Butler Community College Women's Soccer
Coach Adam Hunter

We are wrapping up another year of Butler Soccer. 2012 was one of the most successful seasons on record. The team finished 22-3 going undefeated in conference play, winning the conference and region and placing 5th in the NJCAA National Tournament. We traveled the country from Wyoming to Florida and made great memories along the way. The sophomore class will be missed, but the 2013 squad is ready to make their impact on the Butler Tradition. Here is to another year of "the beautiful game."

Last Friday, the Butler Soccer team was part of a Guinness World Record Event. Numana Inc, Volunteer Kansas, and KWCH teamed up Saturday afternoon to help feed hungry kids in Haiti. Hundreds of people filled the Kansas Colliseum to pack beans and rice into bags as fast as they could, hoping to break a world record. Friday afternoon, the Butler Soccer team worked to prepare the Colosseum for the event. Thanks to setup teams and all of the volunteers packing food Saturday, over 479,000 meals packed in 32 minutes! Setting a new world record!

Butler Soccer announces 2013 recruiting class

El Dorado, KS – Butler Soccer is excited to announce that eighteen young women have committed to join the Grizzlies for the 2013 season. The Grizzlies are coming off their most successful season and two year stretch in school history. 2012 saw the Grizzlies finish with a single season school record in wins after going 22-3-0. The team also won a second consecutive conference championship by going undefeated in KJCCC play. However, the Grizzlies greatest accomplishment was reaching the NJCAA National Tournament for a second straight year. In the past two years, Butler Soccer has been ranked the #1 team in the country, compiled an overall record of 43-7-1 (24-1-0), won two conference championships, and appeared in two NJCAA National Tournaments.

Joining the Grizzlies is a plethora of in-state talent in the likes of midfielders Korrie Rainey, Brittini Greenlee, and Madison Wedekind from Valley Center, KS. All three girls play prep soccer at Valley Center High School and are club teammates on the Wichita Storm. The Grizzlies have signed two other players from the Wichita Storm, Maize High School teammates and defenders Gabi Ybarra and Paige Thompson. Also coming to Butler are three Wichita-metro area standouts from the club Azteca; Newton High School goalkeeper Kelsi Langley, Maize South forward Yvette Aguilar, and Wichita South forward Vanessa Campos. The Butler coaches, who are also club staff coaches for the Kansas Rush Wichita, stayed close to home when they added three players from the club's oldest female team. Wichita Northwest defender Stephanie Jett, Wichita Heights forward Kennedy Johnson, and Wichita Trinity midfielder Alex Shimp. Butler Soccer prides itself in identifying talent state-wide and the 2013 class will be no different. The coaches headed north to sign three players from the Topeka, KS based Prodigy Elite club program. The three girls are Washburn Rural High School teammates and midfielders Madison Decker and Kelly Sutton, and Junction City High School midfielder Jessica Meadows. Also joining the Grizzlies will be Gardner Edgerton High School midfielder Peka Ploetz who plays her club soccer for KC United.

Butler Soccer recruiting classes have traditionally reached beyond the borders of Kansas and even the United States. The coaching staff traveled south to the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro to sign defender Kileigh Vann out of Azle High School. They also returned to the Denver metro to sign Colorado Storm's ECNL goalkeeper Paige LaBadie from Horizon High School. LaBadie finds her way to Butler after being a former high school teammate of current Butler forward Alyssa Miller. Miller was able to increase her stock while at Butler and has signed to play at NCAA DI Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Coach Hunter continued to rely on his recruiting network of four-year college coaches and international contacts to land Australian forward Sophie Toms out of Brisbane. Toms will be the Grizzlies second Australian in as many years, the first being Simone Arthur who has signed to play with NCAA DI Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA.

"We are very pleased with our 2013 recruiting class. We feel confident that this group of young women will help to continue the tradition of success that is Butler Soccer. We know this group will be ready for the challenges and responsibilities that come with wearing the Butler uniform." -Head Coach Adam Hunter

The coaching staff is hoping to finalize the 2013 roster within the coming months. They will be looking to add their final out-of-state or international recruits before the close of the school year. The Grizzlies will open the 2013 season on the weekend of August 23 when they play host to fellow NJCAA National Tournament teams Iowa Western and Laramie County.

