Butler Soccer talks about their dramatic Region VI win and the upcoming National Tournament

Adam Hunter and the Butler Grizzlies soccer team held a press conference ahead of their trip to Daytona, after defeating the Cowley Tigers on penalty kicks to win their ninth district championship. 

Star players Kim Mcalpine, Ellie MacDonald, Laryn Murray and Morgan Houston represented the team at the press conference, where the team reviewed the season and previewed the tournament ahead.

Hunter, in his 15th year at the helm at Butler, opened the press conference by looking back at the team's recent Region VI championship.

"Our team had a fantastic energy, the kind of energy that we've been looking for. Just enthusiastic to be there, happy to be playing in that part of the season. It started with the Barton game on Thursday and making an emphatic statement and that kind of carried over into the first half of the Cowley game. We get a great header from Mcalpine and then Morgan Houston gets a second goal and things were going along great for us in the first half. So much credit to Cowley because they were a good opponent. They imposed their will on us in the second half. But the thing that was really pivotal for our kids was the resolve. We were prepared for penalties, and we did just enough to get us over the hump and then dog piled Kyrah after the penalty."

Butler will open tournament play in a pool with No. 5 Salt Lake and No. 4 Iowa Western, two teams the Grizzlies are very familiar with.

"It's going to be the meeting of an old foe in Iowa Western, typically a program we play every year, it's always a good game. And we kind of ran into a buzz saw when we saw Salt Lake last year in Georgia."

"Salt Lake is a really good opponent," said Laryn Murray. "And I think the sophomores will have something to prove, and I think the freshmen will step up and all of us will come together like we did against Cowley."

Morgan Houston, a sophomore transfer,  then talked about her experience with the program. 

"This group of girls, the atmosphere that Adam built from day one, automatically convinced me that this is where I was meant to be. From the start, we just clicked, and it was where I was meant to be."

The Grizzlies will open up the 2021 NJCAA National Tournament on Monday, November 15 against No. 4-seeded Iowa Westsern at 5:00pmET at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, FL.

WATCH THE ENTIRE PRESS CONFERENCE- HERE