Butler lacrosse falls in playoff to Central, 11-8
BUTLER TWP — A win over Central Catholic less than three weeks ago helped Butler’s boys lacrosse team earn a home playoff game to begin the WPIAL Class 3A tournament.
Monday night, the teams met again, this time with a spot in the district quarterfinals on the line. The Vikings avoided another Butler rally in earning an 11-8 victory at Art Bernardi Stadium.
With the game tied at four late in the third quarter, Central scored seven of the next 10 goals, the last coming from Will Speers that gave the Vikings an 11-7 lead with just one minute, 39 seconds left in the game.
“We implemented a zone defense since the last time we played them,” said Central coach Anthony Abbondanza. “We underestimated (Butler’s Landon Dubyak) the first time. He still put some daggers in us tonight. We came out flat, but came back and won.”
Dubyak had the hot hand early, scoring all three of Butler’s goals in the first period, after which the Tornado led 3-2. After lightning led to a 40-minute delay, Dubyak had the only tally in the second quarter and Butler was up 4-2 at halftime.
Central’s zone may have kept other Butler players from finding the net early in the game.
“We tried to adjust, but it was tough,” said Butler coach Trevor Monteleone. “Except for a couple of games this season, we played against man defenses. Now we’re trying to revert the guys’ brains back to facing zone.”
Butler’s Julius Collins made six of his 10 saves in the first half, helping to frustrate Central’s attack.
“It wasn’t just tonight,” Monteleone said of Collins. “He had several 10-plus save games this season and without them, we wouldn’t have been here in the first place.”
But Central’s shots began finiding their mark more often beginning in the third period. John Blount, Victor Rossi, Nolen Paul and Aidan Minnock each scored in the quarter and that momentum carried over.
Nick Kostewicz scored twice during Central’s 4-0 run in the fourth that put it up 10-5 before Ayden Davis gave the Tornado hope by scoring twice in a span of 33 seconds. However, time ran out on the Tornado, who certainly had their chances. In the fourth period alone, they fired 13 shots, though nine of them were wide of the net.
Dubyak scored late to give him five goals for the game.
Noah Bracco tallied 13 saves for the Vikings (12-5).
Butler (9-7) was attempting to win a playoff game for the first time since it defeated Quaker Valley in a WPIAL Division II quarterfinal in 2012.
“It’s hard to put into words right now, right after a (season-ending) loss,” said Monteleone, “but I really feel for our seniors. They poured their hearts out for this team, fought through injuries. It was a good season.”