Butler sends ten players on, four sign with NCAA DI schools

El Dorado, KS - Butler Soccer is proud to announce that ten sophomores have signed national letters of intent to play at four-year institutions across the country. The 2013 class includes seven players signing with NCAA schools, four of them signing NCAA DI scholarships. This year's graduating class continued to raise the exceedingly high bar that Butler uses to measure its standard of success. The ten players and the schools that they have signed with are: Aisling Dyer and Aisling Kerr with Martin Methodist, Simone Arthur with Southern University, Mari Ruvalcaba and JeeHye Yi with Newman University, Casie Greenlee with John Brown University, Alyssa Miller with Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, Megan Snyder and Teresa Offerman with University of Texas at San Antonio, and Abby Ponce with Academy of Art University.

Over the past two years these young ladies have had numerous individual honors, but their true worth rests in their contributions to their team. During their time in a Grizzly uniform, the team compiled an overall record of 43-7-1 with an astonishing 29 shutouts (a school record 17 shutouts in 2011). In the same two year span, the team finished with a 24-1-0 conference record and back-to-back KJCCC conference championships. The 2012 team also spent a week at the #1 spot in the NSCAA national rankings, as well as finishing the 2012 and 2011 season ranked #5 in 2012 and #4 respectively; however, their greatest on-field accomplishment came when they qualified their team for two consecutive NJCAA National Championship Tournaments. The teams finished both tournaments in 5th place and were also named the Lea Plarski Sportsmanship Team of the Tournament both years.

In addition to all the on-field accolades that this group of sophomores has accumulated, they will not soon be forgotten for their leadership in the classroom. Thirteen times they have been selected as Academic All-Conference honorees. The team has been twice selected as an NSCAA and NJCAA Academic Team of the Year. Six of the girls are on pace to graduate as NJCAA Academic All-Americans.

"When recruiting at the community college level, each recruiting class has a profound impact on your program. These young ladies have proven to future Grizzlies that you can set goals, work hard, and see those goals materialize. The graduating class of 2013 will forever hold a special place in Butler Soccer history and my personal coaching career, as they were part of the first team to lead us to the national tournament. We look forward to watching them continue to make an impact at their four-year institutions and beyond. We always want our players to leave our program and institution having a pride in what they have done with their time here. I know this group has accomplished that and will forever be Grizzlies." -Butler Soccer Head Coach, Adam Hunter

The Butler women's soccer team saw its season come to an end on 11/14 with a 2-1 loss to defending national champion Tyler (Texas) in the NJCAA Division I national tournament at Melbourne Central Catholic School.

The Grizzlies scored first on a goal by Alyssa Miller with an assist from Carla Daniels in the 11th minute of the game.

Tyler would tie the game on a penalty kick by Alice Coyne in the 28th minute. The 1-1 score would hold up into the 76th minute of the contest when Coyne would score again, this time slipping a slow roller just inside the left goal post.

Butler had controlled the contest for the first 25 minutes but in the end, the two teams each managed 13 shots apiece. Butler did have a shot by Miller in the second half that just bounced off the right post to deny a second goal.

The loss snaps a 19-game winning streak for the Grizzlies dating back to early September. The Grizzlies finish the year with a record of 22-3, setting school records for numbers of wins and consecutive wins.

The Grizzlies duplicate their fifth-place finish at nationals from a year ago and also defended their Jayhawk Conference and District B championships from 2011 while also adding a Region VI championship.

The strong Grizzly side was lead by several All-Conference and All-Region players:

Defensive Player of Year Teresa Offerman
Alyssa Miller
Lamya Scott
Mari Ruvalcaba
Teresa Offerman
Megan Snyder
JeeHye Yi
Aisling Dyer
Morgan Foster

With a win in the Region VI Championship, the Butler Soccer team earned its second consecutive birth to the NJCAA National Tournament birth in Melbourne, FL. Twelve teams from around the country will arrive in Florida to compete for the title. Teams will be divided into four groups, with group play set to begin on November 11th.

The Grizzlies (21-2) have been seeded #4 in the tournament making them the highest seed in Group D. The first Group D game will match the #4 Grizzlies against #9 St. Louis Community College at 4:30EST Monday November 11. St Louis will turn around on Tuesday November 12 to play #5 Tyler Junior College. The final game of group play will be Wednesday November 13 at 4:30EST when Butler faces Tyler in a rematch of a closely contested regular season game.

Sunday September 9, 2012, Bulter faced off against reigning national champions Tyler at BG Products Veteran Sports Complex in El Dorado. The back and forth game ended 2-2 in regulation. It would take two overtime periods for the Grizzlies to find the game winner. A serve from Darci Nightingale found the head of Abby Ponce to seal the victory for the Grizzlies. With a semi-final birth at stake, the 11/13 rematch should be a high energy contest.

