WEST VIEW — As the final seconds ticked off the clock at Martorelli Stadium, members of the Seneca Valley girls lacrosse team began to realize what they had accomplished.

Quashed from their memory was the semifinal loss to Mount Lebanon in 2008.

Vanquished from their thoughts was the five-win season in 2009.

Instead, those sour notes were replaced with vindication after the Raiders downed the Blue Devils 12-10 in the WPIAL Division I semifinals Tuesday night to earn a berth in the championship game for the first time.

"I think the girls are having so much fun," said Seneca Valley coach Dina Hughes. "They just never give up."

Mount Lebanon came into the clash as the decided favorite, but it was the Raiders who jumped out to a 3-1 lead.

The fast start was huge, Hughes said.

So was the play of sophomore Morgan Midkiff, who scored four goals — none more important than her final two.

With the score tied at 10, Midkiff scored to give the Raiders a one-goal lead with 5:41 remaining.

Three minutes later, she scored again off a perfect pass from Sam Struss to give Seneca Valley a two-goal cushion and to send Mount Lebanon into panic mode.

Struss, the Raiders' leading scorer this season, was hounded by the Blue Devils defense and held to two goals, but she had two key assists.

"You have to be aware when they mark you," Struss said. "I'm just looking for that (double-team), then I'm pretty sure someone is going to be open."

Most of the time that person was Midkiff.

Her first goal capped a frenetic start for the Raiders, who scored three goals in less than two minutes. And her final two goals were the biggest in her short career.

"It feels good to be a part of this," Midkiff said. "We're making history."

Taylor Mayeda also scored three goals for Seneca Valley while Mount Lebanon's 10 goals came from eight different players.

Seneca Valley will play Franklin Regional, a 9-8 winner over Sewickley Academy, Thursday in the championship game.

In the last two games, wins over Peters Township and now Mount Lebanon, the Raiders have toppled two teams that have combined to win the last five WPIAL Division I championships.

"I think it means we are on a roll," Struss said. "That's two back-to-back wins that shows that we can take anyone."

That's a marked change from last season, when Seneca Valley struggled to a 5-10 overall record and a dismal 1-9 mark in the section.

It was hard to figure out why a team that made it to the semifinals the year before tumbled so far.

One of the reasons, said junior Paige Corathers, was the team was still dealing with the death of teammate Shannon Quail, who died in an automobile accident in January 2009.

"I think we kind of let it keep us from our full potential," Corathers said. "I think this year we are using her memory to win more."

Corathers scored only one goal Tuesday, but she came up big on defense, using her speed to chase down Blue Devils players to poke and slap check them from behind.

She hopes to continue doing her job against Franklin Regional, a team the Raiders beat in the regular season.

"I think we are more confident because we've played Franklin Regional before and beaten them," Corathers said. "That's not to say that gives us a win, but we'll go in more confident than we have before."