Butler Community College Women's Soccer
Coach Adam Hunter

The Butler women’s soccer team finished fifth in the nation for the 2011 season after winning their final two games at the NJCAA Division 1 women’s soccer national tournament in Melbourne, Fla.

The Grizzlies, who opened the tournament with a tough 1-0 loss to Harford (Md.), bounced back to eliminate Waubonsee (Ill.) in a consolation bracket semifinal game on Friday.

Natausha Sanchez scored Butler’s first goal in that contest as the Grizzlies went up 1-0 in the first half. Butler then poured in three goals in the second half, the first by Alyssa Miller on an assist by Sanchez and the final two goals by Carla Daniels, the first on a rebound of a ball that was bouncing in front of the goal and the second on a breakaway.

That win gave Butler a day off on Saturday in preparation to play for the consolation final on Sunday against Monroe College from New York, a program that has won eight national championships.

Butler appeared undaunted by Monroe’s credentials, getting a goal in the first half, again from Sanchez this time on an pass by JeeHye Yi, her first assist of the season.

The Butler defense made the goal stand up throughout the contest for a 1-0 win, giving the Grizzlies fifth place. It was Butler’s second shutout of the tournament, meaning the Grizzlies gave up fewer goals in the national tournament than any of the other eight teams in the field.

Tyler (Texas), a team Butler lost to 3-2 earlier in the season, won the national championship by defeating Darton (Ga.) in the championship game. Tyler finished the season with a perfect 24-0 record. Scottsdale (Ariz.) defeated Harford in the third-place game by a 3-1 score.

Butler earned some recognition for its actions on and off the field by winning the Lea Plarski Team Sportsmanship Award, which was presented to Butler President Dr. Jackie Vietti at the conclusion of the tournament.

In addition, Natausha Sanchez, who had the game-winning goal in both of Butler’s wins, was named to the all-tournament team.

Butler finishes a record-setting year with a record of 21-4-1 under head coach Adam Hunter and assistant coach Suzie Hinman. Not only are the wins in a season a school record, but the Grizzlies also won their fifth conference championship in program history, their first district championship and first appearance at nationals.

We wanted to share the link for the Butler games this week. They will all be broadcast live.

www.spacecoastsportstv.com

Hope you'll be able to tune in and watch the Grizzlies work!

Butler defeats LCCC in Penalties to advance to the National Tournament!!!

2 Wins away from NATIONALs! Watch our game against North Idaho today at 3:30 here http://www.livestream.com/h... ... GO GRIZZLIES

Butler Lands 8 Players on the KJCCC All-Conference Teams! For the full story check out:

http://kjccc.org/soccer/11/...

Butler beats Cloud but drops the Region VI Final to Hutchinson Community College 1-0. Butler will continue on to the District Tournament Friday November 4 against North Idaho Community College.

8 KJCCC teams started the battle for a Region VI Title Monday afternoon. At the end of the day, 4 teams remained. With an 8-0 over Garden City, the Grizzlies solidified their 10th straight bid to the Region VI final four in Topeka KS. The win came less than a week after Butler was named KJCCC Co-Conference Champions.

Natausha Sanchez (Dodge City KS) opened up the game with a goal less than five minutes into the match. After a hard tackle from behind in the box, Sanchez stepped to the penalty line and drove her free kick past the diving Buster goalkeeper. With a 1-0 lead, the Grizzlies took control of the match netting three more goals before half time. Two of those goals came off of corner kicks from Stephanie Bonilla (Garland TX). The first was headed by Mari Rulvalcaba (Garden City KS) to Perla Hernandez (Great Bend KS) who finished the ball on the near post. Bonilla’s second corner came minutes after Hernandez and Alyssa Miller (Thornton CO) combined for a breakaway goal. Abby Ponce (Oxnard CA) got on the end of Bonilla’s final corner, but her shot was cleared off the line by a Garden City defender. Megan Snyder (Overland Park KS) was there to clean up the mess and give Butler a 4-0 halftime lead.

When the teams took to the field to begin the second half, there was not much fight left in the Broncobusters. The Grizzlies jumped on the chance to ice the game. Ponce put a ball through their backline to a running Miller. Miller slid the ball easily past the Garden keeper to solidify a 5-0 Butler lead early in the half. Battling into the wind, Garden had a mountain to climb. They managed to hold Butler scoreless for nearly 25 minutes in the second half. The scoreless streak was broken by Carla Daniels (Jamaica) with less than ten minutes in the game. The Grizzlies would go on to add two more goals before the final whistle blew. Sanchez found Aisling Dyer (Ireland) on the far post for the first and Dainels scored the final goal off a penalty kick with only 2 seconds remaining in the game.

Mel Nuessen (Emporia KS) tallied another shutout for the Grizzlies with the win.

Butler (16-2-1) will travel to Topeka for the Region VI Semi-Final match against Cloud County. Butler defeated Cloud 3-1 in the regular season, but post-season play is a whole new beast. The Grizzlies will look to continue their success and return again to the Region VI Final. The match will kick off at 11:00 AM at the Hummer Sports Complex.

Regular Season Co-Champions!