Each of the group winners will advance to the semi-final round. The semi-final games will be played at 10:00 and 1:00 on Friday November 16. With the winners advancing to the final Saturday evening. Pending advancement Butler could potentially see familiar faces in the semi-final and final round of the tournament.

During the 2012 regular season, Butler faced four out of the eleven other teams who qualified for Florida. Butler lost their season opener to #3 Iowa Western 1-0 in overtime. They then traveled to #6 Laramie County and defeated the Golden Eagles 1-0. Finally they faced off against Tournament host and #1 seed Brevard Community College, a game the Grizzlies dropped 2-1 in overtime.

Butler's 21 wins ties a program record for wins in a season. Last year's national tournament team finished the year 21-4-1. The 2012 Grizzlies will look to set a new school record in Florida starting Monday against St. Louis at 4:30. All National Tournament games can be watched live on Spacecoastsportstv.com. You can also watch butlergrizzlies.com for game updates and links to live stats.

Butler Defeats #1 Hutch to Win 2nd Straight Conference Title

The Butler soccer team defeated a No. 1-ranked team for the second time this season with a 3-1 win over Hutchinson on Sunday at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex, claiming at least a share of its second straight Jayhawk Conference in the process.

The Grizzlies, ranked No. 3 in the latest NSCAA poll and No. 6 in the NJCAA poll, jumped ahead of the Blue Dragons by a 2-0 score in the first half, then matched a Hutchinson goal in the second half to pull off the win.

The win gives Butler a 2-1 record this season against teams that were ranked No. 1 in one of the two major national polls at the time of the game. Earlier this year, Butler lost to NJCAA No. 1 Brevard (Fla.) by a 2-1 score in overtime. Butler later beat NSCAA No. 1 and defending national champion Tyler (Texas) by a 3-2 score in double overtime.

Butler dominated the first half, scoring its first in the 12th minute on a shot by freshman midfielder Morgan Foster. The Grizzlies got their second goal when Mari Ruvalcaba scored on an assist from Simone Arthur in the 28th minute. The Grizzles outshot Hutchinson 18-8 in the first half.

Hutchinson controlled the pace of play to start the second half, breaking through for a goal by Carolina Fernandez in the 55th minute to cut Butler's lead in half at 2-1.

Butler's final goal came in the 63rd minute. A shot by Simone Arthur was deflected by Hutchinson keeper Eunice Figueroa and Carla Daniels knocked it into the goal for the final margin.

The victory makes Butler 17-2 overall on the season, with a still-perfect 12-0 record in Jayhawk Conference action. With one conference game left, on Wednesday at Independence, the worst the Grizzlies could do would be a tie for the championship. The conference title is the sixth for Butler since the program's inception in 2001 and second straight. It also assures Butler will be the top seed in the upcoming Region VI tournament.

With only 3 regular season games to play, the #6 Butler Grizzlies are prepared for a tough week. 10-0 in the KJCCC the Grizzlies will face the Coffeyville Red Ravens Friday night. The Coffeyville game is not one to be overlooked and Butler will need all 3 points to continue their quest for a conference title.

After the Coffeyville game, the #1 Hutchinson Blue Dragons come to town for a highly anticipated game.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 14, 2012

#6 Butler takes on KJCCC rival #1 Hutchinson
3:00 PM at BG Products Veteran Sports Complex

The rivalry will be restored as both teams battle to be named
Jayhawk Regular Season Champions

Where will you be 10/14/12?

Abby Pone takes on the Cowley County Goalkeeper during a 3-0 for Butler last week.

Butler Soccer has moved to 12-2 on the season with a Jayhawk Conference record of 8-0. There are six games left in the regular season, including three this week against Garden City, Hesston and Barton. The Grizzlies will look to win out the regular season and head into the Region VI Tournament as the #1 seed.

NSCAA 9/11 poll places the Butler Grizzlies in the #1 spot of the first time in program history. We have made the climb, but now the true fight begins to stay on top. The team will face 3 conference opponents this week who will look to give Butler their best shot.

9-12 Butler @ Kansas City (Overland Park Complex) 1:00 PM
9-14 Butler @ Neosho 6:00 PM
9-16 Pratt vs Butler (BG Products Veterans Sports Complex) 7:30PM