P-R scoring duo hands Butler section loss
BUTLER TWP — Pine-Richland shot after Pine-Richland shot found its way toward Butler goaltender Maxwell Weiland — 43 of which were on target.
The host Golden Tornado never led, but didn’t face a deficit of more than three goals until about eight minutes remained. A five-goal flurry in less than two minutes propelled the Rams to a 19-15 WPIAL Section 2-3A victory Wednesday night.
Senior Landon Dubyak and junior Ayden Davis combined to net 13 goals for Butler (6-6), but their performances were overshadowed by the visitors’ Will Hilton and Cooper Zancosky, who deposited a total of 17 goals together.
“No. 4 (Hilton) just had that corner,” Golden Tornado coach Justin Steiner said. “They knew on our defensive side, if you get that quick throw-back, that he’s open for a split-second. We weren’t there fast enough to get his hands and he was taking advantage.”
Pine-Richland (7-6) coach Dave Offner credited quick ball movement as a factor for the pair’s success.
“A lot of those goals were assisted, so they were just setting themselves up in the right spots,” he said. “The angles, they were comfortable shooting positions. They were just putting it on the cage.”
Zancosky poured in five goals in a row in a 1:37 stretch in the fourth. Prior to that, Davis’ score four seconds into the final frame closed the teams’ gap to two.
“I think it was much-needed,” Offner said. “I think the energy was getting up. We were doing good at the face-off ‘X’ (and were) quick getting in with the ball and taking advantage of the numbers situation with the early offense.
“Up until then, I think we let their speed — especially No. 1 (Davis), No. 22 (Jake Stevens), No. 2 (Dubyak) — get to us defensively. We didn’t react quickly enough. We tried to keep pace with our offense.”
Dubyak got on the board four times in the last 4:43.
“At first, Dubyak was playing very well with team ball,” Steiner said. “Then, there at the end, he kind of got a little fired up and then he started just doing his thing. He took control of it and started bringing back some goals and made it closer there at the end.”
Even so, Butler has now dropped five straight contests. Younger guys, such as the freshman, Weiland — who tallied 18 saves — are getting well-accustomed to the varsity game. Stevens also scored twice for the Golden Tornado.
“The kids that are here and that are playing, they’re learning a lot from it,” Steiner said. “It’s a lot of experience ... It’s been pretty critical learning moments.”
