Grizzlies knock off No. 16 Cowley in opening round thriller with late header by Wolecki

The streak of reaching the Region VI semifinals continues for the Butler soccer program as they won their quarterfinal matchup against the No. 16-ranked Cowley Tigers Wednesday afternoon.

Due to the field conditions at the Cowley Soccer field, the game was played in Winfield at Richard L. Jantz Stadium on the campus of Southwestern College.

Cowley controlled the field in the first half keeping on the offensive with Butler getting just one shot on goal and one corner kick all half. The Tigers scored the first goal of the game 25 minutes in to take a 1-0 lead, but the Grizzly defense and keeper Maggie Koster kept the game manageable for the Grizzlies heading into the break trailing by one. 

As dominant as the Tigers were on the offensive side of the ball in the first half it appeared as if the Grizzlies would really need to make some adjustments to keep their season alive.

Whatever adjustments were made, or pep talk was given at the break by head coach Adam Hunter worked because it was a completely different second half with the Grizzlies taking it to the Tigers. 

Butler wasted no time as they tied the game up just five minutes into the half with Natalie Amaya dropping one into the back of the net off the assist from Kim McAlpine.

The Grizzlies stayed on the offensive throughout the entire half not allowing the Tigers to get any good looks at the goal or even a corner kick in the half. The back line of Ellie MacDonald, Elyssa Salazar, Alyssa Kubick and Bailey Williams did an outstanding job of keeping everything in front of them and away from the Grizzlies zone.

The clocked continued to tick away, now under 12 minutes, and it seemed as if we may get to the overtime period. The Grizzlies had other plans as they got a set piece on a corner kick where they brought Ellie MacDonald to take the kick. She delivered a perfect pass to the front of the goal where Rachel Wolecki skyed above the defense and headed the ball into the back of the net giving Butler a 2-1 lead with 11:36 remaining in the game.

Cowley tried to get move quickly to tie the game back up but were unsuccessful as the clock winded down to zero as Butler ended the Tigers season in an upset 2-1 victory. 

The Tigers had won the last four meetings between the two teams with the most recent coming earlier this month on May 1^st when the Tigers defeated Butler 2-1 in El Dorado.

"This is the one this group of sophomores really wanted," said head coach Adam Hunter. "They knocked us out of the tournament last year and have beaten us recently, so they were hungry for this game."

Butler advances to the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament on Saturday, May 23 at Stryker Sports Complex. Time and opponent has yet to be determined but will be updated on the website as soon as it is set. This marks the 19th season (entire program history) that the Grizzlies have made it to the final four of the Region VI Tournament.