BUTLER TWP - The goal caught Seneca Valley boys soccer coach George Williams by surprise - not that he's complaining.

In Thursday's Section 2-AAA matchup against Butler, Tyler Smith scored off an assist from Kyle Connell with 6:08 left in the first overtime to give the Raiders a 1-0 victory over the Golden Tornado.

The loss was Butler's first in 11 contests and locks the two squads into a tie for first place in the section at 5-1.

"It was just kind of a scrapper goal," said George Williams. "It was bobbled around in the middle, then it went inside.

"It looked like it squirted underneath the keeper, and our guy was in the right place at the right time," Williams added.

"Our defender slid in and they went around," said Butler coach Chuck Kelley. "As they came in, it hit off one of our players."

Both teams had several scoring chances, but Seneca Valley goalie David Monteleone and Butler's Tim Duffy came up big. Monteleone made 11 saves while Duffy made nine.

"David made some good saves," said Williams. "It's nice to have someone like that behind us. Both goalies made six saves apiece in the second half. Monteleone made two big saves in the first 50 seconds to keep the game scoreless.

In overtime, Seneca Valley's Bob Albrecht had two opportunities to score only to be denied by Duffy. The latter, with 7:10 remaining, held the Raiders off, albeit for just another minute.

It was a far cry from the way the Raiders came out in the first half, generating only one good shot on goal.

"It's always tough for us to come to someone else's place and get started," said Williams. "We tend to come out flat. It's always a bit of an adjustment and then we work through that and get going."

The Tornado had gotten off to an amazing start, having won two overtime games, and have allowed just four goals in 11 games.

"They're disappointed, but this is the 11th game of the year with no breaks," said Kelley. "We missed two easy chances in the first five minutes.

"Seneca Valley's a good team. They're similar to us. They work hard and grind it out," Kelley added.

The Raiders improved to 5-3 overall but have made great strides in recent games, evidenced by the first-place tie with Butler at the midway point.

"I'm very pleased," said Williams. "Momentum-wise, we're where we need to be. We figured some things out and we had some tough losses early.

"Butler is doing really well. They're a good team. We should be really pleased.

"I'm not looking forward to playing them again, that's for sure," Williams added.