JACKSON TWP — A punch in the mouth is good for a team every now and then — as long as its reaction is as strong as that of Seneca Valley's boys soccer team.

The Raiders found themselves down 1-0 to Norwin in Wednesday's WPIAL Class 4A semifinal after a penalty kick from the Knights' Riley Zimmerman in the 12th minute.

But SV goals three minutes apart, from Luke Simpson and Nathan Prex in the 20th and 23rd minute, respectively, turned the tide of momentum toward the Raiders, who won going away, 5-1, at NexTier Stadium.

It is the first loss of the season for Norwin (11-1-2).

“It came down to grit for us, the ability to come back,” said Prex, who scored after a deflected shot from teammate Ben Marquardt. “To score five goals on a team as good as Norwin, it obviously takes execution. But they played just three in the back and it's much easier to attack that than four.”

The Raiders (13-1-1) last played in and won the WPIAL title game in 2018 with, ironically, a 5-1 victory against Norwin. They will play for the crown again at 3 p.m. Saturday against top-seeded Peters Township at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium.

“We were punched in the mouth tonight and I love how we responded,” said Raiders' coach George Williams. “Once we got the momentum, we had to maintain it, be active and keep the pressure on them.”

Norwin's defense and goalkeeper Andrew Yanez were put on their heels and never rebounded.

Nathan Eastgate scored on an assist from Mason Baldwin in the 48th minute for a 3-1 edge.

Kyle Majeski followed with a rocket of a free kick from 40 yards out in the 66th minute and Jonathan Pruce capped the scoring 11 minutes later.

Yanez had seven saves while SV's Adam Davies had three saves.

One of Davies' stops came late in the first half with SV leading 2-1.

Norwin's Ian Brown booted a shot from 35 yards that Davies jumped for and tipped over the crossbar. The resulting corner kick was headed out of danger by Matthew Bickart.

For the most part, Seneca Valley's defense kept Norwin's attack at bay since the penalty kick early in the game.

“Tonight's effort ... Wow!,” said Williams. “It's as good of a game as we've played all season. The only concern is going into (Saturday) over-confident. You don't want to do that against Peters.”

Prex, a junior midfielder, added: “Playing for a WPIAL championship has been a dream of mine since I knew what it was.”

Norwin coach Scott Schuchert was unavailable for comment.