Butler makes strides
Tornado put pressure on Rams in lacrosse loss

By Mike Kilroy
Eagle Staff Writer

BUTLER TWP — Pine-Richland girls lacrosse coach Mark Perry wasn't happy.
While not overly giddy, Butler coach Annie Succop was somewhat pleased.
After the game, it was hard to tell the Rams had defeated the Golden Tornado 11-6 on a frigid Thursday evening at Butler Intermediate HighSchool.
"I'm absolutely disappointed in my team," Perry said. "I think we've had a poor performance today. We've not controlled the ball. We've turned it over."
Pine-Richland built a 3-0 lead less than five minutes into the game, but what had looked like a romp quickly turned into a tense battle.
Butler proved it is not going to be a pushover or an easy "W" this season.
Butler's Becca Crissman scored three goals, her final score cutting the lead to 8-5 with 16:49 remaining in the second half.
The goal raised a few eyebrows and heart rates on the Pine-Richland bench.
"We never counted ourselves out," Succop said. "We definitely thought we could come back. We just have to put our good spurts together for a whole game."
Every time Butler clawed back into the game, however, Pine-Richland found a way to pull away.
After falling behind 3-0, the Golden Tornado (1-6) cut the advantage to 4-2 before the Rams answered with two more goals a mere 52 seconds apart.
Mallory Miller scored a goal with 5:51 remaining in the first half before Brea Bagwell scored the first of her four goals with 4:59 remaining for a 6-2 halftime lead.
Still, Perry wanted more.
His team, though, was playing without two starters: Lauren Novak, who suffered a concussion in practice Wednesday, and starting goalie Mary Minnock.
"Even without those girls, this game is still disappointing to me," Perry said.
Butler, though, has been competitive against some lacrosse heavyweights in the area, including 5-0 Pine-Richland Thursday.
But the Rams pose more problems than most teams because of their balance.
The Rams showed they had as many scoring weapons Thursday night as there were forms of precipitation falling from the sky: rain, sleet and snow.
Stephanie Phillips added three goals, Miller scored two and Tori Pikur added another score for Pine-Richland.
"They're always very strong," Succop said of Pine-Richland. "They have so many girls who can score. You just have to spread it out and play good defense. Unfortunately we had some lapses again tonight."
Sara Schweiger scored two goals and Amanda Huey also tallied a goal for the Golden Tornado.
Butler goalie Julie Holt played well, making several difficult saves to keep her team in the game.