Derailed
MOON TWP — Butler boys soccer team senior midfielder Logan Angert felt everyone on the team had a lot to prove in the second half after spotting Upper St. Clair a five-goal lead.
A comeback was unlikely, but Angert knew what he wanted to see from everyone.
“Some pride. We wanted to come back and score a few goals,” Angert said. “Maybe, if we played well enough we could have brought it to overtime.”
The 12th-seeded Golden Tornado did score twice, but lost 5-2 in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals to the top-seeded Panthers Monday night at Moon High School.
But Butler's unlikely playoff run can continue. The Golden Tornado (12-6-2) will meet Pittsburgh Central Catholic in a third-place game Wednesday night at a site and time to be determined.
Butler is looking to make its first PIAA appearance since it qualified as a third-place team in 2006.
“We came back in the second half and showed our heart at least there,” Butler coach Troy Mohney said. “This sucks, obviously, but now we put it behind us and move on.”
Upper St. Clair (19-0-1) was aggressive early, trying to get some long balls in. The Panthers wanted to avoid playing in the midfield because of the small field.
Garrett Blake hit a cross that Stefano Paulino scored on four minutes in to put the Panthers up 1-0.
Eight minutes later, a ball landed at Dough Hapeman's feet and he hit it off the post and just past a diving effort by Butler keeper Adam Voelker to double the lead.
“We talked yesterday at practice about getting a deep ball in early, to play from back to front due to the size of the field,” Upper St. Clair interim coach Mike Blatz said. “We bypassed their midfield and looked for the second ball and were able to get on top of some second balls and crosses.”
Upper St. Clair didn't stop pressing, scoring in the 17th, 25th and 39th minutes.
The Panthers' last goal, a strike by Shayne Sibley assisted by Robbie Metz, came with 46 seconds left in the half.
Mohney didn't make any tactical changes at halftime. He wanted to see a mental change.
“I wanted to see them compete. After we gave up those first few goals, we stopped competing and were standing out on the field,” Mohney said. “They battled for me in the second half.”
Butler stopped the shutout when Joel Stutz scored off a corner kick by Anthony Werth with 27 minutes, 43 seconds remaining. Angert also scored for the Golden Tornado with 2:11 remaining.
Angert said Butler's ready to refocus for the next round.
“I think we need to regroup after we concede a goal,” Angert said. “We let up after that first goal and that's what crumbled us.”
