Thirteen years.

It’s hard to believe it’s been that long.

But the Butler High School girls soccer team is returning to the WPIAL playoffs this season after such a drought.

Turn the calendar back 13 years and the Golden Tornado were such a powerhouse on the pitch. Annie Lowry was wrapping up a high school career that saw her net 84 goals.

Lowry and Megan Schnur were teammates on the 2001 Butler team that reached the state finals. Lowry helped guide the 2003 squad back to the state championship game.

Lowry and Schnur are both in the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame now.

Jenny Kienzle, Ashton Graham, Katie Richey, Elise McCaskey, Julie Lineman ... all were excellent players on that 2003 squad along with Lowry. Jessica Onufer was the goalkeeper.

As much as Butler could put the ball in the net, it ultimately won with its defense. The Tornado allowed only one goal in four PIAA tourney games, shutting out McDowell, Schenley and Peters Township before taking a 1-0 loss against Owen J. Roberts in the state finals.

Butler girls soccer had not returned to the playoffs since that glory-filled 2003 campaign.

Until now.

This year’s team is following much the same script.

With Anna Voelker in goal, Butler recorded its fifth shutout of the season Wednesday against North Hills. In the Tornado’s nine wins this year, they have outscored the opposition 26-4.

In its four losses, Butler has surrendered 10 goals.

Butler finished fourth in its section each of the past three years under coach Steve Perri, missing the playoffs by one game in 2014. The team has been on the verge of breaking through.

That’s a far cry from where the program was when Perri took the job in 2012. He inherited a program that lost 30 of 33 games over the previous two years, had gone through a couple of coaching changes and was riding a 27-game section losing streak. Not anymore.

Butler will finish no lower than third in Section 1-4A this season. With games coming up this week against North Allegheny and Seneca Valley, the Tornado could finish in second place.

Fittingly, seniors Hannah Hays and Alexis Leech scored three of the four goals in the win over North Hills that clinched the playoff spot. Other seniors on the team are Rachael Woessner, Kelly Kriley, Maddie Glew, Abby Boyle, Odile Enslen, Hannah Hartley and Riley Seibert.

Perri deserves a lot of credit for Butler’s surge He was coach of a Knoch team that consistently reached postseason play before taking the gamble on building the Butler program back to that status. It was a gutsy move that paid off.

The 13-year drought is gone.

Hopefully, the newly found glory will stick around.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle