Thursday Roundup: C-R, GV/Belfast girls record shutouts to meet in Saturday’s Tourney title game; Fillmore girls blank Holland at home

BELFAST — Just 24 hours after the boys tournament kicked off at the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast, it was the ladies turn. Cuba-Rushford, Andover/Whitesville, Friendship/Scio and host GV/Belfast all came together to do battle Thursday night to decide this year’s champion.

Game one of the two-game slate saw a fast start formulate right away, built by Cuba-Rushford who scored a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes to set the tone, while the defense kept Andover/Whitesville still to provide the 2-0 shutout to advance into Saturday’s Championship battle.

“It was nice to get the early lead on a team like Andover/Whitesville, but I was really happy with how we controlled the ball in the second half after the fact,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “Our defense played great, and the midfield did a great job of keeping the ball in our possession as the game went on.”

Taylor Searle recorded both Cuba-Rushford (1-0) goals, with her first coming nearly five minutes after the opening whistle by taking a feed from Lillian Forward and finding the back of the net. Four minutes later, Searle connected with Christy Childs for her second goal to extend the lead insurmountably. The goals were two of nine total shots provided by the Lady Rebels, as they outshot Andover/Whitesville by a 9-6 count.

In net, Tara Duvall made all six stops seen on the Lady Rebels goal to record the shutout, while Brynn Scholl made seven stops on the other end for Andover/Whitesville (0-1).

In the nightcap, a complete shutout was pitched by host Genesee Valley/Belfast over Friendship/Scio, holding them without a shot across all 80 minutes of play while capitalizing on offense of their own to punch their ticket into the Championship game themselves with a 4-0 win.

Three of GV/Belfast’s (1-0) goals were scored right in the first 40 minutes of play, with their first finding the back of the net off the foot of Harley Proctor, who connected off an Alicia Borden corner kick just 1:14 in to break the ice. After a back-and-forth midfield battle, the lead was extended to a pair at the midway mark with Lauren Haggstrom finding the back of the net with a goal of her own, as Hannah Southwick-Powers dished out the helper to set the strike up.

GV/Belfast would go into the break with a 3-0 lead in hand after Adison Grusendorf finished off the scoring with 10:28 left in the half, as Haggstrom provided the feed to finish. The defense would take charge for much of the second half before the hosts added one last goal to their lead with under four minutes remaining from Borden to finish off the shutout.

In all, 18 total shots were applied by GV/Belfast to the Friendship/Scio (0-1) goal, with Karlee Cochran and Nevaeh Ross combining to make 10 stops for the visitors. On the other side, Ashley Burrows recorded the shutout in net for the hosts.

On Saturday, Cuba-Rushford and GV/Belfast will do battle to determine this year’s Champion. Beforehand in the Consolation round, Friendship/Scio and Andover/Whitesville to begin the final day of the tournament.

Fillmore 2, Holland 0

FILLMORE — A sound offense and strong defense were the ingredients for great success for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore on Thursday. The team recorded 21 total shots and saw a pair of goals find the back of the Holland net to establish their lead that they never lost, as they started their 2021 campaign on the right foot with a 2-0 shutout on their home turf.

“I thought we came out and played a very sound first half, and in the second half, the intensity picked up for both teams. We started to adjust and figure it out late. Defensively, we kept them out of the box and on the offensive, we just kept after it and put a lot of pressure on their defense. Holland is typically a good Class C team in Section VI, and that was the case tonight. They returned all but one player from last year, so we expected a good game.”

Zoe Beardsley was the first to strike just 10 minutes into the game for Fillmore (1-0), as she received a pass, one of two assists from the leg of Hope Russell to give the team the early lead. The scoring concluded for good six minutes later with Russell dishing out her last helper to Sophia Templeton to branch their lead permanently.

Fillmore outshot Holland by a 21-8 total count, with Preslee Miller recording the shutout in goal behind four saves.

The Lady Eagles are back on the field Saturday night with a 7 p.m. matchup right back under the lights against the Lady Panthers of Portville.

“Our next game against Portville will be a very tough matchup for us, but it’s why we are playing these games. It will make us a better team regardless of the outcome.” said Beardsley.

Olean Tourney: Olean 1, Bolivar-Richburg 0

OLEAN — Host Olean started their home tournament on the right foot Thursday afternoon, as they piled on 19 shots against the Bolivar-Richburg net while scoring a goal along the way to advance into Saturday’s title game with a 1-0 shutout over the Lady Wolverines.

Malayna Ayers provided her first start of the season in goal for the Lady Wolverines (0-1), making 18 total stops. No further statistics were reported upon publication.

The Lady Wolverines will return to Olean on Saturday to finish out tournament action in the Consolation Round, facing either Jamestown or Ellicottville.

BOYS SOCCER

Addison Tourney Consolation: Wellsville 1, Jasper-Troupsburg 0

ADDISON — The Lions of Wellsville wrapped up their two-day tournament run in Addison on Thursday with a Consolation round matchup against Jasper-Troupsburg.

Wellsville made sure they would end their season opening journey on a bright note, as they were the lone team to find the back of the net midway through the opening half, taking the 1-0 shutout edge over the Wildcats back home.

Statistics were not made available upon publication.

Wellsville (1-1) will open up their home slate beginning on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. battle under the lights against Andover/Whitesville.