BUTLER TWP - Seneca Valley girls soccer coach Dave Sylvester wasn't sure what his team's playoff chances would've been had it lost Thursday's section finale with Butler.

As it turned out, he didn't have to worry about that.

Seneca Valley junior midfielder Ashley Rees scored the deciding goal with 5:34 remaining in the second overtime, lifting the Raiders to a 2-1 win at rival Butler Thursday on senior recognition night.

In the process, SV won its first section title since 2001.

"The girls' effort has been great this season, especially when you consider that we started out 1-4 (overall) and 1-2 in the section," Sylvester said.

The loss keeps Butler from making the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 1999.

"This was such a hard-fought season," said Golden Tornado coach Marlene Peoples. "Every section game was tough and we just came up short at the end."

After a scoreless overtime, a corner kick by SV's Alissa Gamelier landed in a crowd in front of the Butler goal, where Tornado goalie Lisa Rodgers made an initial save before Rees' rebound was placed just inside the right post.

The Raiders opened the scoring in the first half when Cassie Berlin's free kick hit Butler's crossbar and bounced back to senior Kim Chapman, who got just enough on the ball to get it past Rodgers in the 27th minute of play.

Butler controlled much of the play afterwards, culminating with the team's lone goal in the 54th minute of play.

The Golden Tornado were awarded an indirect free kick to the right of SV's goal.

Butler sophomore Karilee Cowan tapped the ball into play and toward teammate Julie Lineman. As a wall of Seneca players charged at the senior, Lineman lofted a shot over their heads and past goalie Aly Intihar.

"We weren't planning on using that," said Peoples. "But we knew Julie had a nice, strong kick and she did a great job scoring the goal."

"I think after we got that one goal lead, we went into a shell," said Sylvester. "Butler really pounded us in the second half and we were lucky that the game went to overtime."

Both Intihar and Rodgers ended the game with 13 saves.

Several scenarios hinged on the game's outcome.

With a win, Butler (8-7-2, 7-4-1) would have won its third straight section title. A tie would've given the section crown to SV (10-4-2, 8-2-2), but would also have given the Golden Tornado a playoff berth.

The Golden Tornado (5-13, 3-9) scored two second-half goals, with the second score coming from senior David Crissman in the 61st minute of play, as Butler won its season finale 2-1.The Raiders (9-6-1, 7-5) entered the second half with a 1-0 lead on the strength of a Shane Kunder goal.But with 29:44 left in regulation, play was stopped for 15 minutes because of a heated altercation between players from both teams."It's always an emotionally charged game when it's Butler-Seneca," said Raiders coach George Williams. "And emotions were running high again tonight."Butler sophomore Doug Moran tied the game in the 59th minute of play before Crissman put his team ahead for good.Evan Gould was the winning goalie."It was a good way to end the season," said Butler coach Malcolm Cook. "Especially since we were down 1-0 with less than a half to play. And a senior scored the winning goal."The Raiders, who will close the regular season Saturday at Knoch, already had a playoff spot secured before the game. They will compete in postseason play for the first time since 2000.