Despite Early Lead, Warriors Fall in 2017 Season Opener

Methacton opened its 2017 campaign by hosting the Raiders of Seneca Valley, a team just outside of Pittsburgh who had made the cross-state trip to play some early season games against Eastern competition.  The battle between the Raiders and Warriors promised to be a physical one as both teams showed some strong and aggressive play early on.  

The host Warriors were able to control the momentum early as they notched the first goal of the year in just under a minute of play with Senior Ryan O'Toole finding the back of the net on an assist from Junior Stanley Kolimago.  Methacton would continue to build on their early success as they extended the lead just 3 minutes later as Junior attackman Kyle Kacala found Senior midfielder Cam Sikora alone on the crease.  Sikora finished the pass with a high bouncing shot that found its way just under the crossbar to stretch the lead to two.  

The first quarter continued with both teams going back and forth while finding little offensive success.  A Methacton penalty with just over four minutes left in the quarter gave the guests their first extra man offensive opportunity of the day. Seneca Valley Sophomore attackman Nate Lewis buried on a feed from Junior Grant Alexander less than 20 seconds into the man-up.  The Warriors, however, would again build a two goal lead on an exceptional individual effort from O'Toole with just over a minute left in the period.  The senior midfielder swept the ball over the top of the box, ducking inside two Seneca Valley defensemen before drawing a penalty flag and beating the Raider's goalie to the top right corner.  Unfortunately, the chippy play from the visiting Raiders would result in O'Toole missing the remainder of the game.  

Despite the penalty, the Raiders seized the game's momentum following the Warriors 3rd goal.  They won the ensuing faceoff and were able to burn the entirety of the penalty time.  While Methacton was able to keep the guests off the board as the quarter closed, the change in momentum was palpable.  

The guests would dominate the second quarter in possession, in no small part due to winning consistently at the faceoff x.  The second quarter gave the Warriors little possession and while the guests struggled to find seams in the Methacton defense, they were able to notch three goals in the second quarter to take a 4-3 halftime lead.  

The third quarter would more closely resemble the second than the first as Seneca Valley continued to dominate possession.  While the Warrior defense was able to get a number of stops, they struggled to clear the ball only doing so successfully on 1 of 6 attempts.  The result was a fatigued defense and the Raiders were able to add to their lead on a tally from Senior attackman Dom Polochak.  The Warriors were able to close the lead to 5-4 with just over two minutes left in the period as Kacala found Kolimago on the crease for his first goal of the year.  

The fourth quarter saw both teams have plenty of chances with both goalies standing tall.  Harvey Smith had a solid day for the Warriors making a number of saves on outside shots.  Senior Brady Moze was also stout for the visiting Raiders as he stood tall and held the Warriors scoreless in the fourth quarter.  The Raiders were able to stretch the lead back to two on a goal from midfielder Nick Sybert.  With under two minutes to play, the hosts had to extend and double the ball carrier which lead to the Raiders adding an open net goal to finish the day with a 7-4 lead.  

Methacton falls to 0-1 on the season while Seneca Valley starts 1-0.  Methacton returns to action on Tuesday as they visit ChesMont foe Great Valley while Seneca Valley faces a stiff test on Sunday playing Penn Charter.