11th ranked Butler Community College visited Tonkawa on an extremely hot day in Tonkawa with the Mavericks pulling off a 3-2 win. The temperature at kick off was 100 degrees with a heat index of 110 degrees.
The Mavs got off to a fast start despite going into a decent wind. Marissa Neil stole a pass off the kick off, and played the ball to Samantha Mendez. Mendez switched the ball to Chloe Wilkins who played a ball over the Grizzlies defense to Milica Bulatovic. Bulatovic outran the Butler centerbacks and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper to put the Mavs up 1-0 just thirty-one seconds into the game.
Butler responded to the goal by controlling most of the play for the majority of the first half. The Grizzlies broke through midway through the first half with a goal from just outside the box by midfielder Yossi Villagrana.
Late in the first half it looked like the Mavs would take the lead as Bulatovic beat a defender and was fouled in the box resulting in a penalty kick. Butler's goalkeeper, Ashton Conley, made a diving save knocking the ball over the endline to keep the game level.
Northern started fast in the second half as well with an early goal just two minutes after the whistle. Chloe Wilkins blasted a shot that was saved by the Grizzlies goalkeeper, but Bulatovic pounced on the rebound and tapped the ball in to put the Mavs up 2-1. Butler would tie the game midway through the second half after a Maverick foul in the penalty box gave the Grizzlies a penalty kick. Bailey Williams put the penalty kick in the net for the equalizer. Just four minutes later the Mavs would strike again. Wilkins was brought down by a Butler defender on the left side of the box. Cory Torres stepped up to take the free kick from a tough angle just yards from the end line. Torres expertly curled a shot into the top corner of the goal to put the Mavericks back in the lead. Butler had several chances to score late in the game as both teams struggled through the heat. Northern goalkeeper, Jordan Webster, made a great save on a 1v1 just before the final whistle to preserve the win for the Mavs.
"This was an amazing game," said coach Michael DuRoy. "Butler is very good, worthy of their ranking. We had a good scout on them. We knew their two center mids were really good players, and their wingers were dangerous. They didn't disappoint. They were every bit as good in this game as they were on film. We feel like our outside backs, Josie Jarvis and Heidi Wiedmeier are the strengths of our team."
"Our freshmen aren't afraid of anything," Duroy said. "If anything I made them a little nervous telling them how tough this game was going to be. Our passing was not great for much of the game, but especially in the beginning. We were nervous on the ball and gave it away too much. Butler deserves credit for a lot of that. They don't give you time on the ball. We will have to work on that in training."
"It was so hot that I give our girls a lot of credit for finishing the game," he added. "We had some players that more than emptied the tank out there. I've never seen a game with two water breaks in a half, and we did that today. To the referees credit it was the right thing to do. The conditions were dangerous."
"I could say something good about each of our players," he concluded. "I could go on and on, but to mention a few, obviously we have to start with Cory's goal. What a banger. She practices that almost every day after training so no one was surprised. Milica scored two, which is what she does. Our centerbacks worked their socks off. It was a total team win."
