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BUTLER TWP — Finding te net early is crucial in any soccer game, especially one that figures to be low-scoring.
Seneca Valley took an early advantage on Butler with Nathan Prex's tally just 1 minute, 40 seconds into Wednesday's Section 1-4A finale and it turned out to be the difference as the Raiders (11-0-1, 14-0-1) remained undefeated with a 1-0 victory over the Golden Tornado at Butler's Intermediate High School Field.
“That was huge,” Raiders' coach George Williams said of the goal. “We won most of the 50/50 balls in the first 10 minutes, but after that, Butler got to most of them. We kept battling and were fortunate to come out of here with a win.”
Prex set up his own goal by pressuring Butler's net and goalkeeper Noah Wolford. He first headed the ball, which bounced off the left post and back to the senior forward, who then booted a shot into the open right side of the net.
The Raiders had already defeated Butler, 2-1, last month.
Prex was a key reserve last year for the Raiders, who captured WPIAL and PIAA crowns. His play as a starter this fall is a big reason why SV was able to navigate a very tough section without a loss.
“It's the best in the state, in my opinion,” Prex said of Section 1, which also includes playoff-bound Fox Chapel and North Allegheny. “Finishing undefeated, hopefully it means good things (ahead) for us. We learned a lot from last year's team and we need to put it to good use.”
The Golden Tornado (7-5, 12-5), who had already clinched a WPIAL playoff berth, tallied a number of good scoring opportunities. None were more promising than the sequence that began with Landon Mohney's free kick from 55 yards in the 68th minute.
The ball was initially stopped, but not cleared in front of SV goalkeeper Ryan Krumenacker, who then corralled a rebound attempt from forward Aidan Soley that nearly tied the game. Krumenacker dove to his left and controlled the ball just before it crossed the goalline.
“We had seven or eight good chances tonight and you hope that one of them goes in,” said Butler coach Troy Mohney. “We did some positive things tonight, but we had too many negatives, like some of the decisions we made with the ball.”
Krumenacker made six saves for the Raiders. Wolford stopped three shots in the first half for Butler and Drew Knight made one save in the second half.
Butler has split time between its two goalkeepers all season.
Williams lauded the effort of his defense against the Tornado, specifically against Mohney, who had scored 13 goals in the previous three games.
SV's defenders included Jeremiah Laslavic, Caiden Oros, Luke Simpson, Ben Hankinson and Ben Randall.
Both teams will close the regular season Tuesday ahead of the WPIAL playoff pairings being released Wednesday.
Seneca Valley travels to Franklin Regional while Butler hosts Grove City.
“There hasn't been a whole lot of intersection games and I'm not sure where we fall,” Mohney said in regards to his team's seed in the postseason, “but if Seneca gets the No. 1 seed, we've played them tough both times.
“We can beat any team in the WPIAL, but we still have to show up and play our game.”
