BUTLER TWP — Two peas in a pod.

Or, as Butler senior Rylie Cranmer referred to herself and Golden Tornado girls lacrosse teammate Taryn Thompson, “the team clowns.”

“We are really close,” Cranmer said of her fellow senior. “Before lacrosse, we had played soccer together for years.”

“We would tell jokes or act goofy to lighten the mood at practice or on the field,” Thompson added.

This spring was to be their time.

They were going to be the only two four-year letter winners on the team. They were gioing to join senior Mikayla Bernhard as team captains.

They were going to send Butler lacrosse off in the right direction.

“Now we're not even going to get our banquet,” Thompson said. “I was looking forward to that, our official goodbye.”

The Tornado won six games last season. They were aiming for the WPIAL playoffs this time around.

Cranmer plays defense. She will extend her academic and lacrosse career to Lycoming College in Williamsport. Thompson, an attack-midfielder, will not be playing lacrosse in college.

She received college interest in terms of the sport, but will continue her education at Butler County Community College with a goal of getting into the nursing field.

Cranmer will major in mathematics.

“There was always a bond between those two,” Butler girls lacrosse coach Bob Conklin said. “Not only are they two of the best players on the team, they had a knack for bringing the team together. That was going to be particularly true this year.”

Cranmer agreed.

“Our biggest goal this year was going to be coming together and having the team feel more like family,” she said. “Team bonding was going to be No. 1, getting everyone to feel comfortable with each other and play more together.

“Last year, we struggled with pressure. We tended to come apart. We wanted to fix all of that.”

Thompson estimates she scored 10 goals last year and had nearly 20 assists. She would have had more of a scoring presence this year.

“I wanted to score 30 goals or so this season,” said.

During a Midnight Madness lacrosse event in Pittsburgh this past offseason, Butler placed third overall out of 20 teams.

“We played until 2 in the morning. It was so much fun,” Thompson said. “I really believe that's the kind of success we were aiming for.”

Conklin described Thompson as one of his toughest players.

“Lacrosse is an aggressive sport and Taryn is an aggressive player,” the coach said. “We may not be playing this year, but she'll make a difference for us next season.”

Thompson will return to the team next spring as a volunteer assistant coach. She decided to do that even before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 spring sports season.

“I'm going to be around town and I want to give something back, help any way I can,” she said.

“Taryn will be so valuable that way,” Conklin said. “Having been a teammate of a lot of the girls on next year's team, she'll have a great rapport with them and the coaches.”

Conklin said Cranmer is the best defensive player he's ever coached. This was to be his second year at Butler, but he's coached lacrosse at other schools.

“Rylie could be a goal scorer, too, but she is so valuable on defense,” the coach said. “She is fast-moving, so quick with her feet. Nobody can get around her.”

Cranmer will play defense at Lycoming, a Division III program, as well. The Warriors are 12-24 over the past three years after putting together three successive winning campaigns.

Sarah Quigley debuted as Lycoming's head coach this year.

“I considered Thiel, also, but I wanted to go a little farther away,” Cranmer said. “I've been playing lacrosse since sixth grade and I want to keep going.

“We were going to have 12 or 13 seniors on this year's (Butler) team. We were all going to go out together. I know it was necessary, but to lose our season ... It just seems so unfair.”