On Saturday, March 24, boys lacrosse team took on Butler Area and notched their first win of the year.

In the special “Saturday Night Main Event,” the Hawks took down Butler 11-3 in their season and home opener.

The Hawks opened early with a goal from Zak Ferris. Ferris went on to have a hat trick with three goals.

Ray Konopka not only celebrated his 18th birthday on Saturday, but he also notched three goals in a hat trick.

They were joined by Evan Bradley’s two goals, Noah Larouere’s two goals, and Gavin Campbell’s one goal.

The Hawks racked up several penalties but were able to kill all of their man downs in impressive fashion.

Defenders Ben Davin, Bryan Magnus, Zach Bielozer, Josh Crist, and Noah Seeberger dominated the Butler offense causing a slur of turnovers.

In net, Chris Sylvis faced 18 shots allowing three.

Nathaniel Neal had solid control on the faceoff X winning nearly most of the faceoffs giving the Hawks the upper hand.

The JV team destroyed Butler 10-0, not allowing a single shot on cage. Rising star freshman Toby Roule commented that it was “time to take off the training wheels.”

Due to their impressive games, freshmen Jason Muench and Dylan Fusca were awarded varsity jerseys to dress the game; one of many traditions the Hawks have.

Last year, Bethel beat Butler 13-8. Obvious improvement has been made since last year, but can the Hawks keep it up?

They face rival Upper St. Clair Tuesday, March 27 at USC at 7:30 p.m.

The past two years, the Hawks have dropped in double overtime to USC in the regular season. It will be seen if they can keep the foot on the gas for the whole game this year.