The Bears wasted little time, as they scored in the first three minutes of the game to take an early 1-0 advantage. Seven minutes later, the Panthers yielded another score and the deficit was 2-0 and the Bears looked like they were well on their way to a victory.
Pride surfaced and the Panthers came back roaring. After a Panther shot was deflected out by the Butler goalie, Daniel Borden guided the deflection across to Cameron Blythe, who hammered the pass into the goal and Russellville was on the score board. After twenty-five minutes of play, Russellville had scored, but was still trailing 2-1. The Panthers scored at the nine minute mark, when Justin Shifflett made a crossing pass to Eliot Wheat. Wheat booted the pass into the net and the Panthers had tied the score 2-2.
Butler regained the lead at the three minute mark on a breakaway goal and it was advantage Bears. Thirty seconds later, the Panthers erased the advantage when Blythe scored his second goal of the game on a pass from Charles Woodard. The half ended with a 3-3 tie.
The second half went scoreless until the 27th minute when Wheat booted a breakaway pass to Blythe, who scored his third score of the game, and the Panthers took their first lead of the game. Two minutes later, Butler went on a scoring spree. They scored at the 25th minute, the 16th minute and the 11th minute. Sixteen minutes after Russellville took their first lead, they were now trailing by two goals.
The Panthers never gave up. They continued to scrap and hustle for the ball and at the fourth minute, the consistency paid off. After the Panthers took a shot on goal from the right side, which was denied by the Butler goalie, Jonathan Hindman sprinted in from the corner blasting the deflected ball in the goal and the Panthers were trailing by one, 6-5. Russellville had two more scoring opportunities in the last four minutes, but the Bears goalie was equal to the task. The Panthers did not run out of hustle, they just ran out of time. The Panthers converted 5 of 13 shots on goal for the game and senior Cameron Blythe finished the game with a hat trick.
Glasgow 4, Russellville 3
The All ‘A' Classic tournament began Saturday with Russellville hosting an opening round game against the Glasgow Scotties. It was a game full of hard hits, hard play, and an emotional roller coaster. It was a game of 80 minutes of regulation play and 20 minutes of overtime play.
When the dust had settled, the Panthers had let a win slip away from their grasp.
Russellville scored first when Parker Rowland dribbled down the right side of the field pushing a left-footed shot past the Scottie goalie and the score was 1-0 Panthers.
The Panthers added to their lead in the 32nd minute when Glasgow was called for a penalty inside the box. Eliot Wheat converted the penalty kick and the Panthers were up 2-0.
The next twenty-one minutes were scoreless. At the 11th minute mark, Glasgow scored to cut the Russellville lead to 2-1. The Scotties scored again at the four minute mark, on a free kick, and the 2 shot lead that the Panthers once had, now dissipated. At the end of the first half, the score was 2-2.
Glasgow scored at the 26 minute mark in the second half and the Scotties had their first lead of the game, 3-2. The Panthers, which started the game with a 2-0 lead, had now been outscored 3-0 in the last 57 minutes of play. The Panther scoring was absent. The momentum changed at the 15 minute mark when Wheat scored on a pass from Davis Rowland and the Panthers were even 3-3. Emotion was high and so was the hustle in the last 15 minutes of the game as neither team would surrender a goal. The Russellville defense rose to the occasion, making several defensive stops sending the game into overtime.
The first 10 minutes of overtime play was full of hard hits, hard play, and no scoring. When the first overtime period ended, the score was still tied 3-3.
The second 10 minute overtime was a mirror image. But with less that two minutes remaining in overtime play, Glasgow scored a fluke shot, and the game was over. The Panthers had played hard, but came up short. The Panthers may have learned a valuable lesson this game; when you have a team down, keep them there.
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