BUTLER TWP — Morgan Sinan didn't think.

She didn't have much time to.

The senior goalkeeper on the Seneca Valley girls soccer team saw Butler's Gabby Boden make a perfect left-footed crossing pass through the box.

She saw it reach the toe of McKenna Robinson and she saw Robinson send a bending shot to her right.

Sinan leapt, got two gloves on the ball and swatted it away late in the second half to preserve a 2-1 victory over the Golden Tornado Monday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.

“I play club soccer with both of those girls,” Sinan said, smiling. “I've done a lot of practicing quick reaction skill. That was all quick reaction skill.”

Sinan had five clutch saves in the second half to make sure Elise Riley's pair of goals for the Raiders stood up.

Sinan said there is no greater feeling than sprawling out like she did to make a game-saving stop.

“That was a really good placement by McKenna,” Sinan said. “It feels great. After that save I was grinning from ear to ear.”

There was a lot for Seneca Valley's defense to grin about in front of Sinan.

The Raiders (6-2-1, 4-2) didn't let Butler breathe on offense, contesting everything.

It help Seneca Valley keep Butler (6-3, 3-3) from doing what it likes to do best.

Play in space.

“We never ever got to our game,” said Butler coach Steve Perri. “Give all the credit to Seneca Valley. They were fantastic. They threw us off. They made it very, very difficult on us and that's what's frustrating. Losing is one thing, but losing not playing your own game is unacceptable.”

The Raiders' defense has been largely inconsistent this season, notching four shutouts but also giving up three goals each in a win over Norwin and a tie against Mars and four goals in a loss to Pine-Richland.

Last year at Butler, the Golden Tornado put up four goals against Seneca Valley.

“To hold them to one goal, I think our defense did a pretty good job,” said Seneca Valley coach Mark Perry.

Seneca Valley wasted little time in each half to get on the scoreboard.

Riley put the Raiders up 1-0 in the fourth minute and then found the net again on what would be the game-winner just 30 seconds into the second half.

“I think we always play better when we score early,” Riley said. “It lets us be a little more comfortable to know we have a bit of a cushion in case something happens.”

Something did happen in the first half when Vanessa Drohan lofted a long shot that sailed just over the outstretched arms of Sinan to knot the score at 1-1 in the 14th minute.

Even that goal, however, was not the way Butler usually scores.

“They just suffocated space,” Perri said. “Every time we wanted to knock the ball around, there was someone coming through whether she was winning the ball or giving a little nudge — you had to check your shoulder every three seconds to make sure there wasn't someone coming through.

“Our players are space players,” Perri added, “and we didn't have any of it.”

This was a pivotal match at the midway point of the section schedule.

With the win, Seneca Valley has a much smoother road in the second half than Butler.

“This was a huge game because we had two losses and they had two losses and Pine-Richland has two losses and (North Allegheny) is at zero,” Perry said. “Whoever lost this was going to have a really tough time in the second half to win the section. Obviously the goal is to make the playoffs, but you also want to stay in the hunt for the section.”

Perri said he isn't concerned as much about the section title as he is about reaching the postseason.

“Everybody is going to beat everybody — my No. 1 goal is to make the playoffs,” Perri said. “We get to the playoffs and we'll be fine. We're a good team and we deserve to be there, but in this section there are five teams total that deserve to be there.”

Wednesday now becomes paramount for Butler when it hosts Fox Chapel on the grass field at the intermediate school.

The Tornado lost earlier in the season at Fox Chapel

“We need to do our job,” Perri added. “It's going to be a dogfight against Fox Chapel. If we can win we can separate ourselves.”