Change is good.

At least it was for Ryan Mayeda.

During his first three years of playing lacrosse, the Cranberry Township resident played attack and midfield.

But in his sophomore season, Seneca Valley's varsity team was in need of a goalkeeper.

The position proved to be a perfect fit for Mayeda.

He recently concluded his senior season after minding the Raiders' net for three years.

In all, he collected four varsity letters for the lacrosse team.

"It took a lot of practice and countless hours of work," Mayeda said of the transition to goalkeeper. "I went to camps and watched a lot of film.

"When I first switched to goalkeeper, I went to a camp and the coach there said that if I keep working hard, I'd have the chance to excel at the next level," added Mayeda.

He will have the opportunity to do just that after being rewarded with a partial scholarship to play at Dowling College (N.Y.), located on Long Island.

He becomes the first Seneca Valley boys' lacrosse player to receive a scholarship out of high school.

"I verbally committed back in October, but didn't actually sign a letter of intent until just before the season started," said Mayeda, who will be a marketing major. "Dowling is eight hours from here, but I have family living in Connecticut. Plus, it's got a great lacrosse program."

The Golden Lions finished the 2008 season with an overall record of 12-3.

The team is coached by Tim Boyle, who led the squad to the NCAA Division II national title game in 2006.

"The top two goalkeepers on this season's team (Nick Tracey and Frank Melhus) graduated," said Mayeda of the situation he'll be walking into. "This summer, I'm going to do a lot of conditioning. Then it's all about working hard in the fall."

Mayeda will head to college knowing he helped Seneca Valley's program reach another level in 2008.

"Over the last few years, we didn't have great records," he said. "And we went from not being able to win a playoff game to beating North Allegheny for the first time this year."

The Raiders made the WPSLA Division I championship game for the first time ever last month, where they fell to Mount Lebanon, 9-8.

Seneca Valley ended the season with a record of 14-5.

"Losing in the finals was disappointing," Mayeda said. "But at the same time, we got farther than we've ever been. It was a great season."