WEST VIEW — The Seneca Valley girls lacrosse team spent the second half of Thursday's WPIAL Division I championship game searching for offense.

The Raiders never found it.

Franklin Regional outscored SV 3-0 in the second half en route to a 7-5 title-clinching victory at North Hills' Martorelli Stadium.

Panthers goalie Sabrina Zottola made six of her 12 saves in the second half, but her teammates played a huge role in shutting out the Raiders in the final 25 minutes.

"The girls in front of me, it's all due to them," said Zottola. "(Seneca Valley attacker Sam Struss) is such a threat. Ali Obradovich did a great job against her."

Struss, who entered the game with 81 goals, scored early in the first half to tie the game at 2. It would be her lone tally of the game.

Zottola stopped a shot from Struss with 7:26 left in the contest with the Panthers up 7-5.

"We knew how good Struss was and Ali knew what she needed to do," said Panthers coach Jenn Gustin. "She stayed with her all night."

For SV coach Dina Hughes, the Raiders' struggles on offense began long before her team reached the Panthers' end of the field.

"We couldn't maintain possession long enough for us to set things up," she said. "We had some breakdowns at midfield, too many turnovers."

Trailing 5-4 entering the second half, the Panthers tied the game with Janel Zupetic's goal with 18:06 remaining.

Sarah Ward (at 14:26) and Cassie Bortot (at 8:26) followed with scores to give the Panthers their eventual two-goal winning margin.

The game began with both teams combining for three goals in less than four minutes, as the Panthers took an early 2-1 lead before the defenses settled in.

Morgan Midkiff scored to put SV up 3-2 midway through the first half and Paige Corathers' tally gave the Raiders a 4-3 edge with 1:39 left before halftime.

After both of those goals, the Panthers tied the game within 10 seconds of the draw at midfield.

"We definitely had some problems when we lost the draw tonight," Hughes said.

Sophomore midfielder Audrey Semel scored to give Seneca Valley a one-goal lead with just over a minute left in the first half.

SV goalie Lauren Moran made 12 saves in the game, including eight in the first half.

"She's been one of our leaders on defense the whole season," Hughes said.

Midkiff led SV with two goals. Bortot paced the Panthers with four scores.

Despite the loss, the 2010 season is still the most successful in school history.

The Raiders (17-4) begin the PIAA playoffs Tuesday by facing District 3's third-place team at a time and site to be determined.

"We were 5-10 last year," said Hughes. "It was a huge turnaround for us. I want the girls to stay positive and know how successful a season it's been so far."