KITTANNING — Just two years ago, the Butler High School hockey team took Meadville, a perennial hockey power in Western Pennsylvania, to the brink of defeat in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League playoffs.

The Golden Tornado lost that game 3-2 to end a season in which they went 17-9 and won their first postseason contest in school history.

Fast forward 23 months and Butler's skaters have won only seven games and lost 36 since. The Tornado have only one win this season with the latest loss coming in a 10-1 rout by Fox Chapel at the Belmont Arena Thursday night.

The struggles can be blamed on a variety of factors: inexperience, the low number of players, a tough and demanding schedule.

But those reasons don't make coach Lou Cancilla feel any better.

"Against the weaker teams, the Gateways, the Norwins, teams like that, we are able to keep up," Cancilla said. "Against Meadville, (North Allegheny), Mt. Lebanon — who is by far the best team in the league — we aren't able to keep up."

Butler had only 10 players dressed for the game against Fox Chapel. It entered the season with 13 skaters.

Because of that, the Golden Tornado are reduced to using only two lines, making for some long and busy nights for the players who do dress.

Other teams are able to use three or four lines and are fresher than Butler in the third period.

"When it comes to that third period, they have a lot more experience than we do and a lot more left in their legs," said junior forward and team captain Zach Carben. "You just sit down when you can, take a break, and think about going to bed early."

While Butler has had trouble scoring this season, its opponents have had no such difficulty.

The Golden Tornado (1-18) has scored only 28 goals this season and given up 141.

That makes it tough for Cancilla to sell playing hard for 45 minutes.

"We just try to reinforce that you can only do what you can do," the coach said. "Just give it your all. Do your best and go beyond that a little bit. But it's hard to keep it going in the third period when you are down 7-0."

The players are trying to put a positive spin on a lost season, however.

This season hasn't been an easy one on senior Fletcher Crouse. The left winger has had to endure a dreadful campaign in his final year on the ice.

His role has been that of cheerleader more than that of scorer.

"I just like to play the game. Win or lose, I just try to go out there and have as much fun as I can," Crouse said.

"We just have to keep our heads up. We have a bunch of young guys, so I tell them they always have next season and to keep their heads up. This season just hasn't worked out the way we have wanted it to work out."

Cancilla said he believes Butler hockey can turn the corner in the next couple of years and get back to challenging for PIHL playoff spots.

He won't be the one leading them, there, though. He has decided to resign from coaching after the season.

"There's a lot of reasons," Cancilla said. "I think it's time to move on and take a break from it. It's no longer fun at this point."

For Butler to get back to being competitive, Cancilla said the Tornado must cultivate more interest in the sport.

He said 13 players on the roster aren't going to cut it.

If that happens, will the future be better?

"It could be," Cancilla said. "It depends on who stays or goes. If those young kids stay here, it will be OK. I have a couple of juniors saying, 'I don't want to go through another season like this. Can I go play someplace else?' And I can't really blame them."

Carben plans on returning next season.

"It's been a little hard, but we're trying to make the best of it," Carben said. "We're just trying to go out and win a game and keep it close. We're just trying to do our best.

"We just need to work hard in the summer and try to get better. We also need more kids. We just don't have the numbers right now."