NEVILLE TWP., Pa. — Seneca Valley stunned Cathedral Prep 3-2 on Thursday night, bouncing back from two, one-goal deficits to punch their ticket for a date with Peters Twp. in the Triple-A Penguins Cup final.
The Ramblers struck first when an errant pass from Seneca Valley was intercepted by Jacob Emerson, and the forward came in on a two-on-none and fired a shot that beat Raiders goaltender Logan Johnson. Cathedral Prep and Seneca Valley exchanged opportunities through the remainder of the first period with neither team able to capitalize.
The second continued the same way as the first, as the Raiders added a number of power-play opportunities to their resume but were unable to cash in. Noah Watkiss took advantage of a loose puck in the slot and slid it past Brandon Dumas to tie things up at one, but it was short-lived as the Ramblers tied things up 48 seconds later on a goal by Jacob Kruszewski.
Giovanni Sarachine tied the game for the Raiders just over two minutes into the third period, and, with 8:44 remaining, Tyler Draper gave Seneca Valley their first lead of the night by firing a puck from just outside the crease past Dumas.
Seneca Valley advances to face Peters Twp. at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Tuesday, Mar 20 for the Triple-A Penguins Cup and berth in the Pennsylvania State Championship game. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
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