MURRYSVILLE — Two goals are usually enough for the Seneca Valley girls soccer team to pull out a win.

On Monday, the Raiders needed three.

After watching a 2-0 lead slip away in the second half, SV received a goal from junior midfielder Brianna Meurer with 2:46 left to play in a 3-2 victory over host Franklin Regional in a WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff game.

The Raiders had a two-on-one 15 yards from the Panthers' net when Barb Rohm fired a shot at Franklin Regional goalkeeper Christine Pellegrino.

The goalie made the initial save, but the rebound bounced to the left of the goal, where Meurer was waiting.

"Brianna may not get that much attention because she's not a huge goal scorer like her sister (Jessica) was, but she's dangerous out there," said Raiders coach Dave Sylvester.

The Raiders (14-3-1) will face undefeated Peters Township (20-0) in the second round at a date, time and site to be determined.

Things did not look promising for the Panthers, who entered the second half trailing by two goals.

Franklin Regional senior midfielder Amy Wittman received a red card with 13:47 left in the first half after blocking what would have been a sure goal with her hand.

The play not only resulted in Aleisha Rees' second penalty kick goal of the game for SV, Wittman was also ejected from the contest and the Panthers went the final 53:47 down one player.

"It was an obvious scoring opportunity and Amy got her hand on the ball," said Panthers coach Rich Garland. "It was a good call."

For most of the second half, it looked as though the Panthers would be ousted from the playoffs without much trouble.

But the team tallied two goals in the span of 4:37 to tie the game.

The first goal came when Abby Ondeck's corner kick sailed over the head of SV goalkeeper Ashley Wack and bounced off Rees' hip into her own net.

"That's when we put Keara (Lydon) back in net," said Sylvester. "I told Ashley when she came off the field that the goal wasn't her fault. I don't know if we've ever had a goalkeeper who would've made that save. But at the same time, Keara's a bit taller and I felt we needed more height in net."

Those few extra inches didn't stop the Panthers from scoring the equalizer with 14:06 remaining.

A corner kick from Ali Bonnell bounced once and was headed past Lydon by sophomore midfielder Paige Foughty.

"I told the team at halftime that (Franklin Regional) was a good team and was down a player for the rest of the game," said Sylvester. "It's a playoff game and I knew that they were going to come at us with everything they had."

The game seemed destined for overtime until Meurer's goal.

Despite the loss, Garland was impressed with his team's effort, especially in the second half.

"To come back from where we were, I'm extremely proud of the kids," he said. "We've got a talented group and they play with a lot of heart."

Seneca Valley's first goal came on Rees' first penalty kick 1:44 into the game.

Pellegrino tallied 13 saves for the Panthers (13-6-2).

Lydon, who started the game for the Raiders, managed five saves while Wack chipped in with two.