Tornado valiant in defeat
MONROEVILLE — Tears filled their eyes.
Faces were long.
Muscles tired. Bare skin raw from tackling on the turf at Gateway High School. Fingers laced and hands cupped on top of their heads.
After a regulation that saw emotional twists and turns worthy of a Daytime Drama and an overtime full of opportunities turned away, it was one shot and one goal by North Allegheny that ended the season for the Butler girls soccer team in the most painful of ways, 2-1 in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Thursday night.
“Unfortunately,” said Butler coach Steve Perri, “the ball didn't bounce our way.”
It looked like it would.
Trailing 1-0 for most of the match, Butler made one final frantic push. Sam Miller was fouled in the box and lined up for a penalty kick with 32.9 seconds remaining in regulation.Chloe Weiland had missed on a PK earlier in the match.Miller didn't miss this one, drilling a shot past Juliann Werner to tie the game at 1-1.“That was the time we thought we had it,” Perri said.After a scoreless first overtime that saw Werner and Butler keeper Mackenna Yaracs turn golden opportunities away, Lucia Wells punched a shot past Paige Miller for the winning goal with 5:50 on the clock in the second overtime.Yaracs had stopped a PK attempt by Sarah Schupansky in the first overtime to keep Butler's hopes alive.Perri's plan was to use both keepers — Paige Miller the senior and Yaracs the junior.“They're both fantastic goalies,” Perri said. “Paige and Mackenna have been fantastic all season.”Schupansky got NA (11-2) on the board first in the 10th minute, driving a shot past Paige Miller.Butler (12-2) didn't mount much of an attack in the first 60 minutes of the game. NA was content on keeping possession — sometimes in its own end for minutes at a time — and making the Golden Tornado chase.“First half we were still trying to find our legs,” Perri said after his team had played a double-overtime game Monday against Moon. “We had a plan coming in, but NA gave us a different look and it took us a while to adjust. They were so much better on the ball.”It had been nearly six weeks since Butler played NA the last time, a 3-2 win. The second meeting between the schools was canceled because of COVID-19 concerns.NA had its last four regular season games canceled, but the Tigers roared in the playoffs, winning their first three postseason games by 3-0 scores and then downing Butler.“Part of it is gratefulness to be able to play,” said NA coach Chuck Kelley. “Part of it is leadership and character on this team. I couldn't be more proud of them.”Ditto for Perri about his team.“When I took over this program nine years ago, it wasn't to win just a couple of games,” Perri said. “It was to create something special.”
