For 65 minutes last night, the WPIAL Class AAA girls' soccer championship looked to be headed for overtime, and maybe even penalty kicks.

That was until Seneca Valley (16-3-1) surged midway through the second half, rolling to a 2-0 victory against Upper St. Clair (16-7) at Elizabeth Forward High School.

It is Seneca Valley's first WPIAL soccer title.

"It feels good," said Seneca Valley coach Dave Sylvester, almost at a loss for words. "Yes, this is nice."

Seneca Valley's first goal came just after the midway point of the second half, and it wasn't a thing of beauty. It was result of relentless hard work.

As the ball was bouncing inside the area, Upper St. Clair keeper Carly Hyland came off her line to make a play. As she darted for the ball, she was beaten to it by Seneca Valley sophomore forward Amanda Cerminara, who got just enough of her head on it to send it toward the far post.

Upper St. Clair's Allie Lee gave chase, but the ball careened off the post and into the net.

"That was huge for us to get that one," Sylvester said. "[Cerminara] isn't that big and she can squeeze into some spots other players can't. She found a little space and got a head on it."

A little more than five minutes later, Seneca Valley scored again when Brianna Meurer one-timed a free kick from Karisa Fernandez and beat Hyland.

"We look to always do that off of free kicks," Sylvester said. "That was exactly what we wanted to do."

The match rolled into halftime scoreless, but Seneca Valley had the majority of the opportunities the first 45 minutes.

Seneca Valley missed the first real chance, coming about 20 minutes in.

On the run, Fernandez unleashed a booming shot from about 25 yards that had Hyland beat, but the ball hit the crossbar and went directly to Seneca Valley forward Kathryn Kelly. Working quickly without settling the ball, Kelly's shot sailed high and out of play.

Class AA

The South Park girls appear to be cornering the market on WPIAL soccer championships in this classification.

The Eagles won their second consecutive WPIAL championship yesterday, defeating Springdale, 2-1, thanks to goals set up by corner kicks.

"We work on set pieces for at least 5 to 10 minutes every practice," South Park coach Shelly Thropp said. "We're great in the air. We're tough to beat in the air."

South Park (21-1-1) took a 1-0 lead when Lauren Yobbi slammed in a shot after a corner taken by Brittany Pfaff about nine minutes into the game. It was only the second goal in seven games given up by the Dynamos (20-3-1).

Springdale tied the score 10 minutes later when Brittany Loveland's turnaround blast skipped into the net. Goalkeeper Sydney Judkins' diving attempt to her right failed to stop the bouncing shot.

After an evenly played first half, South Park dominated the final 40 minutes.