Raiders rolling on
COLLIER TWP — History was made Saturday afternoon.
Cassidy Testa scored in the 26th minute of regulation, Emily Wagner added a goal late and the Seneca Valley girls soccer team blanked Peters Township 2-0 in a PIAA Class AAA girls soccer quarterfinal clash at Chartiers Valley High School Stadium.
The win advances the Raiders (20-2-1) to the first state semifinal appearance in school history, which takes place Tuesday at Chambersburg High School against Spring Ford (23-2-1) at 6 p.m.
“That's huge for us. It's a great feeling to know we're the first girls soccer team to break that record,” said Testa. “It means a lot to us.
“I am more than excited,” she added. “Going to the semis is the best feeling in the world. I feel like we can take it all the way to the finals and that's what we plan to do.”
Scoring opportunities were few and far between, but Seneca Valley capitalized with just over 14 minutes to go in the first half.
Alexis Pucci played the ball up to Megan Majeski, who made a run at the net and drew Peters Township goalie Megan Parker out of position. The ball squirted loose, but Testa slid near the right post and booted it in for a 1-0 lead.
“Megan was dribbling it and she got it to where the goalie had to dive. The goalie missed it and I was just there to kick it in,” said Testa. “All thanks to Megan's hard work, I was able to score that goal.”
The Raiders have yet to allow a goal in the postseason behind the strong play of junior keeper Jess Neill, which made the first-half tally all the more pivotal.
“It was a weight lifted off our shoulders, but we had to continue to work hard,” said Testa.
The Indians generated more scoring chances, but Seneca Valley turned them away.
“(The defense) trusts each other and they know they have Jess behind them,” said Seneca Valley coach Dave Sylvester. “They play well together and they know where each other are going to be.”
Peters Township had an 11-5 advantage in total shots and a 5-4 edge in shots on goal. The Indians had the lone corner kick of the match.
Peters Township had two exceptional chances to tie late in the second half.
Erin Helbig took a cross and unleashed a shot from 10 yards out, but Neill was there to make a diving save. Neill finished with five stops on the day.
“That's Jess. She's done that all year,” said Sylvester. “She's made spectacular saves when she's had to.
“She understands the game,” he added. “She reads the game. She gets to places sometimes before the ball is even played there just out of that knowledge.”
“I don't understand how she does it,” said Testa of Neill. “She's like our little spider monkey.”The Indians threatened again with eight minutes remaining, as Laurel Carpenter struck a free kick off the cross bar. Mariah Vucich was there for the rebound, but her header glanced off the cross bar and over the net.“I thought we deserved a little bit of a better fate,” said Peters Township coach Pat Vereb. “We made a mistake and they capitalized to give them the first goal. From that point on, I thought we had the better of play and had a lot of good opportunities in the last 20 minutes as we were pressing. They got the goal to put it away in the last couple of minutes, but I couldn't be more proud of our team.”The game-sealing goal came on a throw-in from Lexus Lambert. Wagner took the throw and struck a header past Parker to make it 2-0 with 2:13 to play.“We beat them two times before and we had a chance to put it in again so we needed that,” said Wagner. “It feels great.“Teamwork is key and we're going to try to keep fighting through this,” she added. “We're the first girls soccer team to make it this far, so let's hope we win states.”
