Streak snapped
BUTLER TWP – Reanna Everton wasn't pleased the winning streak ended.
But it gave the Butler girls lacrosse team a lesson before what may be the biggest game of the season. Moon scored twice in the final 1 minute, 19 seconds Saturday afternoon at Art Bernardi Stadium to steal a 13-12 non-conference victory.
It halted a five-game winning streak for the Golden Tornado (7-5). Butler will regroup before playing a Division II-Section 3 game against North Hills Tuesday night.
The Indians are tied with the Golden Tornado for the third and final playoff spot.
“Well, we need to play as hard as we've been playing to get another winning streak going,” said Everton, who scored four goals. “We play North Hills on Tuesday and need to come back and beat them to get into the playoffs. We want to get into the playoffs and play as long as we can before the seniors graduate.”
Before Sami Beddings scored for the Tigers to tie the game, Moon (8-5) hadn't scored in nearly 18 minutes. Butler was behind 11-8 before that stretch started.
Two goals from Everton and one from Mya Reese evened the game with 8:23 remaining.
“We got our possession of the ball and moved it better,” Butler coach Annie Succop said. “We had fewer turnovers.”
Moon shot itself in the foot with five minutes remaining.
The Tigers drew two cards within 35 seconds off each other and Butler's Megan Crawford capitalized, scoring her fifth goal to put the Golden Tornado ahead 12-11 with 3:18 left.
“We had to rally pretty much. Once teams get close like that it's hard to take control,” Moon coach Rachel Hoza said. “I think everyone was very panicked. We had to focus and take control of the game.”
The Tigers rallied by forcing Butler to turn the ball over. After Beddings' goal, Moon got the ball back and Kiera Zacher scored the winner with 49 seconds remaining.
“They pressured the ball well and we didn't get it where it needed to go,” Succop said.
In the first half, the Tornado took their only lead, 3-2, when Crawford scored on a penalty shot with 14:28 left in the first half. Butler had some missed opportunities.
Twice Crawford rang shots off the crossbar and the Golden Tornado missed a few penalty shots.
Moon capitalized by creating shots right in front of the net and led 7-6 going into halftime. Lauren Miller scored a goal for Butler, while Reese scored twice.
Everton is ready to help start a new streak, one she hopes will land the Golden Tornado in the playoffs.
“We have to play hard throughout the game and play smart throughout the entire game,” Everton said. “We played fine, but the mental aspect of the game, we need to keep our heads in it.”
