A shot to the face all that stands in the way of Butler girls soccer beating rival Pine-Richland
PINE TWP — Lexi Rudish’s shot could’ve been the equalizer.
Except, with her team down a goal in the second half Monday night against Pine-Richland, the Butler freshman forward’s try caromed squarely off Rams goalkeeper Amelia Van Meter’s face.
Following the 1-0 WPIAL Section 3-4A girls soccer road loss at Pine-Richland, Golden Tornado (7-7-1, 2-5) head coach Dan Buzzard chalked it up to bad luck. His team is trying not to leave things up to chance going forward.
"I wouldn’t say it’s superstitious," Butler senior forward/midfielder Kara Lubinsky said. "I would say we just don’t always capitalize when we need to, and those little things happen where their goal, it was a good goal. ... And that’s what we need to work on, is just finishing and making sure that, whenever something unlucky does happen, we make up for it."
Pine-Richland (4-6-3, 4-3) got the lone goal from junior midfield Charlie Kline in the 52nd minute.
Buzzard and senior forward/midfielder Lucia Leyland talked about a rough stretch earlier in the season. The coach has seen his team remain mentally strong, feeling they know how to flip losses into positives.
"I think we’ve worked on our attitude a lot as a team and just gotten closer as a group," Lubinsky said. "We all play for the girl next to us, and although, these (sorts of) games, where we just don’t finish, it doesn’t turn out the way we want it to, I think it’s gonna come. We’re gonna go into playoffs with the right mindset, the right work ethic and I’m excited."
"I haven’t felt better about this team than I have over the last couple games, and it’s been after a loss to NA and after a loss tonight," Buzzard said.
Lubinsky and her fellow leaders have made a point to shift how the team thinks. After mistakes, she said, they lift each other up. It’s yielded a culture that’s different than before.
"I thought we played extremely well," Buzzard said. "I think we outplayed them the first half. The second half, they got away from us a little bit. ... I think the last time we played them, (it was) super even. They’re a good team. Tonight, I thought the same thing."
Lubinsky is eager to see how younger teammates come together in the playoffs against a team the Golden Tornado is probably unfamiliar with in the postseason. Lubinsky wants to set the tone. Buzzard is forming an underdog mentality.
"That’s what we’ve done the last three years," Buzzard said. "No one expects us to be in a game, and last year, we had a lead (against Mt. Lebanon in the first round). We expect to do the exact same thing this year, except win this time. We’re gunning for our first playoff win in a long time, and I think we have the squad to do it."
