In a game for Butler’s history books, the women’s soccer team came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Valparaiso and move on in the Horizon League tournament.
The game, played Tuesday in Valparaiso, featured 20 minutes of extra play and eight rounds of penalty kicks.
In the first 40 minutes, offense was the theme of the game, with all four goals coming in the first half.
Junior Rachel Scott scored on a rebound off a shot by fellow junior Katie Griswold, and sophomore Olivia Colosimo scored on a free kick.
After a defensive second half that featured several saves from Bulldog goalkeeper Julie Burton, the game went to overtime.
After no offensive action in two overtimes, the game went to a shootout, which Butler won by a count of 5-4.
Valparaiso had two opportunities to win in PKs, but both were shut down.
The match featured 37 shots and 37 fouls between the two teams.
Burton had seven saves in the marathon of a match.
Bundled-up fans came out to the Butler Bowl on Oct. 28 for the team’s last conference match against Loyola.
They watched the Bulldogs (8-9-1, 3-5) work to come back from a 2-0 first- half deficit.
In the 10th minute, Rambler freshman defenseman Valerie Gonyo headed a Loyola free kick into the net to put them up 1-0.
“You fall behind early, the game changes, and you have to chase it a little bit,” Butler coach Tari St. John said.
Loyola tallied another goal just less than 28 minutes later when junior forward Ana Michelini broke away on a run and chipped the ball over Burton.
“We put the effort in, we were connected, and I think we played really well with each other,” freshman foward Elise Kotsakis said. “We just couldn’t get it in the back of the net.”
Kotsakis, who had a career-high nine shots during the match, changed that in the 74th minute, scoring the only goal of the second half.
The goal-scoring play started with a pass from Griswold to Kotsakis, who buried the ball in the net from 12 yards out.
Butler’s offense could not find the net again, and the Bulldogs finished the regular season with a sub-.500 record.
By the end of the match, Butler had outshot Loyola 18-8 and had eight shots on goal to the Ramblers’ six.
“We always like to win just for pride,” Burton said. “I think it’s good that we can come back from two goals and make those changes.”
The Bulldogs next play on Nov. 4 against Horizon League regular-season champion Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the semifinal round of the conference tournament.
The Panthers (16-2-0, 8-0-0) defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 in a match earlier this season.
