Raiders in a romp
JACKSON TWP — The fast start it was hoping for eluded Seneca Valley's boys soccer team.
Knotted in a scoreless tie with District 6 champion State College at halftime of Saturday's PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal, SV coach George Williams had a simple message for his team.
“We have to start finishing our chances,” Williams said. “State College had an almost three-hour drive to get here. All that time on a bus, we wanted to get on top of them early and it was disappointing we weren't able to put our chances away.”
Senior forward Zack LaValle got the Raiders on the board with a goal after a pass from Beaux Lizewski in the 45th minute. It opened the floodgates for SV, which scored five more times in a 6-0 victory over the Lions at NexTier Stadium.
The Raiders (15-1-1) will travel to Mechanicsburg to take on Cumberland Valley, a 1-0 victor over Williamsport, for a semifinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona.
“Coach's talk with us at halftime, it was just about us having a sense of urgency,” LaValle said. “We weren't playing our game and needed to wake up.”
LaValle's goal certainly stirred the Raiders. He scored for a second time just 70 seconds later for a 2-0 lead.
Lizewski scored on a header thanks to an assist from Austin Leake in the 55th minute and the writing was on the wall for State College coach Danny Orton.
“Goals change games,” he said. “They get that first one, then the second and third ... We started feeling sorry for ourselves and I knew it was over.”
The Lions (12-6) changed goalies at the start of the second half. Senior Sasha Mohoruk had kept SV out of the net with six saves in the first half. He was replaced by junior Matt Staniar.
“We've been playing both of them this season. Both are great goalkeepers,” Orton said.
Staniar made a save in the opening moments of the second half, but was soon rattled by LaValle's ice-breaker.
With the score 3-0, Nathan Eastgate beat Staniar in the 67th minute, helped by an assist from Connor Schmidt.
Mohoruk returned to State College's net with 12 minutes remaining, but Schmidt and Jonathan Pruce both beat him to cap the scoring.
SV goalkeeper Adam Davies earned the win with three saves. He preserved the shutout with a diving save of a shot from Lions' forward Grady Ballard in the 72nd minute.
The Raiders won the WPIAL championship with a come-from-behind victory over Peters Township Nov. 7. They will be vying for the program's second trip to the state final. SV lost to Central Bucks East in the championship game in 2015.
“I'm sky-high right now,” Williams exclaimed.
“Winning a WPIAL title was nice, but we're not satisfied with it,” LaValle said. “Winning a state title (in soccer) has never been done in school history. That's what is motivating us.”
