Kunst's late goals lift Butler girls, 7-6
BUTLER TWP — The
Butler girls lacrosse team was in desperate need of some offense.
Megan Kunst was there to provide it.
The senior scored two goals in the final five minutes — including
the game-winner with
The Spartans (0-2) took a 6-4 advantage with
“I'm happy we won, but I'm not satisfied with the win,” said
Butler coach Annie Tigano. “We need to put a whole game together.”
Kunst cut the gap to 6-5 before Olivia Semmelroth tallied her
second goal of the game to tie it up with 3:05 to play.
After a foul with 1:27 left on the clock, Kunst lined up for an
8-meter shot and rifled it into the net for the Tornado's first lead since the
opening moments of the second half.
“That was a huge goal,” said Tigano. “As a team, we've struggled
with the 8-meter shots, but she did what we've been teaching. She got the
goalie to move and then took her shot.”
Kunst's first goal also came on an 8-meter chance.
“It's a big confidence booster going into next game,” said
Tigano.
Hempfield coach Becky Bragan was still encouraged by her team's
showing despite the heart-wrenching defeat.
“It was a great game,” said Bragan. “We played well. Compared to
last year, this is a huge improvement.
“Simple mistakes killed us,” Bragan added. “We'll learn from it
and move on.”
The Tornado dominated in shots on goal, 35-16, as Hempfield
goalie Jenna Gillanardo recorded 28 saves in a losing effort.
“Our goalie stepped up for us. She kept us in the game,” said
Bragan. “She's been improving, making body saves instead of stick saves. She's
throwing her body in front of the ball and that's helping her game.”
The Spartans helped themselves with quick strikes to begin each
half.
Jess Dell gave Hempfield a 1-0 lead 26 seconds into the game and
Mary Burns made it 4-4 just 23 seconds into the second half.
“Our goal next game is to not give up a goal in the beginning of
either half,” said Tigano. “That's been a problem for us.”
The Tornado had no problem recovering from Dell's early goal.
Casey Murdick found the back of the net just 29 seconds later and
added a second goal to give Butler a 2-1 advantage.
Semmelroth pushed the lead to 3-1, but Hempfield's Lexi Greene
answered two minutes later and cut the gap to 3-2.
Hanna Crovak provided an equalizer for the Spartans. However,
Butler's Olivia Kappler scored the half's final goal at the 8:49 mark to give
the Tornado a 4-3 halftime edge.
Burns' score, along with a pair of goals from Kari Winkler
equipped Hempfield with the 6-4 lead until Butler staged a comeback.
“We didn't give up and played hard the whole way,” said Tigano.
“We fought hard and played smart at the end.”
Tigano was particularly impressed with defenseman Hannah
Kranbacher.
“She was very vocal and aggressive at the end of the game,”
Tigano noted.
Maggie Dellen had two assists for the Tornado, while Kappler also
tallied a helper. Butler goalie Kyleigh Jarosinski made 10 saves.
“We were passing well tonight,” said Tigano, who hopes to see her
team improve over the coming weeks. “We need to be smart and start playing our
game, but there's a lot of positive things to work from.”