WARRENDALE — Seneca Valley needed to mix things up a bit during Tuesday’s PIHL contest against State College.

Luke Reed and the rest of the Raiders responded.

Reed scored a pair of goals off assists by Brendan McFarland in a 47-second span to erase a 2-1 deficit and helped lift Seneca Valley to a 5-4 Class AAA victory at Warrendale BladeRunners.

The Raiders scored four consecutive times in the second period to take a three-goal advantage before the Little Lions made a late rush in the third period.

“I think we just played things differently than in the first period,” said Raiders coach Anthony Raco. “We tried to break out a little and let our defense be played in their end and wear them down.

“That’s what we look for from Luke. He’s an assistant captain, an All-Star. We look for him and for the young guys to follow him. That filters through,” Raco added.

State College had taken leads of 1-0 and 2-1 following goals by Dakota Campbell and Dalton Bown, the latter with three seconds left in the opening period.

Chris Marziotto accounted for the Raiders’ goal in between, off helpers by Andrew Gagnon and Casey Kramer, but it was in the second period that the Raiders asserted themselves.

Reed scored off a McFarland pass with 10:59 left in the second period, then followed up with the go-ahead goal with 10:12 left.

Seneca Valley (8-2-1) doubled its lead when Marziotto scored 37 seconds later with assists credited to Patrick Stough and Gagnon, then McFarland added a short-handed goal when he corralled a loose puck between two defenders and poked it past Lions goalie Mac Ross to give the Raiders a 5-2 cushion with 6:25 remaining in the second frame.

State College (4-6), however, did cash in on the power-play opportunity as Andrew Ebert scored 18 seconds later off assists from Andrew Skipper and Adam Warfield.

The Lions had three chances to pull closer as Jared Karas hit the post late in the period, then Raiders goalie Tanner Pfeffer denied Bown on a breakaway and Josef Horgas hit the post, the last one with 7:43 remaining in regulation.

The Lions managed to push one more through when Sey Yeaple took a Stefan Horgas pass and fired it past Pfeffer to make it a one-goal game with 6:17 to play.

Pfeffer later made a sprawling save after making a deflection with 4:09 remaining to rebuff the Lions in their last major rush.

The Raiders received a pair of goals apiece from Reed and Marziotto, but Raco acknowledged there’s more than those two players carrying this team and fueling their success.

“That’s the thing we talked about in the locker room after the game,” Raco said. “It wasn’t just the top two lines, but our third line played great. It was a team effort, not just one or two guys.

“We’re really pleased where we are at right now. We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. We’ve earned the respect to be with those other (top Class AAA) teams. We just want to keep getting better.”

Notes: Pfeffer made 34 saves, while Ross finished with 26. ... The Lions converted one of two of their power-play chances; the Raiders were 0-for-2. ... The Raiders return to the ice tonight when they face Upper St. Clair at the Penguins Pond.

Mars 16, Greensburg Central Catholic 3 — In the nightcap at BladeRunners, the Planets erupted for eight first-period goals — the first five coming in the opening 7 minutes, 9 secondes — during this PIHL Class A matchup.

Nick Makozy accounted for the first two goals, followed by Craig Mazzotta, Ed Schwadron and Nick Berteotti, which staked Mars to the early lead.

“We got a full effort out of our entire lineup,” said Mars assistant coach Steve Neese. “We pretty much got at least one point from everyone.”

In all, 10 players recorded at least one point for the Planets, who won their eighth consecutive game.

Makozy finished with four goals and three assists, Max Master three goals and three assists, Mazzotta three goals and two assists, Schwadron two goals and three assists and Beau Heakins a goal and three assists.

Berteotti added two goals and an assist and Owen Vasbinder accounted for the other goal and chipped in an assist.

Reed Salada and Trevor Tisdale had three and two assists, respectively, while Dan McCann had an assist as well.

Christian Knapp made 11 saves for the Planets (9-2-1), while Billy Potter made 58 for the Centurions (0-12).

Like the Raiders, Mars will also take part in a game at Penguins Pond on Wednesday, facing rival Freeport at 5 p.m.