Defense key to Butler’s hopes in lacrosse
BUTLER TWP — While offense has grabbed the headlines in the early going for Butler’s boys lacrosse team, coach Justin Steiner knows defense will play just as big of a role in determining how successful 2024 will be for the Golden Tornado.
That’s why the experience current sophomore goalie Max Weiland gained last year is very important.
“We played him in the second half against Penn-Trafford and Seneca Valley last year and he became our starter for the last nine games,” Steiner said of Weiland. “All that playing time was a big boost for him.
“We are really big on weight training and Max made the most off-season lifts out of any of our guys with 90. He just goes out and grinds for us every day.”
Weiland made six saves in Wednesday’s 17-2 victory over Knoch at Art Bernardi Stadium. The defense in front of him features three fellow sophomores in Preston Simko, Mason Lacey and Layne Zmijowski.
Through three games, all victories, Butler has outscored its opponents 62-10.
“So far, we’ve spent a lot of time in the offensive end and the defense has not been exposed to a full game of facing shots and scoring chances,” Steiner said. “One thing we need to do better is communicate more on the back end.”
Weiland was staked to a 5-0 lead just over five minutes into Wednesday’s contest. Ayden Davis scored three of his game-high eight goals in that span.
Leading 6-2 after one quarter, Butler saw its first 12 shots of the second period go for naught. Five were saved by Knoch goalie Hunter Essary and the other seven were off the mark. But the Tornado scored three times in the final 3:21 before halftime, building a 9-2 advantage.
Stevens ended the night with four goals.
“We did a good job against (Davis and Jake Stevens) there for a while, but Butler really took off after that,” said Knoch coach Jake Wood. “Butler’s a triple-A team and we’re double-A. We missed the playoffs by one game last year and are hoping to surge this season.”
Liam Kaper and Landon Schlagel both scored for the Knights (0-2), who host Freeport on Friday.
Essary, who Wood referred to as “one of the best, if not the best goalie in the WPIAL,” stopped 16 shots for Knoch.
Also scoring for Butler were Grant Holt (2), Ian Wilson (2) and Jaxon Salata.
Butler will travel to Indiana on Friday.
“We definitely need to tighten some things up, basic things, like passing,” said Steiner. “We talk to the guys all the time about staying humble and hungry.”
