Mohney, Mohney!
JACKSON TWP — Senior forward Tate Mohney has scored many clutch goals for Butler's boys soccer team.
Thursday afternoon, he came up big not once, but twice.
Mohney scored to tie the Section 1-4A contest at 1-all midway through the second half.
The game appeared to be headed for overtime when he got behind SV's defense, including goalkeeper Will Gallagher, and found the net from the left side with just 27 seconds left in regulation, lifting Butler to a 2-1 win.
The win keeps Butler (9-4-1, 8-4-1) in the thick of the WPIAL playoff chase with only a meeting at North Allegheny on Monday left on the section slate. If the Golden Tornado win or tie against NA, they make the postseason.
“We've put so much work in, it's unfortunate that we haven't clinched yet,” said Tate Mohney. “We just have to keep grinding, keep working for it.”
The game's final goal did not come without controversy.
“Our guys stopped playing because they assumed an offside call was coming from the referee, but it never came,” said SV coach George Williams. “We can point fingers all we want, we still gave up the goal.”
Both teams had exchanged scoring opportunities in the first half. Tate Mohney had a header and a shot from 20 yards just miss. SV's A.J. Mills booted a shot that smacked off the left post less than a minute before halftime.
The Raiders (13-2-1, 11-2-1) finally broke the ice in the 60th minute. Moments after a Raider corner kick was successfully defended by the Tornado, the ball was back in front of Butler's net. Senior Austin Myers scored from the left side, but SV did not enjoy the lead for long.
Just over a minute later, Butler's pressure resulted in a penalty kick that Mohney booted past Gallagher.
Butler's two goals came in a half during which its attack was often in a lull.
“I thought our offense was dynamic and dangerous in the first half, but we couldn't find a way to score,” said Butler coach Troy Mohney. “Seneca Valley had way more possession and way more opportunities in the second half. We ran out of gas. Seneca subbed in a lot more guys and that had something to do with it.”
Gallagher made four saves for the Raiders while sophomore and first-year starter Austin Goepfert stopped seven shots for Butler.
“I told Austin the other day how proud I am of him,” Coach Mohney said. “You look at our results and see a lot of one-goal games. Austin has come up with some big saves to help us win a lot of those.”
Butler's win avenged a 1-0 loss to the Raiders Sept. 20.
The Raiders had already clinched the section title prior to Thursday's game.
“We told our guys to go out and play hard, play to win. You always want to win,” said Williams. “But it's tough going into a game that you know you don't have to win.
“We knew we had a lot of talent coming back from last year, but our section is so tough and you never know how things are going to turn out. I couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out.”
