Butler's Sheptak scores twice in section win over North Hills
BUTLER TWP — Butler’s Thomas Sheptak had North Hills feeling a case of déjà vu.
Within a three-minute span late in the first half of Tuesday night’s boys soccer clash at Art Bernardi Stadium, the sophomore midfielder struck twice for the Golden Tornado, ensuring that his side didn’t come up empty going into the half.
Butler wound up coming out on the right side of a 3-0 decision in Section 1-4A action.
During a sequence with about three minutes to go before the break, the Indians (0-7, 0-6) jammed the ball at the feet of three Butler (6-3-1, 3-3-1) attackers, succeeding in their efforts not to allow them to fire off a shot. The ball found its way to Sheptak, who was lurking behind, unaccounted for, and he inserted it into the left top corner.
“We needed to make sure the guy’s covered,” North Hills coach Adam Kephart said. “We’ve got to clear the ball out of it. It was a good play. They found the same kid in the same spot for two bangers, back-to-back.
“It just kind of started the momentum for them.”
Golden Tornado coach Troy Mohney: “I thought we played well in the final third, where we were able to put lots of passes and play,” Mohney said. “We finally got that longer shot in there and we did a good job of keeping the play alive.”
With time running out on the period, he scored from a spot not more than 10 yards away from the first marker. The play was nearly identical, as Sheptak looped it over Indians goalie William Eyster’s head on the same side.
“There was space where I was,” Sheptak said. “The play kind of fell into the box and I floated around. It was pretty much the same thing both times. It was just a simple lay back. My teammates did most of the work, I was just there to finish it.”
Butler had chances earlier on. They’d played better than their guests over the initial 42 minutes, but the scoreboard had yet to indicate such.
“I didn’t think that we were playing horrible,” Mohney said. “The flow of the game was fine, it’s just that composure in front of the goal that hopefully we can convert a few more when we come out next time.”
Though, each time they got one of their five prior shots off, a North Hills defender was there in front. The Golden Tornado couldn’t make good use of four corner kicks, none of which even produced a shot. A pair of free kicks were ineffective, as well, and the team was even unable to connect on a penalty kick with 19:16 left in the opening half.
On defense, Butler held the visitors without a shot and kept them from even threatening, for the most part.
Freshman midfielder Noah Ernst had two assists, both on Sheptak’s markers. Junior forward Dylan Murphy scored with 3:20 left before the final whistle, with a little help from Sheptak. For the Golden Tornado's regular season finale, the two teams will face off again on Oct. 13. The Indians expect to limit the mistakes in that one.
“We’ve just got to play quicker,” Kephart said. “We know what we’re supposed to do, we’re just not playing fast enough to do it.”
