Rough opener
BUTLER TWP — Bethel Park figures to have one of the best boys lacrosse teams in the WPIAL this spring and the Black Hawks wasted no time flexing their muscles in Friday’s season opener against Butler.
Matthew Kopp and Alex Greene scored seven goals and five, respectively, to lead Bethel to a 17-6 win over the Golden Tornado at Art Bernardi Stadium.
The Black Hawks lost in the district quarterfinals last year, but a senior-laden starting lineup has the team ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL as the season gets underway.
“Our numbers are down,” said Bethel Park coach Tim Schreiber. “Pre-pandemic, we had 55 kids (between varsity and junior varsity). Now we’re down to 29, but we’re treating it as a positive. Our guys are getting playing time and we’re playing as a team.
“(Kopp and Greene) are returning starters for us and both have gotten bigger, stronger and faster.”
Butler’s Ayden Davis staked the Golden Tornado to an early 1-0 lead, scoring less than three minutes into the game. Troy Volpatti tied the game two and a half minutes later and shortly after, Kopp scored his first goal to put the Black Hawks up for good.
Their lead was 4-1 when Davis and Jared Chantz scored goals for Butler in a span of 1:16 of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Butler had a pair of man-advantage chances, one in the first quarter and another in the second, but failed to get a shot off in both cases.
The missed opportunities contributed to the Golden Tornado’s 8-4 deficit at halftime.
“We’ve got a young offense,” said Butler coach Trevor Monteleone. “We have a number of seniors who are in just their first or second year, so there’s a learning curve. Unfortunately, the score was what it was tonight, but it’s just one game. We’ll watch the film and learn from it.”
“It came down to communication between our goalie (Owen Peters) and our long poles,” Schreiber said of killing the penalties. “And we were aggressive at the right time.”
Peters stopped six shots in the game.
Butler missed the playoffs last year with a 5-9 record. Two players breathing optimism into the Tornado’s 2022 season are Davis, a midfielder, and senior goalie Julius Collins.
Davis scored two goals Friday while Collins stopped 10 shots.
“Ayden is only a sophomore, but played varsity last year, so he has that experience,” Monteleone said. “Julius was all-section last year. Bethel is a very good team and he faced a lot of shots tonight.”
Also scoring for Butler were Landon Dubyak, Grant Terwilliger and Cole Hurley.
Butler opens Section 2-3A play at home Wednesday against Seneca Valley.
