Penn-Trafford holds Butler off in hard-fought battle
BUTLER TWP — The pendulum swung back and forth. It just spent more time in Penn-Trafford’s favor.
Despite an eight-goal showing by Butler junior Ayden Davis, the Golden Tornado bowed to the visiting Warriors by a 16-13 final. Davis deposited a pair of markers in the game’s first three minutes and change — including one off of Penn-Trafford (6-4 goalie Chase Morocco’s back — but the guests enjoyed an 11-3 surge over the next 19 minutes of play.
“It must have been mentality,” Butler coach Justin Steiner said. “Lacrosse is a game of runs, a game of momentum. They had that momentum going in there ... It’s just the way our guys handled it. They did handle it well, and they swung back and made it an even closer game, but we just didn’t have enough time to finish it out.”
Davis broke a nearly eight-minute-long scoring drought with 2:29 to go before halftime. He’d score another — along with Jackson Solada and Jake Stevens — to cut further into the deficit before the break.
“I just think that we started lacking on passing and catching,” Davis said of the lull. “We started getting a little scared, so that really affected us (with) slowing down our goals. But, we picked it back up towards the end.”
Warriors coach Charlie Hach took notice of the Golden Tornado’s key players and his side’s defense stiffened.
