Butler Downs Bellarmine, 8-7, in Third Overtime

March 26, 2006

Box Score

Sophomore Cliff Smith scored at the 2:35 mark of the third overtime Sunday, giving Butler a thrilling 8-7 win over Bellarmine in a neutral site contest played in Princeton, N. J. It was Smith's second goal of the game for Butler, which also got three goals from freshman Jeremy Sieverts. With the win, Butler improves to 2-6 on the season, while the Knights fall to 3-4.

Bellarmine opened the scoring four minutes into the game before Sieverts scored his first goal of the game at the 9:58 mark of the first period. The man-up tally was assisted on by junior Adam Wade. Butler scored the next three goals as well to take a 4-1 lead midway through the second period. Bellarmine scored with 3:46 remaining in the opening half to send the teams to the intermission with Butler leading 4-2.

Bellarmine's Garett Kikot scored twice - 12 seconds apart - to tie the game at four with 9:17 to play in the third period. Butler answered with man-up goals from Doug Mathias and Sieverts to close the third period with a 6-4 advantage. After the teams traded goals, Bellarmine scored the final two goals of regulation to send the game to extra time.

The teams played through two four-minute overtime periods before Smith's heroics. Smith's initial shot was saved by the Knights' JC Hutchins, but Smith collected the rebound and found the net for the game-winner. It was his team-leading 14th goal of the season.

Butler's largest advantage came in face-offs, where the Bulldogs controlled 16 of 21. Senior Phil Brauch went 15-of-20. Brauch and freshman Will Morgan also scored goals for Butler. The Bulldogs held advantages of 44-30 in shots and 42-26 in ground balls. The team converted on three of its seven extra-man opportunities.

Junior Ryan Kaiser went the distance in goal for Butler, making 14 saves, including a pair in the overtime sessions. Brauch led the Bulldogs with nine ground balls. Carlos Navarro had seven. Smith took a game-high 15 shots. Bellarmine's Hutchins stopped 23 of Butler's shots.

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday (April 1), traveling to Pittsburgh to face Robert Morris.