Friday Roundup: Ward, Cahill propel Eagles to D1 Semifinals with home shutout of Mount Morris; Scio outlasts Houghton Academy in double OT, will meet No. 1 Hinsdale in Semis
FILLMORE — After their final regular season game against Wellsville last Friday night, Fillmore assistant head coach Jordan Mullen grabbed a bite to eat and cracked open a fortune cookie. Upon doing so, the message inside was one that he took to heart: “It’s amazing how much good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
Mullen hopes the message provides an inspiring run for the Eagles, when they began their postseason Friday night at home against No. 7 Mount Morris.
“This is the postseason of the fortune cookie. After our Friday night game against Wellsville, I cracked open a fortune cookie. It was a true fortune brought into life, and a very accurate truth that I believe that contains our team’s fate for the rest of the year. We have a chance to make a run, as a team.”
The No. 2 seeds on their home turf, were given a chance to begin their Sectional run back to the Class D1 Finals on the biggest of footsteps.
With the assistance of Allegany County’s leading goal scorer, Mitch Ward, the Eagles would go on and do just that, as Ward scored two of the team’s three goals, while the defense held the visiting Blue Devils to just five shots on offense to activate the afterburner on a 3-0 shutout of Mount Morris in the Class D1 Quarterfinal stage.
“I was pleased with the complete game, and tons of great chances that we were able to create,” said Eagles head coach Jamie Mullen. “Mount Morris’ goalie was very good tonight, and he kept them alive in the game. We had 20 of 23 shots on goal, and seven that were goals against any other team that we’ve played thus far. We were missing Alex (Ellsworth) again tonight, and we provided yet another complete performance for 15 guys.”
Ward gave Fillmore (15-2) a 1-0 lead to carry into the first half break with, as he scored his first off an unassisted marker. For the team’s next two scores, Deen Muzaid-Omar would hand out the assists, providing his first after the break to Ward for his second of the game before dishing another helper off to Graham Cahill to finish off what was a 23-5 outshooting of Mount Morris on offense.
In goal, Luke Colombo made all five shots for the Eagles to preserve the postseason-starting shutout.
Fillmore now advances into the Class D1 Semifinal round, where they will now face No. 3 Wheatland-Chili on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. The Wildcats defeated No. 6 Genesee Valley/Belfast, 3-0 earlier in the night. You can read the recap on that story down below.
No. 3 Wheatland-Chili 3, No. 6 Genesee Valley/Belfast 0
SCOTTSVILLE — Second-seeded Wheatland-Chili wasted no time lighting their fire right from the gate. Just over two minutes after the first kick, the Wildcats struck while the iron was hot, building momentum that was used in the first 40 minutes to establish a lead they never lost, as they rolled past No. 7 Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 3-0 shutout to force elimination, Friday night.
Aaron Lund scored two of Wheatland-Chili’s three first half goals, with his first coming on an unassisted marker two minutes in before extending the team’s lead to a pair eight minutes later. To cement their advantage ultimately for good, Josh Gebhardt locked away a 3-0 halftime lead for the remainder of the game with a goal of his own with just 15 minutes left on the clock.
Further in-depth statistics were not made available to report upon publication.
Genesee Valley/Belfast’s 2021 campaign has officially come to a close, as they wrap up their first season as a combined unit with an overall record of 10-7. The team will graduate nine seniors altogether between the two schools at the end of the school year, in Matt Weaver, Joe Ward, Trent Scott, Justin Hill, Max Miller, Morgan Torrey, Gavin Szalay, Jacob Buchholz and Jason Becker.
Class D2 Quarterfinals
No. 4 Scio 3, No. 5 Houghton Academy 2 (F-2OT)
SCIO — Overtime has been a mainstay with the Scio Tigers for the majority of the season. In the regular season, the Tigers went into extra sessions six times. Their last appearance in extra sessions on their home field came against Houghton Academy — a team that also happens to be their first contest of the Class D2 postseason.
Back on October 6, both the Panthers and Tigers went all 20 extra minutes but could not come away with the score break what wound up being a scoreless tie between the two foes. Over two weeks later, a combined five goals were scored, with each team scoring twice to force overtime.
The game nearly went the distance once more, but nearly halfway through the second and final overtime before penalty kicks, Lazar Bulajic completed what was a masterful performance, as he scored his hat trick-clinching goal with his biggest goal of the season, taking a feed from center to knock into the back of the Houghton Academy cage to send the Panthers home with a 3-2 double overtime victory on Friday.
“In the first half, we might have had our best half of soccer of the year. It could have been worse than leading 2-0 at the half,” Tigers coach Dillon McFall said. “The first 20 minutes of the second half, we got back into some of our bad habits, and Houghton made us pay for it with overtime. We didn’t play so hot, but we did settle down a bit and started to play better toward the end. It was a pretty even game, and then Lazar showed up tonight. Ethan (Davenport) provided some great through passes to help set a couple of his goals up. The two of them played really great together tonight, and it was great to see that.”
