Seneca Valley boys lacrosse shares the wealth behind Colton Garner in section win over Butler
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Seneca Valley Kale Baker (5) celebrates a goal against Butler in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley celebrates a goal against Butler in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Butler Grant Holt (19) dives for the ball against Seneca Valley in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley head coach David Hall coaches against Butler in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Butler Layne Zmijowski (19) shoots the ball against Seneca Valley in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Butler Brock Collins (14) celebrates a gaol with teammates against Seneca Valley in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley celebrates a goal against Butler in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Butler Max Weiland (1) makes a save against Seneca Valley in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley's Kaden Tuell (27) shoots and scores past Butler's Gabriel Jolly (4) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Josiah Funyak (15) fights for a loose ball with Butler's Brock Collins (14) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Andrew Loebig (8) celebrates a goal with Ethan Riffe (12) against Butler in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Grant Adams (16) gets smack by Butler's Peyton Fuqua (5) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's goalie Alec Pezzuti (9) makes a big save on Butler's Brady Marburger (25) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Josiah Funyak (15) fights for a loose ball with Butler's Brock Collins (14) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley Josiah Funyak (15) smacks in the face with stick to Butler Brock Collins (14) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley Josiah Funyak (15) smacks in the face with stick to Butler Brock Collins (14) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley Colton Garner (6) tries to get around Butler Brock Collins (14) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley Colton Garner (6) gets check by Butler Deacon Simko (8) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley Dylan Greer (2) fights for a face-off ball against Butler Layne Zmijowski (9) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Seneca Valley Sean Manns (43) smacks the stick of stick Butler Caden Bayer (2) in a boys lacrosse game Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Butler High School. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
BUTLER TWP — Showing his father a cut-up of his highlights, Colton Garner received a word of advice Monday night.
“My dad told me last night, ‘Just try to be No. 1 in assists,’” said Garner, a senior attack. “He’s like, ‘That’s a great stat to have.’ The last couple of years, I’ve been top in goals, but I want to be top in assists.”
Garner’s father, Aaron, was once a point guard for Meadville’s boys basketball team. He stresses to his son sharing the wealth gives teammates confidence. That team-wide approach helped Seneca Valley to an 18-5 boys lacrosse win at Butler on Tuesday night.
Garner, an Ohio Wesleyan commit, put away four goals in the WPIAL Section 2-3A victory. His classmate, Grant Adams, had a game-high five scores, and four other Raiders (4-1, 1-1 section) notched multi-goal games. Dylan Greer had three markers, while Braden Ketler, Andrew Loebig and Kale Baker each netted a pair.
“I love being the guy, but I also love being a team player,” Garner said. “It creates a lot more assists, a lot more guys open. (Opponents) usually always come at me and Grant ... but then we have great shooters outside like Kale or Ketler that can also bury the ball, and they kind of go under the radar.”
Adams and Garner are seeing their assist numbers pick up as they draw the bulk of defenses’ attention. A five-goal second-quarter run pushed Seneca Valley’s lead over the Golden Tornado to 9-2 a little over midway through the frame.
“We’re getting really experienced on offense. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot,” Raiders coach David Hall said. “Just working the ball around, knowing that a lot of guys can handle pressure, put the ball in the back of the net. ... For the past few years, we’ve had a lot of one or two guys doing a lot of the scoring, and this year we feel like we’re a lot more balanced.”
The Golden Tornado (3-4, 0-2) have now lost three in a row as they continue to try find their groove.
“It’s just a young offense, really,” Steiner said. “I mean, our defense has been holding us down a lot, our goalie’s been holding us down a lot. But, our offense, it’s just we have no alphas out there right now. ... We have 16 freshmen this year, so the majority of our team is young, but it’s really kind of like trial by fire.
“We have who we have. We’ve got to man up, and we’ve got to do it.”
Senior Grant Holt and sophomore Nolan Cranmer are guys Steiner expects to develop into key offensive threats. Freshman Cayden Bayer had a pair of goals against Seneca Valley, while Brock Collins, Peyton Fuqua and Holt got on the board also.
They’re backed up by a trio of junior defenders in Layne Zmijowski, Preston Simko and Mason Lacey.
The Golden Tornado will be weathered by a loaded gauntlet that includes Canada’s St. Andrew’s College and North Canton (Ohio) Hoover. Butler squares off against the latter on the road Friday. The Raiders visit Hempfield Thursday.
