Growing pains
BUTLER TWP — The Butler boys lacrosse team has learned some tough lessons lately, but coach Brandon Hoskinson knows they will pay off in the long run.
The Golden Tornado fell to 1-3 overall with a 15-1 loss to Division I power North Allegheny Friday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.
The team's other losses came against Bethel Park (9-8) and Seneca Valley (12-3), two other Division I teams.
Butler is the defending WPIAL Division II champion, but lost 12 seniors to graduation last spring.
“We just want the kids to get experience,” said Hoskinson. “We're really a young team, We had eight kids out there tonight who are playing varsity for the first time.”
“We are a bit more seasoned and have more experience than Butler,” said NA coach John Rullan. “Butler just needs a bit more time.”
The Golden Tornado made several early pushes into NA's side of the field — including several man advantages due to penalties on the Tigers — but came up empty.
“We hit the (post) a few times and were unable to take advantage of those situations,” said Hoskinson.
The Tigers (2-1) broke the ice with Ryan Worsena's goal with just 1:17 gone from the clock.
The Tigers built a 4-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and were up 8-0 at halftime.
“We were able to stick with our gameplan for most of the first half,” said Hoskinson, “but you get down by so many goals and the team starts to get desperate.”
Butler's lone score came with 3:51 left in the game as Cory Hilliard took a pass from Dom Farmer and beat NA's John Abbondanza.
The Tigers received four goals apiece from Worsena and Mike Eck and Dan Wiese added two scores.
Josh Jablonski recorded six saves for the Tornado while NA starting goalie John Brandon had five stops.
Late in the third quarter, Butler junior attacker Cody Bachman, a key contributor on last year's title team, was helped off the field with a right leg injury.
“It appears to be just a bad bruise,” said Hoskinson. “That's good news.”
Butler hosts Indiana Wednesday night.
