FOX CHAPEL — Just three minutes into the game, the Butler boys lacrosse team was staring at a 3-0 deficit on Fox Chapel's home field.

Not an ideal start.

Not even close.

The sluggish beginning was the death knell, not only for the game, but also for Butler's season, in a 15-8 loss to the Foxes Monday night in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.

“We just didn't come out and execute,” said Golden Tornado coach Trevor Monteleone. “That was the bottom line. The slow start is execution and not coming out as hot as they did.”

For Fox Chapel, the quick start was just what coach Kevin Devinney envisioned.

He didn't want to give a young Butler team any cause for early excitement.

“We always want to get off to a good start,” Devinney said. “We never want to play from behind. Having to play from behind, especially in the second half, you never know if you're going to be able to climb out of that hole.”

That was exactly the fate Butler (11-7) found itself in.

And the Golden Tornado never found a way out of the grave.

They showed signs of escape, however.

Butler rallied from down 7-2 in the second quarter to close to 9-5 in the third and then 11-7 late in the period, but Zach Yonas scored with 29 seconds remaining before the end of the quarter to put the lead back to five.

It was a backbreaking goal.

Yonas had many of them.

The junior scored eight times in the game, including three in the second quarter as Fox Chapel (13-4) led 8-3 at the half.

“Our entire attack has been playing well all year,” Devinney said. “We know what Zach is capable of. He had a monster night, but we've seen that from him before. This year is really a breakout year for him. He really exploded. He got the game ball tonight, for good reason.”

Connor Bachman also had a monster night for Butler. The junior scored five goals and nearly helped the Tornado rally with three of those scores in the third quarter.

“He's our most elite player,” Monteleone said. “We relied on him a little too much. It's got to be a better team effort.”

Butler also received a big game from Nolan Allison, who won the vast majority of the draws.

Fox Chapel mitigated that disadvantage on the faceoff with stellar play on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and excelling at scooping up ground balls.

“We saw (Allison) on tape. We knew he was going to be pretty good,” Devinney said. “I was actually impressed with him tonight. He was pretty dominant on the faceoffs.”

Butler cut the lead down to 13-8 in the fourth quarter, but it was far too little far too late.

The Golden Tornado only lose four seniors from a young team.

Monteleone hopes they will learn from this experience.

“We have a lot of kids coming up,” Monteleone said. “The momentum we got after half — I told them, 'This is the season. The season's on the line.' We just weren't able to come back from the deficit we were in.”