Two Second Half Goals Lift Butler Past Valparaiso

Senior Boris Gatzky came up with a goal and an assist in a span of three minutes in the second half to lead Butler to a come-from-behind, 2-1, victory over host Valparaiso at Brown Field on Sunday (Oct. 11).  The victory kept Butler unbeaten in four Horizon League outings this season.

Gatzky scored Butler’s first goal and tied the match at 65:41 with his fourth goal of the season.  He took a pass from freshman Julian Cardona and fired a shot from 20 yards out on the left side of the goal.  The shot eluded Valparaiso goalkeeper Ryan Schwarz and nestled into the upper right-hand corner of the net.

Less than three minutes later, Gatzky dropped a corner kick to sophomore Matt Hedges just short of the net.  Hedges gathered the ball and slipped a shot past Schwarz from six yards out to give Butler a 2-1 advantage at 68:14.  It was the third goal of the season for the Butler defender.

The Bulldogs held on in the final 22 minutes to improve to 8-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 in league play.

Valparaiso (5-6-1, 1-2-1 HL) struck first in the match, taking a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Steve Shively at 21:57.  Shively came up with a takeaway on Butler’s end of the field and launched a shot into the goal from 15 yards out.  The Bulldogs finished the first half with 10 shots, including six shots on goal, but couldn’t tie the match by halftime.

The two teams combined for 30 shots, including 14 shots on goal, in the match.  Butler finished with 17 shots and an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.  The Bulldogs had a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Senior Fabian Knopfler went the distance in goal for the Bulldogs and improved to 4-1-1 on the year  He had five saves in the match, including four in the first period.  Schwarz finished with six saves, all in the first half.

Butler will step out of league play for its only match this week when it travels across town to play IUPUI on Wednesday, Oct. 14.