Sophomore Sam Simmons attacks from the midfield as sophomore goal keeper Elena Garcia approaches. Butler beat Rose State College 3-0 on Friday Aug. 25.
Photo by M. May
Matthew Will
Student Sports Media
Butler’s perfect opening week came to a skidding halt Sunday, Aug. 27, after No. 16 Northern Oklahoma–Tonkawa outlasted the Grizzlies, taking a 3-2 victory late in the second half in El Dorado.
Although helped by goals from sophomore forwards Ky Kreemer and Kennedy Weaver, the Grizzlies (2-1) had a large lack of offense throughout the game.
“Some of the kids tonight that are supposed to be our best players, they just thoroughly got out played,” Butler Head Coach Adam Hunter said.
No. 7 Butler went on to play a very shaky second half. Their passes were not on the mark, through balls were intercepted, crosses were inaccurate, the offense was nonexistent and the defense struggled to clear balls out of the defensive third.
“We gotta be better,” Hunter said. “We will be better.”
A big part of Butler’s success has been an aggressive defensive line and outstanding goalkeeping by sophomore Elena Garcia. Garcia has proved her worth to this team and shows she belongs as their starting goalkeeper with 14 saves and only four goals allowed.
She is expected to continue with the starting job in the coming weeks.
Butler traveled to No. 6 Iowa Western to begin their season on Tuesday, Aug 22. Butler took an early 2-0 lead after goals by Weaver and Kreemer in the eighth and 11th minutes. Iowa Western’s only goal of the day came from Ashley Overberg in the 21st minute with a sliding put-in. The score would remain 2-1 until halftime.
Just a couple minutes after the teams returned to the pitch, Weaver netted her second of the contest and a minute later, her third. Ten minutes later, Weaver scored her fourth goal of the game, and Butler would roll onto a 5-1 victory.
On Friday, Aug. 25, Butler shut out Rose State College, 3-0. The win was highlighted by Garcia’s diving penalty kick save. Freshman forward Erin Akin scored two goals, her first of her collegiate career. Sophomore midfielder Melonie Baca scored her first goal of the season in the 50th minute.
The Grizzlies would have won by a much bigger margin if Revella Fisher had not been manning the goal for Rose State. Fisher had many highlight-reel caliber saves, adding 13 to her season total.
Despite a rough Sunday on the pitch for the Grizzlies, there are positives to take from the opening week of the 2017 campaign. The offense proved it had skill scoring 10 goals in the first two games and the defense showed it has potential to grow and keep opponents off the scoreboard.
Hunter is ready for his team to find their identity as the season does not get any easier with a showdown against No. 10 Navarro (1-0) and No. 3 Tyler on Friday, Sept. 1 through Sunday, Sept. 3 in Tyler, Texas.