BUTLER TWP — The Butler boys lacrosse team was inexperienced in goal Friday night, but the Tornado's struggles came at the other end of the field.

Butler's offense sputtered for much of the night as Pine-Richland left Art Bernardi Stadium with an 8-3 win.

The Tornado were forced to start sophomore Micah Hamby in net because of a broken thumb suffered by usual starter Josh Jablonski.

After surrendering four goals in the first period, Hamby helped Butler stay within striking distance the rest of the night. He totaled 18 saves, including six stops in the third quarter alone.

“He did a great job,” Butler coach Brandon Hoskinson said of Hamby. “He did everything we asked of him.”

The Rams (6-6) entered the second quarter with a 4-0 lead. Butler pulled to within 4-2 after goals from Cody Bachman and Chandler Harvey.

Mike Dugan gave PR a 5-2 edge by halftime, his tally coming with 6:30 left on the second-quarter clock.

“We played Seneca Valley last night and lost 13-10,” said Rams coach Jim Volberg. “We fell behind early and didn't want to do that again tonight. We wanted to get some fire on the net early.”

The Tornado's lone goal of the second half came with 10:24 left in the game.

Cory Hilliard received a pass from Max Essig and blistered a shot past Rams goalie Matt Whitford. The goal cut PR's lead to 7-3 and was the lone bright spot for Butler's offense in the final 24 minutes of play.

The Tornado were unable to capitalize on one, two and three-man advantages.

A total of 34 penalties were called in the game, 19 on Pine-Richland and 15 on Butler.

“I've never seen that many penalties called in a lacrosse game,” said Hoskinson. “But it was frustrating. We're out there with a three-man advantage at one point and can't score.”

Aside from the three goals the Tornado scored, 10 of the team's 20 remaining shots either hit the post or were wide of the net, leaving Whitford with 10 saves.

“Whitford played well,” said Volberg. “And our guys on defense have been playing together since the fifth grade.”

Many of Butler's trips into the attack zone ended with errant passes.

“We were very undisciplined tonight,” said Hoskinson. “We're a young team and just have to go back to practice and work through it.”

The Rams received two goals apiece from Jeremy Zang, Connor Mincer, Ian Walters and Dugan.

Bachman and Alex Guiste added assists for Butler (6-5), which will play at Central Catholic on Monday.