Wednesday Roundup: Hamer nets heroic goal for Belfast to propel them toward 1st County title since ‘14 with 1-0 blank of And/Whi

Written By Chris Brooks

ANDOVER — After being shut down in the second half of Saturday’s home game with Genesee Valley, the Lady Bulldogs of Belfast needed to revert back to their winning ways in a hurry with one final game left on the docket before Sectionals.

Their last game on Wednesday was also one that held the stakes climb to a whole different level - a chance to win the Allegany County Division II championship all for themselves.

It was clear to Lady Bulldogs coach Duane Powers after their two practices leading up to their monumental rematch with Andover/Whitesville over the road, it helped give his girls a wake-up call.

“It was absolutely a wake-up call,” he said. “That second half against Genesee Valley, we let down our intensity and we dedicated the next two practices leading up to this game to re-establishing our intensity, and maintaining it for the full 80 minutes. We’re not perfect by any means, but they are hard workers and the girls scrap for everything. They keep fighting and fighting.”

The scenery surrounding the Division II title matchup reached its full limited capacity, but the atmosphere itself sounded like a rollercoaster ride from within a Sectional Final game, as both the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Panthers battled neck-and-neck across 80 minutes of play amidst a scoreless tie.

Extra time was required however. And through it all, there was a glimmer of hope for one team - that coming in the form of Mary Hamer.

In nearly 86 minutes of time removed off the clock, the Lady Bulldogs freshman made perhaps her biggest play of the season, keeping the play alive with a body right on the fringe of the 18. She then sailed the ball in on goal where it slipped through the hands of Livia Simon in goal for the Lady Panthers and into the net, sending the Lady Bulldogs into a frenzy as her goal held up at the final horn.

With it, came the program’s first Allegany County Division II championship since the 2014 season, as they survived the two 10 minute extra time sessions to cap off a perfect 7-0 record in League play by knocking off the Lady Panthers with a 1-0 shutout.

“We’re on Cloud Nine. If you would have told me that we were going to be County champions coming into this year, I thought you would have been crazy,” said Powers. “The girls bought into everything that I’ve laid out for them at the beginning of the season when I first took over the program. They believed and bought in. Hats off to Andover, they’re a heck of a team and if we meet again in Sectionals, it’s going to be another 50-50 battle. I know the game got real physical. They’re just a tough, great team.”

All before the fireworks ignited, the game would see its first big moment come from Andover/Whitesville right before the brief break midway, after a gorgeously fed loft from Kelsie Niedermaier reached Zoey Lee on the opposite and empty side of the Belfast (8-3) net, trapping the ball towards it in hopes of netting the goal.

It would create a bit of a stir, as well as a conversation between the officials regarding the validity of the goal: Whether it hit the side of the net, or squeezed into the near post and past Sadler in goal.

After a brief discussion, it was determined that the ball hit the side of the net and instead of a 1-0 Lady Panthers lead, it would remain scoreless.

From that point, the physical play would begin to set in shortly after to go with the midfield battle. Both teams would accrue their fair share of chances on each goal, as well as the corner kicks to set up even more opportunities but no damage was done as the first half ended.

The second half was no different, as the intensity continued to mount all throughout the next set of 40 minutes. On offense, Andover/Whitesville (7-3) continued to take plunge after plunge into the Belfast zone, applying multiple chances onto the net.

But the biggest save perhaps came from Sadler on another beautiful Niedermaier feed across to Lee, who trapped the ball to record the shot, but the Belfast netminder was there to meet with a big stop.

The chances continued to pile up with more crosses being provided by the Lady Panthers to the front of the net. One of which saw the Lady Bulldogs clear the zone, but the hosts forced it back in on a direct kick right on the 18 that was taken by Kennedy Bledsoe. But with a defensive wall in front, the shot was denied and ultimately cleared with four minutes left in regulation.

The momentum shifted into overtime for Andover/Whitesville with Liberty Gaylord starting up a big chance of her own from midfield, sending a pass up to Rachel Jackson who then fed over to Gabby Terhune on the far left wing. The shot was let go, but Sadler provided another humongous save to keep the ball from entering.

But a short time later, the Lady Bulldogs found a way to break through.

The Lady Panthers gained possession of the ball in attempt to clear the zone. But the ball met Mary Hamer just outside of the 18, where she was able to get the body trap to pick up possession. Hamer then let the shot fly on toward the goal where the ball slipped through the hands of Simon by the near post and into the net to finally crack open the goal-scoring.

