Raiders edge Tornado, 2-1, to stay perfect in section
BUTLER TWP — Butler poured on early pressure, but Seneca Valley sprinkled in enough goals to escape the first half of its Section 2-AAA schedule unscathed.
T.J. Turley scored with 16 minutes and 50 seconds remaining and lifted the Raiders to a 2-1 boys soccer victory over the Golden Tornado on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Art Bernardi Stadium.
The triumph keeps Seneca Valley (7-1-1, 6-0) undefeated in Section 2-AAA. It was the Raiders' third straight win by a one-goal margin.
“It's not over. You still have to play everybody again and none of those games were blowouts,” said Seneca Valley coach George Williams. “You've got to go out and work hard. It makes it less daunting, but you can't take anything for granted because it's a very competitive section.”
Butler (5-5, 3-3) lit up the scoreboard first after a quick goal from Matt Huey about eight minutes into the match. Steven Benson supplied the assist.
“We had a nice little combination,” said Butler coach Troy Mohney. “Benson had a little flick through and Huey had a nice finesse goal.”
“We started out a little flat and they broke through,” said Williams. “They had a really nice combination to get to behind us and slid one right past our keeper.
“It was a wake-up call for us,” the SV coach added. “They kept the pressure on for most of the first half and we were trying to figure out what to do with it.”
The Raiders managed to turn the tables toward the end of the first and Jared Myers provided the equalizer just minutes before the break.
“Our players did very well to tie it up before halftime,” said Williams. “It was a hard-fought game — very physical, very sloppy because it's wet.”
Mohney saw his team struggling, but halftime couldn't come soon enough.
“Near the end of the first half, I think our guys starting panicking a little bit and we didn't play the way we know how to play,” said Mohney. “They were all over us for a good 10 or 15 minutes in the first half. I was hoping we could get to halftime without giving up a goal, but we just didn't make it there.”
The Golden Tornado regrouped and put together a strong final 40 minutes, but Seneca Valley capitalized when initial pressure on the left side was centered. Butler goalie Adam Voelker stopped a point-blank shot, but Turley took the rebound and deposited into the net for the game-winning goal.
“We were able to slowly figure out how to get behind them,” said Williams. “It was a little bit of pinball and we were able to put it in.”
Despite the loss, Mohney was pleased his team bounced back after the deflating goal at the end of the first stanza.
“I thought we played really well in the second half. I thought we had the better of the play,” said Mohney. “Unfortunately, they got the one counter attack, we didn't track back and they ended up scoring.”
Turley's goal sent the Raiders to their seventh consecutive win after starting the season 0-1-1.
Butler has dropped five straight with three of those losses coming by one goal. The Golden Tornado are tied with Pine-Richland for third in the section.
“Everybody gave me all their effort. You can't fault anybody for that,” said Mohney. “It just wasn't in the cards today.
“For most of the game, I thought we played pretty well,” he added. “We'll build on it, keep trying to improve and hopefully we can knock off some other guys.”
