Fit to be tied
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley got on the board early in both regulation periods, Butler didn’t take long to reply either time, and the two WPIAL Section 1-4A boys soccer crews battled to a 2-2 tie Tuesday night at NexTier Stadium.
“You come into Seneca Valley with as good a team as they are — and get a point — you have to be semi-happy with that,” Golden Tornado coach Troy Mohney said. “I always want the win, but we’ll take the point.”
With a smoking shot off of sophomore Thomas Sheptak’s left foot, Butler had its best chance at handing the Raiders (10-0-1, 8-0-1) their first defeat of the season with 1:30 left to play in the first overtime period.
If not for resilience after SV junior Cole Kamarec’s opening marker — which came just over 2:30 into the contest — and another tally by senior Connor Oros, the guests wouldn’t have even had that opportunity.
Golden Tornado (7-3-2, 3-3-2) junior Cody Lubinsky knotted matters up twice, both within the five minutes after the Raiders’ strikes.
“We had a bunch of time left still,” Lubinsky said. “We figured we’d work together as a team and push through it.”
SV coach George Williams felt that his side let its foot off the gas after climbing ahead in the first period. The complacency came back to haunt them.
“We let up,” Williams said. “We scored a goal and we got comfortable. Butler played a hard, coordinated game tonight … They were very focused.”
The teams crossed paths earlier in the month, with the Raiders notching a 4-0 win. Coming in, SV had shut out all but three of its 10 opponents.
“We played different today,” Mohney said. “We tried to sit back against them the first time and we did that for a half. Then we gave up a goal and got a little stretched, so this time we knew what we were going to do and we had moments where I thought we were the better team today.”
The Golden Tornado will bring in North Allegheny on Thursday night. The Tigers lost to Pine-Richland, 1-0, Tuesday night. They were the last team to beat Butler, on Sep. 6.
“We’re happy with the way that we’re playing now,” Mohney said. “We’re getting some results. We were excited about the test.”
With how they were able to perform, Butler should be self-assured.
“They’ve been one of the best teams in the section for a while, so it gives us some good confidence as we finish the season up,” Lubinsky said.
Meanwhile, the Raiders sidestepped a blemish on their record, but have to stay concentrated. They play at Central Catholic Thursday night.
“You hope that this is the kind of thing that can be a little bit of a wake-up call without the loss,” Williams said.
