SV girls soccer wins WPIAL in overtime shootout thriller
FORWARD TWP — 2007 or 2009.
Don't ask Seneca Valley girls soccer coach Dave Sylvester which Raiders' WPIAL Class AAA championship team he favors.
"You can't pick one, but this team right here is pretty special," Sylvester said. "They just love to go out there and play soccer."
They did so for a long time Saturday before finally defeating Peters Township, 2-1, for their second WPIAL crown in three years at Elizabeth-Forward High School.
The game wasn't decided until both teams used seven players in an overtime shootout.
"It's a horrible way to win and a horrible way to lose," Sylvester said of the shootout. "But this is how this type of game is decided. It's the rules and we both have to live with it.
"Peters Township beat us on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals last year."
Seneca Valley (21-0-1) shot first in the shootout, which begins with each team selectin g five players to take turns shooting a free kick from 12 yards out, directly in front of the net.
"I hate it," Raiders junior goalkeeper Keara Lydon said of shootouts. "It's just you and that big, wide net. It's nerve-wracking."
But she'll take this one.
Katie Kelly and Shayna Elser scored for Seneca Valley to begin the shootout. Peters Township's Shelli Spamer drilled a shot off the right post before Danielle Hume scored for the Indians.
After Mandy Cerminara's shot sailed over the crossbar, Shannon O'Connor beat Lydon to the right side to square the shootout for the Indians (18-2-2).
Peters Township goalkeeper Megan Junker stopped the Raiders' Mandy Kasperski. Lydon followed with a lunging save on Devon Burkholder to keep things even.
"There's pressure when you see the other keeper make a big save," Lydon said. "You want to do the same for your team."
SV's Kathy Riley and Peters' Karen Jackson then exchanged goals before Reagan Dobbins and Hannah Caso — who scored Peters' lone goal in regulation — both fired shots over the net.
That gave freshman midfielder Morgan Williams a turn for Seneca Valley.
"We have so many freshmen on our team. Why not let a freshman be part of determining the outcome?" Sylvester said.
Williams did, rolling a shot into the right corner of the net. When Indians' senior defender Christine Aaron's shot trickled over the net, the Raiders had their championship.
"Shootouts are tough enough. It's even tougher when it goes beyond your chosen five because now it's sudden death and you're putting girls out there unaccustomed to that situation," Peters Township coach Pat Vereb said. "That puts a lot of pressure on a bunch of young girls.
"We didn't shoot the ball well through the shootout. That was unfortunate for us. You have to perform."
Williams participated in her first high school shootout.
"I've done four or five in club soccer," she said. "I couldn't believe I was even out there for this one.
"I was nervous. You don't want to let the team down ... I shoot for the same spot every time. I took the same approach and just went for it."
Both teams entered the game known for defense. Seneca Valley allowed only 14 goals in 21 games, Peters Township eight goals in 21.Yet the Indians had 17 shots on net and the Raiders 12 during the 110 minutes of regular play. Peters Township had seven corner kicks to SV's three."I expected the game to be active, up and down, back and forth," Sylvester said. "There are athletes on both sides."In the first half, for more than 10 straight minutes there, we couldn't get the ball out of our own end."Caso gave Peters Township a 1-0 lead when she fired a rebound past Lydon with 27:44 left in the first half. Kelly got the Raiders even with 1:14 left in the half.Kelly's initial shot hit the right post and caromed to the left of the net. She beat the defense to the ball and rolled it into the left corner for the equalizer.Kelly had broken in alone on Junker from the left side of the field less than a minute into the game. But the veteran goalkeeper — a four-year starter with 54 career shutouts — hugged the left post and made the save.Both teams missed golden opportunies to get the game-winning goal late in regulation. Kelly found Grace Emmerling alone in front of the net with 4:10 left, but Junker charged at the shooter to cut down the angle and snared Emmerling's shot before it traveled 10 feet off her foot.Caso was alone in the box with 46 seconds left, but freshman defender Melissa Lynskey made a sliding block of her shot.The Raiders have only four seniors — Emmerling, Cermina, Kelly and Ashley Wack — on their roster. They have 15 freshmen."The game came down to who was going to make the clutch play to win it," Sylvester said. "That play happened to come in a shootout."The Raiders will play Southmoreland — which they defeated 2-0 in the WPIAL quarterfinals — in the PIAA tourney at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Chartiers Valley.
