Revenge is sweet
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley girls soccer coach Dave Sylvester felt his team got the better of North Allegheny the first time around, even though the game was played to a scoreless tie.
The veteran coach got the result he was looking for in Monday night's rematch when two first-half goals were all the Raiders needed to beat the Tigers, 2-0, in a Section 2-AAA battle.
"The difference between tonight and the first game was the field," said Sylvester, referring to North Allegheny's AstroTurf. "We outshot them in the first game 3-1. It's hard to play on and is not conducive to playing soccer."
The Raiders' Karisa Fernandez broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 23rd minute of play when senior midfielder Caitlyn Elser placed a corner kick within reach of Fernandez, who beat NA freshman goalkeeper Rachel Middleman.
Just over 12 minutes later, the Raiders pushed the ball deep into NA territory. The Tigers gained possession, but were unable to clear and the ball headed back toward a mob in front of the net. That's where SV senior Courtney Leon was waiting to score the goal that put the Raiders up 2-0.
Middleman, who has been starting for the Tigers since the third game of the season, made 11 saves in Monday's game.
"She's an excellent goalkeeper, the best in the conference," said North Allegheny coach Chet Gapczynski. "And she's only a freshman, so we've got her for four years."
Middleman did come up with a few big saves in the second half to keep the Tigers' deficit at just two goals, but NA wasn't able to mount a serious scoring threat until late in the game.
SV keeper Stacy Harkins, who was making her first varsity appearance in net, recorded five saves in the contest.
However, it was the post that stopped NA's best scoring opportunity.
With 2:20 left in the game, NA sophomore Dawn Murphy received a perfect centering pass from the left side of the net, only to have her shot smack off the right post.
Most of NA's potential scoring chances were gobbled up by Seneca Valley's defenders, who corralled nearly every loose ball.
"I wasn't happy with our scoring chances tonight," said Gapczynski. "We just weren't in sync tonight."
Harkins, a sophomore, started the game for Catherine Messmer, who was unable to play for undisclosed reasons.
SV's win comes after a tough, 2-1 non-section loss to Quaker Valley on Saturday.
"I think that game was a bit of a wake-up call for the team," said Sylvester.
Notes: The Raiders (11-2-1, 7-1-1) put some more distance between themselves and the Tigers (8-4-2, 4-3-1) for second place in the section. ... The only team above SV is Pine-Richland, which defeated the Raiders 3-1 earlier in the season. ... The Rams and Raiders will meet again Oct. 11 at NexTier Stadium. ... Senior forward Jessica Meurer currently leads SV with 14 goals.
