Rusty No More
BUTLER TWP — It had been 16 days since Butler's girls soccer team played a game.
After clinching the program's first section title since 2003, the Golden Tornado had their final two regular season games canceled.
In anticipation of a WPIAL quarterfinal playoff, head coach Steve Perri tried to keep practices lively.
“We played a lot of games against each other, tried to make the intensity as close to an actual game as possible,” said Perri.
Even so, he admitted that he expected to see some rust in his team's play against Upper St. Clair Thursday at Art Bernardi Stadium.
And there was some to knock off, but Sam Miller's goal just inside the right post in the 23rd minute got the Tornado rolling and they never looked back in a 4-0 victory over the Panthers.
“I felt rusty at first,” said Miller, “but scoring that first goal gave us a sense of relief. It settled us down.”
Butler (10-1) will host Moon, which defeated Fox Chapel Thursday, in a semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Less than 10 minutes after Miller's goal, Chloe Weiland got behind USC's defense and got a shot off before goalkeeper Macie Fultineer could get to the ball. It was Weiland's first of two goals scored on the night and Butler took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
“The second goal was big,” said Perri. “If it was still 1-0 at halftime, we would have been talking about what we needed to do differently. Being up by two, we had them on the (ropes).”
Butler's speed was integral to the game's outcome.
“We understood Butler's talent well,” said USC coach Dave Gray. “We know Steve and a lot of their players and they can fly. We talked before the game about not making the big mistake and we made two of them in the first half.”
USC forced Butler goalkeepers Paige Miller and McKenna Yaracs, who played the first and second half, respectively, to make just four combined saves. The Panthers (8-6) managed just one corner kick in the game.
“Their front three is very dangerous,” said Perri. “We wanted to limit things there, not with what they did after getting the ball, but we focused attention on their midfielders so they couldn't get the ball to their forwards in the first place.”
Butler extended its edge to 3-0 when Stephanie Adkisson's corner kick led to Gabby Boden's goal less than three minutes into the second half.
Weiland capped the scoring with her second score in the 62nd minute.
Fultineer stopped six shots in the game.
Butler's duo of Paige Miller and Yaracs in net has served the Tornado well this season.
“They communicate really well,” Paige Miller said. “We have confidence in both of them.”
Butler has now outscored its opponents this season 46-10.
