Max Weiland stands on his head, but Canon-McMillan boys lacrosse overpowers Butler
BUTLER TWP — A 4-0 halftime lead suits most coaches just fine.
Not Canon-McMillan boys lacrosse coach Scott Gebhart.
“That wasn’t us in the first half,” Gebhart said. “We don’t normally play that way. We didn’t finish.”
Perhaps Butler senior goalkeeper Max Weiland had something to do with that.
Weiland stopped 17 of the Big Macs’ 21 shots on net in the first half Tuesday night before the visitors scored five times in the first six minutes of the third quarter en route to a 13-2 WPIAL Class 3A non-section victory at Butler’s Art Bernardi Stadium.
“Seventeen saves in the first half ... an 80% save ratio. That’s phenomenal,” Golden Tornado coach Justin Steiner said. “Max played an incredible half.”
Weiland said: “I was definitely feeling it in the first half. I was on my game. The way they came at me in the second half ... I could feel that, too.”
The Big Macs (13-4) snapped a two-game skid with authority in the second half, scoring on nine of their 12 shots.
“Sometimes you need a little more motivation,” Gebhart said. “We came out with more focus, more of a purpose. We attacked the net more aggressively.”
Canon-McMillan had a 9-0 lead before Butler junior Deacon Simko broke through with a score at the 5:10 mark of the third quarter. Simko has a team-leading 34 goals and 22 assists on the season.
Jayden Fleeger, a freshman, scored the Tornado’s other goal with 1:11 left in the game.
Butler (6-8) played without senior attacker Jake Stevens, who missed the contest with a tweaked hamstring. Stevens has 30 goals and 11 assists on the campaign.
“He fought all the way back from a torn ACL, only to have that (hamstring injury) happen to him,” Steiner said.
Marco Faieta led the Big Macs with six goals and an assist. He has more than 30 goals on the season. JB Banaszak had a goal and five assists while Parker Pabis netted two goals, Luke Johnson a goal and two assists. Goalkeeper Kenden Bickmeir stopped 12 of 14 Butler shots.
Canon-McMillan has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for a third consecutive year. Butler will end its season Thursday night, hosting Knoch on senior night.
The Tornado have 21 freshmen or sophomores among the 29 players on the varsity roster.
“We’ve got 13 players in eighth grade, 22 in seventh,” Steiner said. “The program is definitely growing. I feel like we’re coming along. We learned a lot about mental toughness this season.
“We have to do a better job of taking care of the little things.”
Besides making 19 saves on the night, Weiland repeatedly traced downfield with possession, trying to contribute offensively.
“That’s one of my favorite things to do,” Weiland said of running downfield. “I feel like I’m in good condition and I’m able to get back to the net. I don’t feel fatigued at all.”
Steiner said Weiland has a couple of assists this season from the goalie position.
“We call it the ‘Moses’ play, where we open up the middle of the field and let him run through it,” the Butler coach said. “We take advantage of his athleticism that way. We’ll miss that.”
