Butler grabs 1st win of 2010
VALENCIA With its varsity program back on the ice, Butler found the going tough at the beginning of the season.
Facing heavy hitters such as Shaler, Upper St. Clair and North Allegheny, the Tornado were outscored 24-8 in three losses.
On Monday against Plum, however, the offense carried Butler to its first win of the season.
Cody Bachman scored three goals, including the go-ahead tally on a two-man advantage with 5:30 left in the second period, to help the Tornado to a 9-7 victory in PIHL Class AAA at the Ice Connection.
Bachman's goal was the first of three Butler scores in a 1:19 span that opened a 6-3 Tornado lead.
The loss offset the performance of Plum's Nick Cicolini, who tallied five goals and an assist.
“I think it's huge,” said Butler coach Vic Whann about the first win of the campaign. “If you see our bench, we're not that deep. There's not a lot of players, but it's nice for them to see the fruits of their labor.”
With the score knotted at 3 midway through the second period, the Tornado took full advantage of penalties by the Mustangs' Steve Susalla (slashing) and Dom Andreoli (cross checking) to score twice.
After Bachman scored, the Tornado still enjoyed a power-play chance and cashed in when Jake Whann hit the net with 5:03 left in the period.
When Tanner Gilliland scored 52 seconds later, Butler appeared to be in control.
Plum (0-4) answered with a goal by Cicolini with four minutes left in the period, but Whann countered with another goal and gave Butler a 7-4 lead after two periods.
“I thought we'd play a little better defense on our end,” said Mustangs coach Stu Rulnick. “I didn't expect Butler to score that many goals. ... They had about as many as we did.”
“We were rolling good at that point,” said coach Whann. “We sat down, got to the break. It gives (Plum) a chance to to get their thoughts together.”
Plum responded with a pair of quick goals to open the third periods, thanks to Hunter Brett and Joe Randazzo, the latter with 10:35 left in the game to make it a 7-6 lead.
Bachman then scored his third of the game with 7:51 left, but the Mustangs answered with Cicolini's fifth of the contest off assists by Brett and Randazzo with 4:17 to go.
“(Bachman's) goal hurt us,” said Rulnick. “It was 7-6 and I definitely thought we had a chance to win.”
One minute later, Gilliland scored unassisted to rebuild a two-goal lead that the Tornado were able to sustain.
Butler's Troy Double also scored and had three assists, and Matt Bartley had one goal and one assist.
The Tornado's Jake Tomasovic had four assists, Levi Rodgers had two and Shaun Milkovich had one.
Jason Pastucha had three assists and Brett two for the Mustangs.
Notes: Plum finished with 36 shots on goal; Butler had 31 ... Mike Arturo and Logan Rothbauer split time in net for Butler.
