Matthew Will
Sports Media Staff
On Saturday, Oct. 28, Butler beat Northwest Kansas Tech 6-1 in the first round of the Region VI Tournament. Sophomore forward Kennedy Weaver netted in two more as Butler advances to the semi-finals in Topeka on Friday, Nov. 3.
The Butler women’s soccer team claimed their third straight conference title after wins over Allen County and Kansas City, Kansas. Johnson County won the remainder of their games, forcing Butler to run the table in order to share the conference title.
On Sunday, Oct. 15, Allen County came to town. The Red Devils lost their home game to Butler 6-0 a month earlier. Butler came in after two shutouts against both Neosho and Cowley to end the away game portion of their 2017 season.
Butler got on the board early, another goal this season by sophomore forward Kyla Kreemer. The 1-0 lead would last until halftime where the team had some things to go over.
Early in the second half, Allen’s Brynn Suddeth scored an equalizing goal. The unassisted goal proved helpful until there was just nine minutes remaining in the game.
At this point, freshman forward Zion DeWerff scored on an assist by Taylor Martinez. That goal would prove to be a game winner after a stellar save by sophomore goalkeeper Elena Garcia. This save came a day after Garcia received both KJCCC and NJCAA goalie of the week awards.
“That’s a national player of the week save right there,” Butler Head Coach Adam Hunter said.
On Friday, Oct. 20, the Grizzlies looked to end their 2017 regular season with a win over Kansas City Kansas.
The game started with an early goal by Kansas City’s Serena Ortiz, an unassisted strike to the top left corner of the goal.
The lead would hold until the 37-minute mark when sophomore midfielder Holly Stewart evened the game at 1-1. Minutes later, sophomore forward Alexis Palmer added an insurance goal, taking the 2-1 lead to the halftime break.
The 2-1 score line would hold strong until late in the second when Weaver netted the goal to ice the game and a conference championship.
“I do think Kyla did a really good job of trying to lead this team,” Hunter said. “Kyla scored some important goals down the stretch for us.”
Butler is search of their seventh straight national tournament. Winning two more matches at the Region VI tournament would put Butler in.