Balancing act
BUTLER TWP — Connor Frost's defensive assignment for the Butler lacrosse team's match against North Allegheny was simple.
Don't let Kyle Rullan out of his sights.
Frost helped hold Rullan to two goals, but the Tigers' balance allowed North Allegheny to earn a 20-5 Division I, Section 1 win Tuesday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.
Following Rullan required Frost to faceguard him, while chasing Rullan around the field.
“I took it as an honor, because my coach put his trust in me,” Frost said. “He said I was athletic and able to take him on.”
Rullan scored twice in the first two minutes and didn't score again.
Butler coach Justin Karam didn't blame Frost for either goal.
The first was off a restart, while Rullan rifled a 15-yard shot in for the second one.
“Connor did great handling him,” Butler coach Justin Karam said. “He kept him subdued. I told Connor right off the bat it's nothing to get frustrated about.”
While Rullan didn't score again, North Allegheny didn't need him to.
The Tigers (4-1, 2-0) had nine different players score, including five goals from Wes Powell.
They used Rullan mostly as a decoy.
“We try to use him as a pick so if they are truly going to stay with him, it's really tough for the kid covering the ball,” Tigers coach John Rullan said. “That creates opportunities. It's hard to cut someone off and then those five guys have to play defense like they aren't used to.”
The Tigers had plenty of other guys take advantage of their scoring opportunities.
Zech Nachazel, Anthony Morrow, Dillon Dugan, Will Petraglia and Kyle Sena all scored two goals for North Allegheny.
“Locking off one guy wasn't going to make a huge difference because of the talent they had on their team,” Frost said.
North Allegheny scored the first four goals before Gavin Terwilliger scored for Butler with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Tigers then went on a 9-1 run, taking a 13-2 lead into the half.
Karam said Frost's assignment caused a few missed assignments.
“His sole responsibility is to make sure that guy doesn't touch the ball,” Karam said. “We had to alter our slide package and there was some confusion.”
Jamison Smith led Butler (0-4, 0-3) with four goals. Three of his goals came after halftime.
Petraglia's goal with 11:27 remaining put North Allegheny ahead 16-4 and kicked in the mercy rule.
