Quick recovery leads to big things as Harris siblings, Lady Wolverines stifle Wellsville with 4-0 shutout

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — All throughout the week, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg were playing with exactly 11 girls. Friday night was the first time that head coach Mark Emery was able to at least switch out one of his girls for a substitution.

They were also on the rebound from Wednesday night when they were shutout by defending Class D1 champion Fillmore over the road. They had to overcome a potential deficit straight out of the gate against host Wellsville.

But the Lady Wolverines were able to stop the chance, and recover quickly. And with that, the balance of power came as well. As a result of the early pressure, Bolivar-Richburg was able to turn the tables around with help from Madigan and McKinlee Harris, as they accounted for all four of the team’s goals to power the offense toward a 4-0 shutout of the Lady Lions.

“It was a pretty good game overall. The tricky part about this disease we’re dealing with, is it’s from day to day. You don’t know how it will effect your team when you get there,” Emery said. “It’s a day-to-day thing, sometimes hour-to-hour. We have three games this week, and we usually had 11 kids. Tonight, we had 12, and what a difference that is. Giving a kid a little bit of a breather makes a huge difference. When we get the other kids back, it’s going to help a lot.”

The Lady Lions (1-2) started out of the gate and fast on Bolivar-Richburg, as Lady Wolverines keeper Paige Taylor was forced out of the net early to make a play on a cross in front to Wellsville’s Kylie Fanton-Acker, but it did not go. But from that point forward, the visitors lit a flame.

“Wellsville put a lot of pressure on us at the beginning,” Emery said. “On the ride over, I told the kids that this game always ends up being a good game. It never lets you down, and it doesn’t matter what the records are. You can count on both teams going hard, and it’ll be the same way when they come over to our place later on. I’m thankful that we finally caught our legs and we got one more kid eligible. Next week, we’ll have the full compliment back, and we’ll be a bit better of a team than we are now.”

Just a tad over nine minutes into the game, the Lady Wolverines (2-1) were the first that struck, as the Harris siblings connected on the netter with McKinlee setting up Madigan for her first of three goals in the evening. That was just the beginning for the visitors. Even though they were not able to capitalize on some chances, shots on goal were still generated all throughout the first half to put an immense amount of pressure on the hosts in black.

The Harris’ along with Malayna Ayers were the main beneficiaries for most of the chances, with Ayers nearly branching the lead to a pair after her first of two shots ricocheted off the lower left part of the Wellsville post.

Past the halfway mark, the Lady Wolverines and their pressure continued to intensify by taking control of the midfield play, which allowed them to continue pinning Wellsville deep into their zone. With it, came a pair of goals, with McKinlee Harris extending the lead to two after splitting a pair of Lady Lions defenders on the way in, burying the ball far side behind Makenna Dunbar with 10:36 left.

Five minutes later, Madigan Harris added her second goal, picking up a nice short drop pass from Ayers just outside the Wellsville box. With multiple defenders keeping watch, Harris blew past the coverage to release a shot that went to the short side for a 3-0 halftime lead.

“They work so hard, they really do.” Emery said of the Harris siblings. “That’s what I like about this year’s team. It’s a mix of the senior leadership with the sophomores and juniors in there too. We got dealt with a tough card when our center-mid from last year was unable to return this year. But this is a gamey group. They’ve dug down, and they’re playing hard. There’s a lot to be happy about with this win.”

In the second half, it was on the Bolivar-Richburg defense to keep the Lady Lions at a standstill. For the most part, they did just that. But despite the lockdown defense, the hosts in black were able to provide some solid chances. Jaylynn Mess provided one on a 50-yard scamper down into the Lady Wolverines zone, blowing past a trio of defenders on the way in, but Aliyah Cole was able to shield the ball enough to prevent anything further.

Emily Costello later on provided a feed along to Kylie Fanton-Acker in front of the goal, but with one defender left to beat, Nichole Davis stepped up to make a play to keep the ball out of harm’s way for the Lady Wolverines, ultimately preserving the shutout in the end before Madigan Harris added her final goal of the game with 15 seconds remaining. Kayli Giardini was credited with the last assist.

“They've been growing in leaps and bounds,” said Emery of the defense. “You got some great leadership back there, and a stable senior goalie in net. That really makes all the difference. It's huge, and thank goodness. The girls have stood up, and taken it. Every game, I've seen them gain, and I'm thankful for that.”

Altogether, Bolivar-Richburg heavily outshot Wellsville by a final 15-3 count, with Paige Taylor making all three stops to earn the win. Dunbar finished with seven saves for Wellsville.

Bolivar-Richburg will look to continue their power shift into Tuesday’s Senior Night game, as they host Genesee Valley for a 6 p.m. contest. As for Wellsville, they’ll look to get back on track, also on Tuesday, as they host a 6 p.m. game of their own against Hinsdale.

“The challenge of this season is every game is a tough one, because the League games are always hard,” Emery said. “Wellsville too, so every team we play is tough. All of us on any given night, maybe Fillmore will be up there a notch ahead of everyone else, but we're in for an exciting season. We have to prepare for Genesee Valley. They have a tremendous amount of seniors on their team. We'll have 12 for that game, and that makes me extra excited to have that.”

Chris Brooks
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