Butler girls bomb Knoch

By Derek Pyda
Eagle Staff Writer



BUTLER TWP — The first 15 minutes were dominated by defense.
That's when Butler's offense came alive.
The Golden Tornado girls lacrosse team scored seven goals in the final 9:37 of the first half and went on to defeat visiting Knoch 13-3 Wednesday night.
Eleven players scored in the victory.
"What I'm most proud of is that five of our eight goals in the first half were assisted," said Butler coach Annie Succop. "That's huge for us."
Also key in the win was a span of 35 seconds of the first half, when the Tornado went from being tied at 1 to leading by three scores on goals from Chelsey Rock, Alyssa Olenick and Megan Kunst.
"We just started playing the way we're capable of," Succop said. "We've had trouble putting together a complete game this year. The first 15 minutes was our bad stretch tonight."
"Defensively, I thought we stuck with them early," said Knights coach Garett Butler. "We forced them to make a lot of passes and stopped their best players."
Butler (2-3) led 8-1 at halftime, then took away any doubt as to the outcome of the game by scoring three goals in the first five minutes of the second half, courtesy of Liz Manuel, Brynn Maxwell and Bailey Kraus.
Butler goalie Cara Moses made 10 saves and was aided by a defense that took away many of the Knights' scoring chances, especially in the second half, when Moses made two stops.
"We were doubling really well," said Succop. "We were seeing the ball and not letting them get shots off."
Knoch (1-3) received goals from Katey Imhoff in the first half, and Kala Yenick and Brooke Balliet late in the game.
The Knights were without senior midfielder Stephanie Eagal, who is nursing an injury and hopes to return soon.
But Coach Butler was able to see positives in a team trying to mesh.
"She gave up some goals, but I thought Nikki Binnie (eight saves) played well in net," he said. "And Brooke Balliet was solid in transition.
"We just need more time to work together," Butler added. "We had two or three midfielders out there tonight who had never played lacrosse before four weeks ago.
The Golden Tornado's scorers included Amanda Huey (2), Maggie Dellen (2), Manuel, Maxwell, Rock, Allie Houk, Brittney Miller, Olenick, Kathryn Hitchan, Kunst and Kraus.
Manuel had three assists, while Dellen and Kunst each had one.