Photo Courtesy: Ed Bailey
Jordan Griffit
Student Sports Media
It was a beautiful day at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 29 for the Grizzlies soccer team. They took on the Conquistadors of Dodge City in what surely could be described as another great game for this squad as they won 5-1. Jami Reichenberger won national goalkeeper of the week. Butler showed once again that their defense is among the best in the nation. Their back line moves fluidly in order to track down the opportunities for Dodge City. This Grizzlies team played with a sure edge as they won the physicality battle on the field.
The Grizzlies didn’t start out amazing in the game.
“We’ve happened to do that, just kinda come out slower,” Colleen Howland said. “We just need to come out faster, but we know what we had to get done.”
Coach Adam Hunter agreed.
“We had a decent start but we weren’t as assertive as we wanted to be,” Hunter said.
The coach would go on to talk about how good he feels about this team and their abilities. The first goal scored of the postseason was scored by No. 3 Taylor Martinez. It was a surprise goal as Martinez is a defender and came up for the opportunity and made the most of it. Butler then went out on a 2-0 lead by a goal from Kenny Hartman. Lexi Clark fired a shot that rattled around the goal post for what seemed like forever as Colleen Howland came in and cleaned up shop to extend a 3-0 lead.
Many starters were taken out after that goal as Butler looked to be in control of the pace. Ariana Longmore for Dodge City scored a goal as she just fired it through the net to go out to a Butler lead of 4-0. They would go on to win 5-0 and move on to the Region VI Semifinals against Coffeyville. The women took care of business against Coffeyville as they beat them for the third time this season. The final score was 5-1 as the Grizzlies move on in the tournament to face Johnson County for the third time and for the Region VI championship. For the sixth straight year, Butler won the Region VI playoff as they beat Johnson County for the third time this season in Topeka on Friday, Nov. 4. They beat Johnson 4-1 as they advance to nationals. That brings their winning streak to 20 games and have outscored their opponents 121-15 in those 20 games. Freshman Katie Hartman scored two goals in the win, along with sophomores Howland and Lauren Allan chipping in goals of their own.