Goalie aids OT win over North
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
It didn’t take long for Rudy Butler to prove his worth to the Montgomery High School boys lacrosse team.
The senior goalie made 14 saves to lead the Cougars to a 7-6 overtime win at West Windsor-Plainsboro North in the season opener for both teams Wednesday.
”If it wasn’t for Rudy,” said MHS head coach Tim Sullivan, “we definitely would have lost.”
After the Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 first-quarter lead on Mark Yetter’s first goals of the season, Butler weathered a flurry from the Knights, who answered with three goals in the second quarter, and then had the fourth-quarter lead until MHS’ Greg Ives scored with 29 seconds left in regulation. In overtime, Ives’ third goal of the game ended it with 41 seconds to go.
”I was confident the entire game,” Butler said. “The beginning speech that Coach Sullivan had, he commented saying that Rudy has the confidence that everyone has to follow. We’re a pretty young team.
”I think it’s a lot different this year,” he added. “I don’t even know how many seniors we lost. We’re a young team. Right now, I feel it’s me, Ives and Yetter leading. It can’t be just us the whole season. Today was a good lesson. All our coaches said it’s fundamentals we lack, and stuff that can be fixed. As the season goes along, we’ll get a lot better as a team.”
In the opener, the Cougars leaned on their three most experienced players. Ives and Butler are co-captains. Ives finished with three goals. So did Yetter, a junior attack who has already committed to play at Delaware in two years.
”The young kids held their own,” Sullivan said. “But we leaned on Rudy, Ives and Yetter. Rudy made some incredible saves. Our three main guys that came back were able to help the younger guys today. They’re not going to be able to do that against teams that have more firepower.”
MHS will get a look at one of those teams Saturday when it takes on defending Texas state champion Highland Park 11 a.m. at Lawrenceville. The Cougars will be looking to build on their dramatic win.
”I think it helped the younger guys a lot,” Butler said. “For the past three years, we’ve made it to the state championship and won one of those times. There are big expectations to put on the varsity jersey. To win the first game, it’s a good sign we’re a good team and have to live up to our expectations. This season will be a lot harder than our previous seasons.”
Todd Petrone had three goals and Drew Kenavan had two goals and an assist for WW-P North. The Knights look for their first win of the season today at New Egypt.
”Their offense outplayed us today,” Sullivan said. “He had three guys on offense that are really solid. They’re definitely a lot more mature than they were last year. They’ll do well. They played smart. We were able to capitalize on the mistakes they did make.”
Butler erased a few MHS mistakes, and should have more of an opportunity in the past to influence the Cougars results. He spent the last two seasons playing just half of each game while rotating with James Caruso. With Caruso’s graduation, the full-time job is his.
”I love not splitting time,” said Butler, who has committed to play at Lynchburg College, where his brother Ryan is a defenseman. “I didn’t mind it last year because I got to play varsity. It’s definitely a big change this year. But for summer lacrosse, I started and played the whole game. As a goalie, you can play a lot better than when you’re playing just one half.”
Butler played like that in the opener in a match-up of two of the better goalies in the area. Killian Brakel made 12 saves and kept the Knights close all day. In overtime, the Cougars struggled to get one by him.
”The other goalie had a really great game and stepped up big,” Butler said. “Ives hit the post and we missed a man-up goal in overtime. We had the momentum and we were all excited.”
The Cougars don’t want to put too much pressure on Ives and Butler, but the plain truth is that they will be vital to the team’s success. Butler feels overdue to show what he can do, and Wednesday was a good start with a win in a hard-fought game.
”We need our few seniors to step up,” Sullivan said. “That’s the hard part. That’s going to be a key for us. Your team revolves around your goalie. North’s goalie was really good too.”
On this day, it was Butler who earned the victory, a strong start for the senior goalie and the Cougars.
”This is the first game he had total control of where he wasn’t platooned,” Sullivan said. “He played an A game out there. He carried us to the victory.”