Bulajic scored his first two goals in the opening 40 minute session to create the 2-0 lead for Scio (8-6-2) to hang onto at the break, scoring his first near midway off of Ethan Davenport’s first of two assists, breaking the ice at the 25:15 mark. He would then add to the lead off an unassisted marker with 3:07 left in the frame.
Houghton Academy (5-7-2) would then navigate their way back into the game in the last 40 minute session of regulation with the assistance of their leading goal-scorer, Henry Sardina, who scored both of the team’s goals, with his first coming nearly 10 minutes into the half off a feed from Josh Davidson. Near midway, Alex Fraile handed along an assist of his own to Sardina to help tie the game with the Tigers to ultimately force overtime.
After a back-and-forth dead heat across 15 minutes of overtime between the two foes, the Tigers would find an opening with Davenport and Bulajic coming together for one last play, the biggest of the game resulting in a game-winner for Bulajic with 5:54 left in double overtime to send Scio to the Class D2 Semifinal round.
Between both teams, 30 shots combined were recorded on the respective cages, with Scio outshooting Houghton Academy by a 17-13 count. In goal, Landon Arnold picked up the victory behind 11 saves, while Chris Habecker made 14 stops on the other end for the Panthers, whose season comes to a close with an overall record of 5-7-2. The team will graduate seven Seniors at the end of the school year, in Habecker, Duy Le, Anna Huizenga, Warren Torraca, Malachi DeGolyer, Hugo Hnang and Sopelana Alonzo.
For the Tigers, their journey through the Class D2 field will continue on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined, as they get set to battle top-seeded Hinsdale in the Semifinal round with a vacancy in the Finals up for grabs.
“We’re happy to get another couple practices in, and we’re happy to be playing in the Semis to contend for a chance to play in the Finals,” said McFall. “A lot of these kids were youngsters when we last won the Sectional title. One of them was our manager that season. Now they all get a chance to try and help us get back there. All of these guys are hungry, and they want it. I’m really happy for them.”
No. 1 Hinsdale 2, No. 8 Hammondsport 0
HINSDALE — On their first day in the Class D2 Quarterfinals, the top-seeded Bobcats of Hinsdale made their stay worthwhile against No. 9 Hammondsport, as they scored a goal in each half to set up shop while holding the Lakers at bay across all 80 minutes to come away victorious with a 2-0 shutout to advance to Tuesday’s Semifinal round.
The Bobcats (11-3-1) offense was powered by the Tucker Schwartz and Brandon Hayman show on the field, as they each scored and assisted on one another’s goals to gain the upper hand they needed on Hammondsport to come away with the win. The top seeds took a 1-0 lead on the Lakers at the break behind Schwartz’s tally, and then extended their lead with a massive piece of insurance from Hayman.
Further statistics were not provided upon publication.
Hinsdale will now get set to do battle against No. 4 Scio in the Class D2 Semifinal round, which will begin at a site and time to be determined on Tuesday.
No. 2 Northstar 5, No. 7 Andover/Whitesville 1
ROCHESTER — The season is over for No. 7 Andover/Whitesville, as the offense for the second-seeded Knights of Northstar Christian came alive to fuel up a trip to the Class D2 Semifinals with a 5-1 rout in the Quarterfinal round, Friday night at Grace & Truth Sports Park.
Statistics were not made available to report upon publication.
Andover/Whitesville officially closes their 2021 campaign after a record of 1-15 overall. The team will graduate 11 Seniors in all when the school year ends, in Conner Phillips, Cormac Brown, Lucas Erdmann, Justin Waters, Dylan Acor, Jayden Dix, Carson Frungillo, Evan Green, Tyler Hackett, Ethan Lewis and Zach Rizzo.
GIRLS SOCCER
Class D1 Quarterfinals
No. 1 Fillmore 7, No. 9 South Seneca 0
FILLMORE — Sparks flew across the turf to begin what was a fiery first half of play for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, Friday evening.
Not only did Class D1’s top seed take the lead on No. 9 South Seneca fairly quickly, but they created an avalanche of goals, scoring four of them just six minutes after the opening kick to build up what was a 7-0 shutout over the Lady Falcons to advance to the Semifinal round.
“The Quarterfinal round brings some weird energy, and it’s something that we’ve experienced before in the past,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. “Getting this game safely under our belt, and successfully is a big first step. Now we can prepare for a Semifinal game coming up next week.”
A 2-0 lead by Fillmore (17-0) was garnered right in the first two minutes of play from both Sophia Templeton and Hope Russell, who combined to score five of the team’s seven goals in the contest, with Templeton getting on the board first with her first of two on the night off a pass provided by Zoe Beardsley from center. 60 seconds later, Beardsley dished along her second assist to Russell for her first of three first half goals to help establish her hat trick.
