More of the same
WEXFORD — The Seneca Valley boys soccer team had its sights set on the WPIAL Class AAA championship game.
But a cruel dose of deja vu ended the Raiders' season.
Trailing SV 1-0 in the second half of a semifinal game Wednesday at North Allegheny, Fox Chapel tallied two goals in an eight-minute span as the Foxes came away with a 2-1 win.
In Fox Chapel's 2-1 victory over Seneca Valley Sept. 4, the Raiders also led at halftime before the Foxes scored two second half goals.
"We knew we had our hands full," said SV coach George Williams. "But we played right with them. We knew any mistake would be punished."
That certainly proved true on the Foxes' game-winning goal.
With less than 19 minutes left in the game Fox Chapel had control of the ball to the left of SV's goal.
As several Raiders converged to thwart a shot attempt, the Foxes got the ball toward the middle of the field, where a streaking Kyle Majerick was waiting.
The senior midfielder's shot was not obstructed and whizzed past SV goalkeeper Justin McAtee for a 2-1 lead.
"Their second goal was a mistake by us," said Williams. "We knew they liked to get the ball back to the weak side and we talked about that."
The Raiders had their share of chances to tie the game, but Fox Chapel played stout defense and goalkeeper Mike Lucas tallied three saves in the final 16 minutes to preserve the victory. He made 12 saves overall.
"Our defense played fantastic late in the game," said Fox Chapel coach Eric Ingram. "We didn't sub in any backs the entire game. Our guys hung in there and got the job done."The Raiders (13-7) broke a scoreless tie with Conor Azevedo's goal with 5:34 left in the first half.In the first 40 minutes of play, though, the Foxes had two corner kicks and countless free kicks in SV's end, McAtee was forced to make just three saves. He ended the game with seven.Fox Chapel (17-3-1) received its first goal from senior striker Andy Coulson. The Foxes' leading scorer with 31 goals, Coulson got his right foot into the ball 25 yards away from SV's goal and near the left sideline.The ball appeared to be headed wide, but curved back toward McAtee, who jumped high and to his left.The junior got a piece of the ball, which then bounced off the inside of the right post and into the net to tie the game."The first goal was pure luck," said Williams. "Lucky for them and unlucky for us.""We generate a lot of scoring opportunities, though I would like to get a score early in a game," said Ingram.For the Raiders, who won a section title this season, the disappointing end has a silver lining."We're so proud of these players," said Williams. "It's not easy to swallow right now after losing, but we wanted to make sure these kids know how proud we are of them."
