butler for second place out of Section 1-4A, so the 1-1 tie salvaged by Mark Perry's team allowed SV to retain that position.
“Our goal was to stay in second place by ourselves and we did that,” he said. “Both of us are very good teams, but second place means we'll get a better seed in the playoffs.”
As for Butler, the Golden Tornado finish in third place, but had a much stronger effort than in their previous game, a 3-0 loss to North Allegheny last Wednesday.
“I thought our effort tonight was fantastic,” said Butler coach Steve Perri. “There's always going to be a bit of disappointment when you don't win, but I have a much better mindset as to who we are as a team after tonight.”
Seneca Valley's Zoe Simpson put the Raiders (11-3-2, 8-3-1) on top with a goal in the 15th minute. Her shot from the left of the goal was perfectly placed in the top right corner of the net, out of the reach of Tornado goalkeeper Mackenna Yaracs.
Simpson, a sophomore forward with impressive speed, accounted for several other scoring chances for the Raiders.
“Butler has more team speed than we do and we tried to get the ball outside,” said Perry. “Zoe came into the game and made an impact.”
Butler scored the equalizer in the 61st minute when the Raiders were unable to clear a corner kick by Butler's McKenna Robinson to the right of the net.
The ball bounced back to Robinson, who made good on an unobstructed shot from 25 yards.
SV keeper Morgan Sinan, who was under heavy pressure in the second half and overtime, secured nine saves. Yaracs stopped seven shots.
“Butler played desperate tonight and we didn't,” said Perry. “We played more defensive and we've done that before against them.”
Despite entering the playoffs as a third-place team, Perri is confident his team can make a run.
“I don't think anyone wants to play us in the playoffs, or any team from our section,” he said.
Section champion North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and Fox Chapel will also compete in the postseason.
Butler will close the regular season with a non-section game at home against Penn-Trafford on Wednesday, the same day the WPIAL playoff pairings are scheduled to be released.
