JACKSON TWP — When the Seneca Valley girls soccer team won the WPIAL Class AAA title in 2009, several freshmen players were watching.

And learning. And listening. And playing.

Fast forward to this past Monday, when the Raiders captured the Section 2 crown in a 3-1 victory over North Allegheny, their third in four years with the varsity program.

This year’s squad has six seniors — Mallory Accamando, Alex Bilka, Misha Demchuk, Rachel Leake, Melissa Lynskey and Morgan Williams — with Demchuk, Lynskey and Williams playing very big roles in that freshman season and Bilka coming on strong in her sophomore campaign.

“They were coming in on that great team and Morgan had the winning penalty kick (in the 2-1 title win) against Peters Township,” said Raiders coach Dave Sylvester.

“To be a part of that, and with the senior leadership at that time, that really helped us through.

“I challenged them in an e-mail that it was time to get back to where you were as freshmen and show what you can do. They’ve taken that challenge and have tried to run with it,” Sylvester added.

This year’s team has overcome the loss of Williams, the team’s leading scorer and Kent State University recruit, who suffered a foot injury and has missed the past four games, including Saturday’s contest against Gateway.

Still, Leake tallied a pair of goals in the win against the Tigers and opened the scoring in Wednesday’s 6-0 triumph over Butler.

“We all strived, since Day 1, to win it,” said Williams, who hopes to be back at some point during the WPIAL playoffs should the Raiders continue to win. “As seniors, we want to walk out with what we came in with.”

This year’s team entered Saturday’s game against the Gators on a 15-game winning streak after opening the season with a 1-0 loss to section opponent Hampton, the only blemish on the season (15-1, 11-1).

That drive and perseverance dates back to 2009, in what would be the Raiders’ second WPIAL title in three years.

“Our freshman year was an eye-opener to what we could start off with,” said Demchuk, a midfielder. “This year, we’re hoping to go all the way.”

Said Lynskey, “The group of us have been playing together for a long time. We have high hopes and high expectations. More importantly, we’ve become a team. We set goals together and worked hard to achieve them.”

After the WPIAL title, the team would eventually drop its first game of the year in a loss to Norwin in the PIAA quarterfinals, finishing with a 22-1-1 record.

The following season, the squad took a step back, finishing at 6-7-3 and missing the playoffs altogether.

“That sophomore year, we took a nosedive and we had a lot of players back,” Sylvester said. “But, to see them rebound and do what they did last year, and then this year, their work ethic and their goal setting has been tremendous.”

Last season, the team returned to the top of the section title, finishing with an 11-0-1 record.

The Raiders defeated Hempfield 7-2 before losing to North Allegheny 5-1 in the quarterfinals to wrap up with a 16-2-2 campaign.

“They’re very workmanlike. They don’t get excited,” Sylvester said. “My wife says when they get down, they get mad.

“They’re very team-oriented. We preach every year that we want to be a team, not an individual player,” Sylvester added.

“We fight together,” Demchuk said.

That was something, apparently these seniors learned from that 2009 season.

“As freshmen, we played at such a high level,” said Lynskey, a Lafayette recruit. “We want to take advantage of that. As a group, we’ve had great chemistry.”