BUTLER TWP — Emily Cekella tried to recall the last time she scored three goals in a soccer match.

Unlike what she did on the soccer pitch on a soggy and foggy Wednesday night at Butler, the Seneca Valley senior came up empty.

“I don’t remember the last time,” Cekella said, her smile wide, “because I don’t think it has happened in a very long time.”

Cekella’s hat trick helped Seneca Valley clinch at least a share of the Section 2-AAA title with a 5-1 win over the Golden Tornado.

It was a great feeling for Cekella because this season has been a trying one.

Her goal total plummeted and she was moved to the defensive end of the field at times.

But Cekella broke through for her first goal after Brittnie Spithaler put Butler up 1-0 early.

Cekella scored again late in the first half to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead at the break and capped the scoring with her third goal with 18 minutes remaining in the second half.

“I haven’t scored in a while,” Cekella said. “This season has been weird because last year I scored almost every game. So, to finally find the net three times, it means something. It means a lot.”

It also meant a lot to Seneca Valley coach Dave Sylvester, who saw the frustration build in Cekella as the season progressed.

“We had her in position to score goals early in the year and she was getting opportunities and getting frustrated,” Sylvester said. “Just like a hitter in baseball, they go into slumps.”

Butler started out strong against Seneca Valley and had a chance to add to its early lead, but Seneca Valley goalkeeper Jessica Pollaci turned away two good shots to keep the match at 1-0.

It was a pivotal early stretch for both teams.

“We knew this was Butler’s playoff game pretty much — we knew they weren’t going to lay down,” Sylvester said. “When they put that early goal in on us, I thought, ‘Oh, here we go.’”

After Seneca Valley tied it and then took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Sarah Anderson, Butler coach Steve Perri had the same thought.

“Once we got one, we kind of hoped it would end that way,” Perri said. “We made too many mistakes, and they punished us for it. They made mistakes that we couldn’t punish them for.”

Seneca Valley (12-3, 10-2) took a 4-1 lead early in the second half on a goal from Cassidy Testa.

Butler again had chances in the second half, but Spithaler hit the cross bar on a shot and Hannah Hays, who also hit a cross bar in the first half on an athletic shot while falling to the grass, misfired on a penalty kick.

“It could have realistically been 5-5,” Perri said. “But that’s kind of been our season this year.”

Butler (7-9, 6-6) will finish in fourth place in the section — and out of the WPIAL playoffs — for the fourth consecutive season.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to take the next step,” Perri said. “We have the players for it. We just have to figure out a way.”

For Seneca Valley, a co-section title is still a title and its fifth in a row.

“This year’s team is this year’s team,” Sylvester said. “It’s not last year’s team. ... That was incredible last year.”