“Mary is someone that refuses to shoot the ball almost to a fault,” Powers said of his freshman. “It’s been something that we’ve been working on all season long to fix. The past two games, she’s taken advantage of when that loose ball squirts out, she finds a way to get on top of it. She’s playing her position, and she’s not over-pursuing the ball. That’s exactly how she scored the goal. It was the right place at the right time.”

From that point on, the visitors in white and red were able to stave off any response Andover/Whitesville formulated in the last 10 minutes of their regular season to hang on for dear life and win the Division II championship outright.

Hamer’s goal was one of seven shots Belfast accumulated on offense, with the Lady Panthers taking the 15-7 overall advantage. Sadler was awarded the shutout in goal after a masterful performance, stopping all 15 shots she saw on goal. Simon on the other end would make six saves for Andover/Whitesville.

The regular season is over for the Lady Bulldogs, as the waiting game now begins. With an overall record of 8-3 now in their hands, they remain in contention to capture one of the top two seeds, including the top seed itself in the Class D2 bracket for Sectionals.

Powers says the tough task will be maintaining their intensity during their extended time away from action.

“If we’re the one or two seed, we’ll have a bye,” he said. “We won’t be able to play for a whole extra week. It’s going to be maintaining and keeping that intensity all week long while we sit back and wait for our chance to play. It’s the hard part out of all of this. I would really like to pick up a scrimmage and keep the girls loose, and maybe that opportunity will come. It’s going to be a long waiting game, that’s for sure.”

As for the Lady Panthers, they will conclude their regular season this Friday night on the road, as they visit Dunsmore-Latimer Field to take on the Bolivar-Richburg Lady Wolverines in a 5 p.m. matchup.

Bolivar-Richburg 2, Cuba-Rushford 2 (OT)

CUBA — Despite Bolivar-Richburg hitting all strides across the field at Cuba-Rushford on Wednesday, the host Lady Rebels hung right with the Lady Wolverines all the way through.

Cuba-Rushford would go on to force extra time with a late goal in the second half to tie the game at two. The rest would be history with both teams fighting their way through a pair of 10 minute sessions with no more scores to be had, as they wound up settling on their 2-2 deadlock.

Both teams would maneuver their way toward a 1-1 tie after the first half reached its completion with Bolivar-Richburg (7-3-1) getting on the board first with 10:34 remaining on the clock, as McKinlee Harris scored one of her two goals on a solo run to the net.

With over a minute removed from the tally, Cuba-Rushford (1-6-2) got on the board with their first from Taylor Searle, as she picked up a feed from Cloey Larabee to bury into the net.

In the second half, the Lady Wolverines were able to take the lead back after over 30 minutes of midfield battling with the Lady Rebels, as Harris found the back of the net on her second of the game with an assist coming from her sister, Madigan Harris for the 2-1 advantage.

But Cuba-Rushford would have one more goal to put away to force overtime, and then the eventual tie between the two squads, as Brynn Lavery scored her first goal of the season for the hosts off of Larabee’s second assist with 3:31 remaining in regulation.

“I was happy with how we climbed back into the game, after falling behind twice, especially with as young of a group as we have,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. ‘We were lucky to keep it 2-2 in overtime. Bolivar really took it to us with a bunch of shots, but we were fortunate to come away with a tie.”

Although the game ended in a tie, Bolivar-Richburg dominated the majority of the contest, as they outshot Cuba-Rushford by a 14-4 count. In goal, Malayna Ayers made two saves for the Lady Wolverines while Tara Duvall made 12 saves for the Lady Rebels.

Both teams will conclude their regular season Friday night with a pair of 5 p.m. contests, as Bolivar-Richburg returns home to Dunsmore-Latimer Field with a big matchup against Andover/Whitesville, while Cuba-Rushford heads out over the road to take on Genesee Valley.

Genesee Valley 6, Hinsdale 3 (OT)

HINSDALE — Right before the Hinsdale boys took center stage to end the night under the lights, the Lady Bobcats were up first to salvage what daylight was left remaining in the sky on Wednesday, as they played host to Genesee Valley in their final game of the season.

The game was one of many wild games on the docket, and one of many that resulted in overtime needed to determine a winner. With the score all tied up at three going into the extra 10 minute sessions, the Lady Jaguars found a way to escape Hinsdale’s grasp.

Genesee Valley would use the two extra sessions to their fullest advantage, as they kept Hinsdale shutout while capitalizing on three more goals themselves to break the 3-3 tie, as they pulled away toward a 6-3 road win.

Sierra Burrows would lead the Lady Jaguars (8-3) offense with a pair of goals, including the opening goal right at the 90 second mark. Adison Grusendorf would add a first half goal in the mix.

