Seneca Valley was hoping to close out the first half of its Section 1 slate on a high note.
All that stood in the Raiders’ way was a North Allegheny squad eager for a signature win to jump-start its postseason run.
They may have been eager, but as has been the case in section matches, the Tigers came up short.
Seneca Valley senior Max Marcotte capped a solid night with the game-winning goal with 2:38 remaining in overtime as the Class 4A No. 1 Raiders (9-0-0, 7-0-0) pulled out a 3-2 home victory against North Allegheny (6-3-1, 4-3-0) in the first of their two Section 1 regular season meetings of the year.
Marcotte finished the night with two goals and an assist.
“I think we’re on a good roll right now, but we’re still working in a few things,” Seneca Valley coach George Williams said. “We’re staying ahead of it right now, but we’re trying to improve every game. North Allegheny was as tough matchup and things are getting tighter and tougher.”
Connor Oros opened the scoring midway through the first half when he bounced a corner kick from Marcote past North Allegheny goalkeeper Dante Accamando to give Seneca Valley the early lead. But the Tigers knotted it up, 1-1, on a Zach Nash tally.
Gabi Gotz scored off the rebound of a saved penalty kick to send it to overtime.
Seneca Valley is 39-0-1 in its past 40 matches against WPIAL schools.
The last District 7 team to beat the Raiders was Butler in a 2-1 decision on Sept. 24, 2020 and the only blemish during the streak is a 2-2 tie with Fox Chapel on Oct. 5, 2021.
Other games
Winchester Thurston senior Alex Hauskrecht scored two goals to give him 100 in his career to lead the Class 1A No. 3 Bears (6-1-1, 5-0-1) to a 4-1 home victory against Burrell (8-2-0, 4-2-0) in a Section 3 matchup.
• Jack Billick came up with a hat trick, Elliott Brennan added an insurance goal and Nick Cherry pitched the shutout between the pipes to lead Class 1A No. 4 Seton LaSalle (6-1-0, 5-0-0) locked up first place in Section 4 at the season’s midpoint with a 4-0 victory against Chartiers-Houston (3-6-0, 2-3-0).
• Deer Lakes spread out the scoring as Ryan Hanes, Wes Boyle and Peyton Kushon each hit the back of the net to help the Class 2A No. 3 Lancers (9-1-0, 7-0-0) pull out a 3-2 win against Freeport (4-4-0, 4-3-0).
• Seth Basinger contributed on all three Connellsville (7-3-0, 5-2-0) goals as he scored two himself and chipped in an assist in the Falcons 3-1 Class 3A Section 3 win against Albert Gallatin (2-7-0, 1-6-0)
• Luke Perez scored a pair of goals and Eli Noel added a goal and an assist as Serra Catholic (4-3-0, 4-1-0) kept pace with Seton LaSalle in Class 1A Section 4 with a 3-1 decision against Bishop Canevin (0-9-1, 0-4-1).
First Published: September 21, 2022, 2:28 a.m.