CANONSBURG — Poetic justice? Or just plain luck?

Senior goalkeeper Carson Stein and his Butler teammates will accept Tuesday night's 2-1 WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer playoff win at Canon-McMillan either way.

Stein, a first-year netminder, stopped three of four shots during penalty kicks, deciding a game that was tied at 1-1 after 70 minutes, including two overtime periods.

“That was crazy,” Stein said. “My first year of soccer, first year as goalkeeper, first playoff game and I'm in penalty kicks.”

And he shined.

Stein made lunging saves on Canon-Mac captains Owen Maher and Joey Fonagy, the first shooters he faced in the penalty kick session. Butler's Landon Mohney scored a goal for Butler in the meantime.

Evan Fetter and freshman Cody Lubinsky also scored for the Golden Tornado (11-5-1) on penalty kicks. The latter goal clinched the win after Stein stopped opposing goalie Kaiden Reamer.

“I've been around soccer since I was 4 and have been in about a dozen of these penalty kick games,” Butler coach Troy Mohney said. “It is a hard way to determine the outcome. As a goalie, all you can do is anticipate and be confident.

“I told Carson there was no pressure. If you let one in, focus on the next one.”

“All I was trying to do was read the shooter's body language and confidence level,” Stein said. “I felt good in there.”

He made his teammates feel great.

“Carson was incredible. He came up big for us,” Butler senior defender Tyler Gillis said.

Gillis did likewise, tying the game on a header off a throw-in in the 68th minute of regulation.

“I got lucky,” Gillis said. “In that situation, so many bodies in front, I was just trying to head it through to a teammate. Somehow, it found its way to the net.

“We deserved to win this game. We outplayed them.”

Canon-Mac (7-5-1) entered the game as the seventh seed in 4A. Butler was the 10th seed. But the Tornado had 12 shots on net to the Big Macs' four, nine corner kicks to Canon-Mac's two.

The game was scoreless at halftime, though Butler kept possession in the attacking zone for much of the first 40 minutes.

“Give Canon-Mac credit. They did a great job defending their end,” Mohney said.

The Big Macs took a 1-0 lead when Maher sailed a 27-yard shot into the net on a free kick in the game's 47th minute. It was only the team's second shot on net all night.

“I wasn't happy with our play in the first half,” Big Macs coach Larry Fingers said. “We adjusted and played with more energy in the second half.

“Penalty kicks ... they are what they are. This is a tough way to go out.”

Butler will play at No. 2-seed Seneca Valley in the quarterfinal round at noon Saturday. The teams split their two regular season games.

“It will be quite a battle. That's all I know,” Mohney said.