Pat Russo, Shane Pruitt and Christian Brandstetter scored as Peters Township advanced to the PIAA Class AAA boys' soccer championship with a 3-0 win against Pine-Richland last night in a semifinal match at Chartiers Valley.

It took more than 54 minutes before the first goal was scored, but the Indians (23-2-2) tallied two in a five-minute span to take control.

"The entire fist half [the Rams] did a very good job of sucking us in to their style of soccer," Peters Township coach Bob Dyer said. "And, in the second half, our boys accepted that challenge, and we started playing our style and were able to capitalize on the opportunities."

Russo's goal came off a free kick from Greg Weimer with 25:58 to play. Weimer's kick was from about 40 away from the net on the left-wing side, and Russo's leaping diving header from just in front of the net rolled past Rams goalie Nicholas Donnelly.

"I landed pretty hard on my stomach," Russo said. "I twisted ... I don't know what it was; I just saw the keeper out so I wanted to take advantage of it."

Pruitt was credited with scoring his fifth goal of the PIAA playoffs less than five minutes later when his shot deflected off a Pine-Richland player. He has seven goals in seven WPIAL and PIAA playoff contests.

"It wasn't the prettiest goal I've scored," said Pruitt, a Lafayette recruit. "But, when you have a chance to put it on net, it goes in."

Brandstetter ended the scoring with 3:23 left.

Peters Township, the WPIAL runner-up, will play Downingtown West for the championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium. It is the first time since 2004 that a WPIAL team has made the boys' Class AAA championship game.

Pine-Richland (15-5-2) lost for only the second time since Sept. 29.

"We're really happy with how the boys battled for 80 minutes, no matter what the score was," Rams coach Dan Brower said. "I don't think it was [indicative of] a 3-0 game, for sure, but Peters is a great team with phenomenal players, and we wish them luck in the state final."

Boys' Class AA soccer

• Mars 2, Susquehannock 1: Tim Frigot converted a pass from Ryan McKenzie into the winning goal with 7:30 left in the second overtime to lift Mars (21-3-1) to its 14th win in its past 15 games and into the PIAA title game.

Mars held a 1-0 lead until Nick Ambermann of Susquehannock netted the tying goal with just 19 seconds left in regulation.

Mars entered the PIAA playoffs as the No. 4 seed from the WPIAL after losing to Center in the WPIAL semifinals.

Boys' Class A soccer

• Sewickley Academy 4, Seton-LaSalle 3: Bobby O'Donnell had a goal and an assist to lead WPIAL champion Sewickley Academy past Seton-LaSalle.

Seton-LaSalle led, 1-0, in the first half, but Sewickley Academy scored three unanswered goals to take command.

Sam Dunderdale, Matt Hoch, and Mark Zindren also scored for Sewickley Academy, which advanced to the PIAA final for the first time since 2000. The Panthers last won a state title in 1997.

Girls' Class AAA soccer

• Penn Trafford 2, Mt. Lebanon 1: Deanna Rowe tied the game for Penn-Trafford with four minutes left in regulation, then sent the Warriors to Hershey for the Class AAA state championship with a goal in the first overtime.

Penn-Trafford (21-3-1) overcame a 1-0 deficit to Mt. Lebanon (18-3-2), which got on the board with 15 minutes left on a goal by Audrey Cillo.

"Once Mt. Lebanon scored on us, it kind of woke us up," Penn-Trafford head coach Achilles Vassilicos said. "Not too many people expected us to be in Hershey next week."

Girls' Class AA soccer

• South Park 2, Springdale 1: WPIAL Class AA champion South Park advanced to the state final by defeating Springdale in a shootout.

The Dynamos (22-4-1) took an early lead on a Brittany Loveland goal. Jessica Morgan tied the game in the second half for the Eagles, then scored the deciding goal in the shootout. South Park (24-1-1) scored on all five penalty kicks and stopped Springdale once.