Burrows was also responsible for breaking the deadlock the team shared with Hinsdale going into overtime, as she scored her second six minutes into the first extra session to give them the lead for good.

But there was a bit of a downfall for Genesee Valley on defense however, as the Lady Bobcats (2-8-1) scored all three of their goals off breakaway chances. Ava Belec recorded both of her goals in the first half to help tie things up at two after 40 minutes, while Christy Childs gave the team the lead with a breakaway goal of her own.

Lauren Haggstrom would force the decisive overtime period with 3:53 left in regulation for the Lady Jaguars, taking an Emera Aquila pass from center and knocking it away to tie the game at three. Along with Burrows’ second goal during extra time, the visitors put the finishing touches on what was a 24-shot barrage on the Hinsdale net, with Sadie Hemphill and Natalie Brodman both recording goals in double overtime to branch out the team’s lead for good.

Maddy Mackenzie dished out two assists to help finish off a great night of production for Genesee Valley.

Between the pipes, Ashley Burrows came out victorious with two saves out of five shots she saw. On the other side, Haylee Jozwiak was very active for the Lady Bobcats, putting a stop to 18 shots across 100 minutes of play.

Genesee Valley’s regular season will conclude back home Friday night with a 5 p.m. contest at Judy Bliven Field, as they welcome in the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford. As for Hinsdale, their condensed 2020 season is over with a record of 2-8-1.

BOYS SOCCER

Fillmore 5, Hinsdale 0

HINSDALE — It was a fairly quiet first half of action in Hinsdale between both the host Bobcats, and Eagles of Fillmore, with the visitors getting the early 1-0 jump heading into halftime.

But heading into the second half, Fillmore put their fireworks on display.

In the next set of 40 minutes on the field, the unbeaten Eagles unleashed their offensive arsenal, scoring their next four goals inside the stanza, including a pair from Mitch Ward as they rolled their way toward 12-0 with a 5-0 shutout of the Bobcats.

Layton Sanasith gave the Eagles (11-0) the initial 1-0 lead in the opening half of play, taking a Ward feed from center with 14 minutes remaining to break the ice with his second marker of the year. Fillmore would then go on to score four straight goals in the second half with Alex Ellsworth breaking away on a solo rush to the net just 1:09 into the new session.

Just over two minutes later, Ward helps extend the lead to three and then four with his back-to-back scores in a nine-minute span, picking up assists from Matt Majoris and Isaiah Voss along the way to tally his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season.

Voss would finish the scoring for the high octane Fillmore offense at the 62:06 mark, receiving a Ward feed to bury home to put the cap on a victory that keeps them unbeaten.

Dylan Valentine made all six saves in goal for the Eagles to grab the victory, while Henry Schwartz made 11 saves for Hinsdale (1-5-2) out of 17 total shots applied to the Bobcats cage by the visitors.

Both teams will have quick turnarounds on their home field tonight, with Fillmore looking to close their season strong with Wellsville in town for a 6 p.m. visit, while Hinsdale looks to rebound against Andover/Whitesville in a 5 p.m. contest.

GIRLS TENNIS

Avoca/Prattsburgh 5, Wellsville 0

WELLSVILLE — Undefeated Avoca/Prattsburgh made their presence known over the road in Wellsville on Wednesday, as they brought out the brooms to leave town with a perfect 5-0 sweep of the Lady Lions to move to 10-0 on the season.

The second doubles team of Blakelyann Stonemetz and Lily Ball gave the Lady Lions (5-4) a fantastic showing against Avoca/Prattsburgh, despite falling short, as they hung right with their opposition in their 10-7 defeat. The first doubles team of Maddy Parks and Kelsey Seely were defeated by a 10-0 count on the other side.

In the singles department, Carina Kling, Alexa Hill and Meagan Riley all fell in their respective matches (10-0, 10-4, 10-4).

The Lady Lions will have a quick turnaround tonight back on their home court, as they host their final home match of the season with Canisteo-Greenwood in town for a 5 p.m. start.

Singles

1. Kendra Pinckney (A/P) def. Carina Kling (WLSV), 10-0.

2. Susie Moore (A/P) def. Alexa Hill (WLSV), 10-4.

3. Annabella Putnam (A/P) def. Meagan Riley (WLSV), 10-4.

Doubles

1. Mallory Patoine/Camryn Moore (A/P) def. Maddy Parks/Kelsey Seely (WLSV), 10-1.

2. Alexis Fitzwater/Ginny Savage (A/P) def. Blakelyann Stonemetz/Lily Ball (WLSV), 10-7.

Chris Brooks
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