ALTOONA — When players are early in their soccer playing days, most coaches will stress the importance of crashing the net when a shot is taken.

As players get older, that need only increases as coaches will repeatedly make it a point to explain the importance of taking advantage of every little chance as the margin for capitalizing on an opponent’s error becomes less and less.

Seneca Valley’s Nathan Prex not only listened to his coaches’ pleas to follow-up shots, but he has put into practice what has been preached.

The junior’s shot off a deflection in the first half proved to be the game-winner as the Raiders held off a pesky Cumberland Valley team to advance to the state championship match with a 1-0 victory on Tuesday night at Altoona Area High School’s Mansion Park in PIAA Class 4A semifinal action.

“You couldn’t have written that up any better,” Seneca Valley coach George Williams said. “It was a hard shot on goal, it’s cold and the keeper bobbled it. ... But, Nathan was right there at the right time. We couldn’t be happier.”

Mason Baldwin ripped a shot from about 35 yards out, and when the ball bounced and deflected off the hands and chest of Eagles’ keeper Luke Snyder, Prex — who was already crashing up the middle — had the ball come right back to him.

Prex was able to get a touch to settle the ball before placing the shot past Snyder, who was coming out to retrieve the deflection, and into the goal to put the Raiders on top for good at the 23:22 mark.

“That (crashing the net) definitely came into play tonight,” Prex said. “With the conditions, we knew the ball was going to bounce and everyone makes mistakes. So, I was just able to counter after that happened.”

The win lifts SV into the state final for the first time since 2015, where the Raiders lost. Seneca Valley will play Neshaminy, which beat Emmaus, 2-1, in overtime, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.

“It’s obviously been a goal all season. It’s what we’ve put the work in for all summer, and we’ve been building our way up every game,” Prex said. “Every game is the most important game of the season.”

With the way Seneca Valley was dominating possession of the ball in the first half, it appeared likely it would find the back of the net again.

The Raiders fired 12 shots in the opening 40 minutes, including 10 that were on goal. Meanwhile, Cumberland Valley managed just four shots and only two on goal.

Only minutes before Prex’ goal, the Eagles almost struck first as Zach Blocher hit a ball from the left side across the 6-yard box to where Daniel Erickson was waiting. However, Erickson’s shot to the near corner was stopped by SV keeper Adam Davies, who moved over in time.

Seneca Valley would get plenty more golden opportunities as Beaux Lizewski got a head on a corner kick that Snyder had to punch out of danger. Meanwhile, Prex almost got another as he ripped a shot from 22 yards out on the right of the goal that sailed to the left side before hitting the post.

The Raiders’ Kyle Majeski’s shot with a little over eight minutes to go from 35 yards out needed a Snyder diving save to avoid reaching the back of the goal. Meanwhile, Lizewski nearly put the Raiders up two with around 20 ticks before the half when his shot was deflected over the crossbar by Snyder.

Cumberland Valley’s only other prime chance of the opening half came in the 21st minute as Blocher’s head met Max Miller’s direct kick and caromed toward the goal before Davies stepped in to make the save.

“Congratulations to (Seneca Valley). They are a very good team, and we knew that,” Cumberland Valley coach Matt Billman said. “I was proud of our guys. ... We had a good streak. We got hot at the right time — won like eight or nine games in a row — to get to this level. The margin of error at this level is slim. We had a couple of hits on goal, but didn’t get anything off of it.”

In the second half, Seneca Valley began by once again maintaining control as it was able to get a good 2-on-1 in the 29th minute as Josh Kosakowski’s pass behind the last defender to a sprinting Lizewski was on point. However, Lizewski was met by a charging Snyder, who forced any early shot that he was able to get a hand on around the 17-yard mark that forced a corner kick.

The Raiders improved to 16-1-1 on the year, while the Eagles’ season ends at 13-3-1.