JACKSON TWP — Give a two-time defending state champion a lead in the second half and you're just asking for trouble.

But along with its solid 13-4 record, the Seneca Valley boys soccer team brought something else into its playoff game against Upper St. Clair: resolve.

Trailing the Panthers 2-1 with less than 16 minutes to play, Seneca Valley scored two goals in a span of 4½ minutes for a 3-2 victory in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs Monday night at Raiders Stadium.

SV's Bobby Albrecht scored the tying goal off a rebound with 15:28 left in the second half.

The senior midfielder then assisted on the game-winning score when his centering pass found Kevin Miller, who beat USC goalkeeper Mark Hast with 10:55 remaining.

"Upper St. Clair is a great team and we had to respect them," said Raiders coach George Williams. "But what a performance by our kids. It was a great way to end our (home schedule)."

The win sends SV to the district quarterfinals against Plum, a 5-1 winner over Kiski Area. The site, time and date hasn't been announced.

Following USC's second goal of the game, courtesy of Yu Ishihara just three minutes into the second half, the Panthers (11-8-2) tightened up on defense to protect their 2-1 advantage.

"They packed it in," said Williams of USC's strategy. "And we did nothing special on offense to counter that. But USC is really in shape as a team. They were wearing us out, so we made sure to keep rotating a lot of kids into the game.

"Plus, we seem to be a team that gets better as the game goes on."

In the 20-plus minutes following Ishihara's goal, Seneca Valley had several scoring chances, but the Panthers' defense rose to the occasion every time — until Albrecht's goal tied the game.

Not to be overlooked was the play of Seneca Valley's defense down the stretch.

SV goalkeeper Dave Monteleone, who tallied six saves in the game, was forced to make just one in the final 15 minutes.

"We just couldn't move the ball near the end of the game," said Panthers coach Uwe Schneider. "Seneca Valley began to pressure us more and they stepped up to the challenge."

In the first 20 minutes of the first half, Upper St. Clair was getting the better of the play, despite the game being scoreless.

"USC came out very strong," said Williams. "We were on our heels."

The Raiders got on the scoreboard first when Kyle Connell's centering pass led to a header from Matt Jones with 11:21 remaining in the first half.

It appeared as though SV would take the 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Raiders were unable to clear a late USC possession and Andrew Reilly booted the ball between Monteleone and the left post just 40 seconds before the break.

"Honestly, I think we got a bit lucky with that goal just before halftime," said Schneider. "At the beginning of the game, we were doing well, but then we lost it."

Hast ended the game with 10 saves.

It was the SV boys soccer program's first postseason win since 2000 and just the second playoff win in its history.