SHALER — This season could very well be the Year of the Mustang.

The Plum boys soccer team certainly hopes so.

Showing they are arguably the team to beat in Class AAA, the Mustangs used four goals from Paul Paradise to defeat Seneca Valley 6-2 in the quarterfinal round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Plum had knocked off Kiski Area 5-1 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals.

"If we play our game, we'll go as far as we want," said Plum coach Jeff Nese. "Seven of these guys play for my Classic team. If we play sharp, I've been told we're the team to beat. We play great defense. We only keep three back."

The Mustangs (18-1-1) have 14 wins in a row — including 12 shutouts — and allowed just one goal in six other games. The two goals scored by Seneca Valley equals the most allowed by the Mustangs.

"We've played solid defense all year," said Nese. "We only gave up eight goals all year, but gave up three in the playoffs. We can't be giving up that many."

"Our guys came ready to play," said Seneca Valley coach George Williams. "We came right at them. I give a lot of credit to Plum. They have a lot of talent.

"After we scored, we weren't marking their toughest players … In the end, that buried us," Williams added.

The Raiders (14-5) did jump out first, taking a 1-0 lead when Kevin Miller had a header in front of the net off a corner kick from Tyler Smith with 27 minutes, 29 seconds left in the first period.

"That was a huge boost right off the bat," said Williams.

That goal also worked wonders for Plum as well.

"That goal kick-started us," said Nese. "We could've gone longer and longer if they didn't score. If we go out in front 1-0, we have the firepower. We have the guys who can score goals.

"When (Seneca Valley) scored, we knew we could score," he added.

The Mustangs tied the score three minutes later when Paradise knocked a loose ball in front past Raiders' goalkeeper Dave Monteleone.

With 21:43 left in the half, Paradise scored on a penalty kick to give the Mustangs the 2-1 lead.

Mike McDade, who had a hat trick in the win against Kiski, scored with 13:37 left before halftime to open up a two-goal advantage.

The Raiders bounced back when Bobby Albrecht scored in front of a crowded net past Mustangs goalie Zach Matthews to pull the Raiders to 3-2 just 90 seconds into the second half.

However, Plum scored 1:21 later on the third of Paradise's goals to quickly take back the two-goal lead.

"They threw a little something different at us," said Williams. "We thought we had it figured out when we got that second goal, but that fourth goal broke our backs."

Paradise added another goal and John Kraemer closed out the scoring with a goal with 1:08 left.

"I give our guys a lot of credit," said Williams. "The last 30 seconds, we're still trying to score … There was not a lack of effort on our part. I'm proud of our guys. I think they are one of the best, if not the best, Seneca Valley team we've had.

"This (game) should have been a semifinal match-up. It's with a heavy heart I walk off the field. I thought we'd go further."

Notes:

Monteleone finished with 12 saves and Matthews had four. The Mustangs play the winner of the North Allegheny-Chartiers Valley game, which followed the Plum-Seneca Valley game.