Raiders run away
JACKSON TWP — Any momentum the Upper St. Clair boys lacrosse team took with it into halftime was quickly stripped away once play resumed.
After the Panthers (13-6) scored the last two goals of the first half to cut Seneca Valley's lead to 6-4, the Raiders opened the third quarter with five goals in less than a five-minute span.
The run proved too much for USC, as Seneca Valley prevailed 14-7 in a WPIAL Division I quarterfinal playoff at NexTier Stadium.
"I probably can't repeat a lot of what I said to the team at halftime," said Raiders' coach Peter Hoffman with a laugh. "It basically came down to the fact that we can play a lot better than we did in the first half.
"We made a lot of mental mistakes, but once we settled down, we were OK," he added.
The Raiders (14-3) will face Mt. Lebanon, which beat Sewickley Academy, in a semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Chartiers Valley High School.
Mt. Lebo defeated the Raiders, 9-8, in last year's title game.
Wednesday's win featured five goals from junior Jake McAndrew, who got things going for SV in the second half with a goal just 1:16 into the third period.
Goals from Sean O'Rourke, Brent Rotz, another from McAndrew and one from Jason Handerhan followed, giving the Raiders an 11-4 lead with 5:58 left in the quarter.
"We went back to our circle offense," said Handerhan, who tallied three goals and four assists in the game. "With the way their defense was reacting to it, that offense seemed to work for us."
"It came down to possession, we couldn't get it," said Upper St. Clair coach Mike Massina. "You give a good team like Seneca Valley the ball that many times in a row, they're going to score their share of goals."
USC received goals from Steve Morgan, Drew Newman and Theo Schnieders to close the gap to 11-7 with exactly 10 minutes left in the game.
But the rest of the scoring belonged to Seneca Valley, with Tyler Bond, McAndrew and Rotz scoring in the closing minutes.
"(USC) scored a few goals to make it close in the second half, but you could tell they were getting pretty frustrated as the game went on," said Handerhan.
Rotz also ended the game with three goals.
Also scoring for Seneca Valley was Sam Jarrett, with his goal giving the Raiders a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter.
O'Rourke added a pair of assists for SV.
All seven of USC's goals came from different players.
SV's Brian Bohn made nine saves while John Shue had 11 for the Panthers.
