Tornado tumbles
BUTLER TWP — Hampton boys lacrosse coach Greg Edleman knew the first several minutes of his team's game against Butler would be critical.
With the section title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Division II playoffs on the line, his team got the jump it wanted.
The Talbots scored four goals in the first 7 minutes, 15 seconds and went on to post a 10-6 victory at Art Bernardi Stadium.
Hampton (12-6, 7-0) would open up a five-goal advantage three times — the latter at 9-4 after three periods — before the Tornado netted two goals to make it a three-goal game with 7:14 to play, but the Talbots would hold on for the win.
“I was thinking whichever team started strong and they could keep the momentum, they would win and we wanted to make sure it was us,” Edleman said.
Nick Dudenas opened the scoring 1:40 into the game before Tanner Kotch quickly tallied the equalizer.
Hampton, however, reeled off four consecutive goals — two by Andy DeMichiei followed by Alex Correlli and Luke Happel — to open a 5-1 advantage with 10:35 left in the second period.
Despite an early deficit, Butler coach Brandon Hoskinson was undeterred.
“I think the momentum which they scored made a difference,” Hoskinson said. “Three of the first four goals were off broken plays and fast breaks.
“Four goals, though, is nothing in this sport ... Four of the first six goals were four or five yards from the cage. We just didn't keep them out,” Hoskinson added.
Cory Hilliard scored for Butler before Happel and Ian Wood scored for Hampton for a 7-2 halftime lead.
Alex Guiste would score the first of his three goals to open the third period before Wood countered with a goal. Guiste and the Talbots' Jeremy Matelan exchanged goals that made it 9-4 after three periods.
Butler (10-5, 6-1) caught a surge in the third period, picking up goals by Guiste and Kotch to slice the deficit back to three.
With six minutes remaining, Cody Bachman almost scored, but his shot hit the post, one of two that did so in the fourth period.
Bachman, the team's leading scorer, was shut out for the game.
“They have so many weapons,” Edleman said. “We wanted to be sure we had one of our best defenders out front.”
The Tornado will begin their playoff quest on Monday with the hopes of facing the Talbots in the championship game.
“There are 25 guys in this locker room who want to play them again,” Hoskinson said. “It's tough to beat a team twice in one year. These guys really wanted this tonight.”
Notes: Jon Nigro would close out the scoring in the closing minute ... DeMichiei added three assists for the Talbots while Kotch added two helpers and Bachman one assist ... Hampton finished with 10 saves, including eight by Mike Fiehrer, while Butler's Josh Jablonski finished with five saves ... Hampton won the junior varsity contest, 9-8 ... Butler will travel to face Seneca Valley today.
