COLLIER TWP — The Seneca Valley boys lacrosse team faced the end of its season and a formidable Mount Lebanon squad Friday afternoon — and the Raiders didn't flinch.

SV played staunch defense, shutting out the Blue Devils for three quarters for an 8-5 win in the WPIAL Division I consolation game at Chartiers Valley High.

The victory gave the Raiders a third-place finish in the WPIAL and a spot in the state playoffs, which begin Tuesday.

The victory came on the same field where the Raiders saw their district title hopes dashed with a 10-9 loss to Franklin Regional Wednesday night.

"I knew our guys had put that loss behind them when we had practice (Thursday)," said SV coach Pete Hoffman. "Our seniors did a great job. They stepped up and got the other players fired up."

But Friday's victory didn't come without some anxious moments.

The Raiders held a 5-0 lead through three periods before the Blue Devils tallied three scores in a 47-second span of the fourth quarter: two goals by Scott Allen sandwiched around a tally by Bijan Firouzan to cut SV's lead to 5-3.

"Our guys just started clicking," said Mount Lebanon coach Mike Ermer. "They just started shooting the ball with confidence. That was the biggest difference."

Hoffman called a timeout to allow the Raiders to regroup.

"We knew there would be difficult points in this game and now that they had come, I just told the guys to go out and get back to playing their game," he said.

"We just needed to calm down," said SV goalie Brian Bohn. "And when we got back out on the field, we started doing the things we needed to do to win."

SV (18-2) responded with goals by Jake McAndrew, Sean O'Rourke and Sam Jarrett to regain momentum, taking an 8-3 advantage with 7:37 to play.

Mount Lebanon scored two late goals, but couldn't threaten SV's lead again.

The Blue Devils (14-6) met with frustration on offense right from the start of the game.

The Raiders clogged the middle in front of their own net, forcing the Blue Devils into rushed shots and errant passes.

"We tried to keep our defense in tight. We didn't want to extend out too far," said Hoffman. "We pressured the ball, but other than that, we kept things inside."

Sean Dailey scored in the first period and Rob Fyock followed with a goal midway through the second quarter as SV led 2-0 at intermission.

Fyock, Dailey and Will Koontz scored in the third period for a five-goal edge, but, more impressively, SV shut out the Blue Devils for 36 minutes.

Nobody had a better perspective on the play of SV's defense than Bohn.

"It was a combination of communication and hard work," said Bohn, who made six saves. "That's what we needed to do all along in the playoffs."

Will Round made 12 saves for Mount Lebanon.

Allen led the Blue Devils with three goals. Firouzan and Pat Donnelly added one each.

The Raiders will face District 3 champ Hempfield in a PIAA first-round playoff at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Penn Manor High School in Millersville.