ERIE — You could have heard a pin drop near the Butler boys soccer bench following the team's state playoff game against Cathedral Prep on Tuesday night.

Some players had their faces in their hands, while others sat on the bench with blank stares.

They were trying to come to grips with the fact that the 2006 season was over.

And it all happened so quickly.

The Golden Tornado and the Ramblers battled for 110 minutes, including two 15-minute overtime periods, but the game remained tied at one.

The match came down to a shootout, which the Ramblers won 4-2 in a misty rain, giving the District 10 champions a 2-1 Class AAA win over Butler at Erie Veterans Stadium.

"Our players showed great heart tonight," said Tornado coach Troy Mohney. "They're not ready for the season to be over."

Butler's Wade Grubbs and Ryan Armahizer made good on their attempts in the shootout, the team's second and fourth shots, respectively.

But Butler's first penalty kick — from senior Ben Horner — hit the crossbar and fell in front of the net before Kevin McCune was unable to score on his team's third attempt.

Leading 3-2 in the shootout after Butler's fourth shot, Cathedral Prep sent Afrim Latifi out to seal the win. And the senior forward didn't disappoint, sticking a shot just past a diving Tim Duffy to the goalkeeper's right.

"This was our first shootout of the playoffs," said Ramblers' coach Sam Tojaga. "But we've been working on it."

After a 1-1 stalemate at halftime, Butler had more legitimate scoring chances in the last 40 minutes of regulation.

But Ramblers' goalkeeper Dustin Schumacher denied the Tornado by making six saves in the second half. He ended the game with 13 stops.

"We're blessed to have a solid goalkeeper," said Tojaga. "He was tremendous tonight. I thought both goalkeepers played extremely well."

"We played great tonight," said Mohney. "But we couldn't get one more goal there at the end (of regulation). It's a shame the game ended with penalty kicks."

Duffy came up with some huge saves as well.

Two shots in particular came in the second half from Latifi and freshman forward Andy Lubahn.

Both players decided to attack the left side of the net and had clear shots, but Duffy answered the call both times.

The senior managed 11 saves.

The Ramblers (19-2-2) took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute of play when senior Andy Lorei lobbed a shot from 30 yards out. The ball was just out of the reach of Duffy, going over his head.

"He's a dynamic midfielder," said Tojaga of Lorei. "Not many goalkeepers are going to be able to stop that shot."

Butler (20-3-1) scored the tying goal with 2:32 remaining before halftime.

Horner took a free kick to the right of the net. He kicked the ball to the far side of the goal where Armahizer was able to head it in.

The disappointing ending to Butler's season does not diminish what the team was able to accomplish this year.

"We won the program's first section title since 1994," Mohney said. "These kids have a lot to be proud of."

Cathedral Prep will face Bethel Park (18-4-1) in the PIAA quarterfinals on Saturday.