Templeton and Russell branched the lead further with a pair of rapid tallies at the six minute mark, with Russell assisting Templeton’s second goal of the game, and Grace Russell handing out a helper to Hope for her second to help provide a 4-0 lead.
Before Russell completed her hat trick, Kada Frazier added to the damage near the midway mark of the half, scoring off a feed provisioned by Madison Geertman. Russell would then finish off a 6-0 first half lead at the break with her final goal coming off of Beardsley’s third and final assist with 15 minutes remaining.
Grace Russell would record the team’s last goal right at the midway marker of the second half, with Hope dishing out an assist in return to help fuel a 14-shot offensive effort.
In goal, Preslee Miller would be credited with the shutout, as she, along with Templeton and Beardsley, combined to make two stops for the Lady Eagles.
Fillmore now moves on to the Class D1 Semifinal round, which will begin on Wednesday, as they prepare to face either No. 5 Naples or No. 4 Honeoye at a site and time to be determined. The Lady Big Green and Lady Bulldogs will square off tonight in Honeoye.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Bolivar-Richburg 3, Hinsdale 0
BOLIVAR — After a dominant first set of action to begin the night on Friday, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg used that maximized energy and branched it across all three sets required to take the match victory, as they rolled past visiting Hinsdale with a sweep of the broom by a 25-3, 25-9, 25-10 count to record their eighth win in the last nine games.
The Lady Wolverines (11-4) were paced on the offensive front by Jianna Nix, who continues to take charge at the net behind a game-high 19 kills along with three blocks. From the service line, Haley Mascho recorded nine aces, while Brena Walp added to the offense with five kills of her own. Setter Kaitlyn Graves helped set everything up with 20 assists handed out.
On the other side, Hinsdale (2-11) was led by Jaylee Jimerson on defense, tallying 15 digs to pair with her two aces. Kylee Leonard added eight digs of her own to go with five assists at the net, while Hannah Sutton chipped in with three digs and two blocks on defense. The Lady Bobcats will now await the seeding process for this year’s Sectional tournament.
As for Bolivar-Richburg, they will look for their fifth straight win and ninth of their last 10 games with one final regular season contest slated for an 11:30 a.m. start on their home floor today, taking on incoming Cuba-Rushford.
Houghton Academy 3, Cuba-Rushford 0
CUBA — It was a tight battle through and through over inside the Wighthouse on Friday. Between Houghton Academy and Cuba-Rushford, the offenses traded barbs across the night. But in the end, it was the Lady Panthers that came out on top, as they used a second set win to help fend off a late Lady Rebels threat in the final set to take the match sweep by a 25-19, 25-13, 25-23 decision.
Houghton Academy (10-5) was led by Emily Tankeh on the offensive attack, garnering a team-leading eight kills to pair with seven digs and three aces from the service line. Jessica Adenuga added in offense of her own in a big way, chipping in with seven with two aces and a block. Jessica Prentice garnered 14 digs on defense to keep the ball off the floor, pairing them with four additional kills.
The Lady Rebels (5-9) were led by Ella Jaffe on the attack with five team-high kills, three digs and one ace. On defense, Lauren O’Keefe tallied six digs on defense to pair with four additional kills and an ace from the line, while setter Quincy Tyler helped hand out 17 assists to go with two digs and a block of her own. Cuba-Rushford will close out their regular season today back on the road with an 11:30 a.m. visit in store at Bolivar-Richburg.
The Lady Panthers will now await their seeding in the Sectional tournament, which begins next week.
Fillmore 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 0
BELMONT — Emma Cole was at the top of her game to propel the offense to great success for the Fillmore Lady Eagles, as they started the evening strong on Friday and built up an eventual straight-set victory over host Genesee Valley/Belfast with a 25-12, 25-21, 25-19 triumph inside the Jungle.
“It wasn’t a bad game tonight, but there are definitely some simple errors that we need to fix. Fillmore plays very well in the middle, and we just don’t have that kind of firepower to counter that,” said GV/Belfast coach Darren Bradt. “It is good for us that we have a few days of practice before the first Sectional match on Wednesday. We’ll see where we’re seeded and go from there.”
Cole led the Lady Eagles (9-6) with a game-high 16 kills to jumpstart the offense. Jadyn Mucher helped further the cause with four more kills of her own to pair with three aces, while setter Zoe Hubbard dished out 23 assists to help set up shop, and four additional kills on the attack.
Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-11) was led by Kaitlin Sadler, who had a team-high seven kills, two blocks and one ace. Addy Herring handed out 12 assists at the front of the net to go with five aces from the line, and two more kills.
Both teams have ended their regular seasons, as they now await Sectional seeding, which begins this weekend.
