Wednesday Roundup: Forced to 5th OT this season, Tigers decide on scoreless tie with Houghton; Friendship picks up 1st win of season in 2-0 shutout of And/Whi

Written By Chris Brooks

SCIO — Wednesday night marked a massive chance for the Scio Tigers to provide a season-changing moment. After starting the season 0-4, the Tigers have found their rhythm. Since the slow start, they have gone 5-1-1 in their last seven games entering their next home contest against Houghton Academy.

Tigers head coach Dillon McFall said after Tuesday night’s overtime win, it’s a stretch that he hopes will continue forward towards perhaps a chance at capturing the County’s League title.

“We started the year at 0-4, but we’re back to being at .500,” he said. “Our guys have battled through adversity with a few things, and we’ve done that all year. There’s a lot of teams that start a season 0-4, and they tend to spiral downhill after that. But we’ve overcome that. Now we have to keep it going if we want a piece of that County title at the end of the season.”

It all began with a visit from the Panthers 24 hours after defeating Jasper-Troupsburg in what was Scio’s fourth overtime contest of the season — the first they were able to come away victorious in.

Just like many of their games this season that have reached overtime, the Tigers would have to navigate through the trenches of the midfield, winning possessions and taking chances. Houghton Academy, on the other hand, hung alongside with them. So much to the point where the Panthers would ultimately push the Tigers toward a fifth overtime game of their campaign.

The Panthers nearly came away with a massive go-ahead goal right at the end of regulation. A chance that would allow them to ride a wave of momentum through overtime, dominating possession in the midfield and keeping the Tigers pinned in their defensive zone for the majority of the time.

Luckily for the Tigers, Landon Arnold was rock solid in between the posts all 100 minutes, recording eight big saves as well as putting a halt on multiple chances by Houghton Academy in the defensive zone while Chris Habecker did the same for the Panthers on the other end, as both goalkeepers earned shutouts in what was deemed a scoreless tie between the clubs — the second tie for each team this season.

“A tie is better than a loss, that’s for sure,” said McFall. “Our defense, and our goalkeeper Landon were really solid all night long, and they kept us in that scoreless tie. Unfortunately, I don’t know what it is but our halfback play has not been very good for the past two games now. We have to figure out how to fix it really quick, or it’s going to cost us down the stretch.”

Multiple chances from both teams were collected all throughout the evening, and Scio (5-5-2) got one of their biggest right out of the gate from Lazar Bulajic, who fueled most of the offensive chances for the Tigers in the contest. His first comes not even a minute after the opening kick, when he split the Houghton Academy defense on his way in to apply a shot that Habecker was able to catch in time.

Perhaps a big twist of momentum for the Tigers came at the tail end of the first half, when Arnold provided three consecutive stops, the latter of which perhaps his biggest of the entire night — a penalty kick stop with five minutes left in the half on Houghton Academy’s Duy Le.

Just under 15 seconds left, Scio saw Brenden Loucks feed a kick from just outside the 18 into the right wing, where it hit the far portion of the crossbar and hit Ethan Davenport square in the head, applying a header shot that went high and wide back out of play to end the half.



Arnold would remain vigilant between the posts for the Tigers, and in turn would see another big opportunity against the Houghton Academy (3-6-2) defense, as Loucks provided Bulajic another perfectly placed ball down the sidelines. Bulajic then radically changed direction towards the middle to send the ball far side of Habecker. As the ball spun away past the far post, Jude Marion raced in on goal for a second shot and was ultimately poked wide of the Panthers cage to end the rush.

In overtime, the Panthers would go on to dominate the majority of the midfield play, keeping Scio on their feet with a massive amount of time being spent in the offensive zone creating chances. Their best came in the waning seconds of the first overtime from Le, who grabbed the loose ball in front from Henry Sardina in the middle, finessing his way open to apply a shot that hit the outside of the cage as time expired.

The momentum shift would carry over into the second and final overtime, as the Panthers continued to hold Scio at a standstill, but the Tigers defense saw Arnold come away with many big stops to keep the score even at zero to end the night with a second deadlock for both teams on the season.

While Arnold finished with eight stops for Scio, Habecker would finish with nine saves for the Panthers in his shutout pitched.

Both teams will have Andover/Whitesville up next on their slates, with Scio receiving first crack back on their home field Friday night in a 7 p.m. contest, while Houghton Academy heads back home to host them after this weekend, beginning at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Alfred-Almond 3, Wellsville 1

WELLSVILLE — The opening lead was gathered up right before the midway mark of the opening half for the Wellsville Lions, as they struck first against visiting Alfred-Almond on Wednesday. But it was a lead that was responded to quickly by the Eagles, who scored three unanswered after the icebreaker to go ahead for good, en route to a 3-1 road win.

Cody Costello provided Wellsville’s (4-7-1) lone goal, scooping up the ball after a series of passes from the back opened up a lane for him to travel through, putting away the goal from the right side of the Alfred-Almond cage to begin the offense for the hosts.

But just five minutes later, Alfred-Almond would find a way to tie the game, and then right before the half reached its end, the Eagles would jump out on top with the lead ultimately for good. The team would go on to add one more goal with nearly 10 minutes left in the game to put the victory on ice.

Alfred-Almond outshot Wellsville by a 20-9 count, with Logan Dunbar setting aside 17 total shots in between the posts for the Lions.

Wellsville will hit the road Friday night with a 5 p.m. contest scheduled against the Cuba-Rushford Rebels.

Fillmore 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 2

BELFAST — Like a teeter-totter, a back and forth duel from start to finish ensued between two Allegany County rivals fighting at the top of the Division I standings down the stretch, Wednesday night. Scorching hot Fillmore aimed to keep their surge going, while host Genesee Valley/Belfast looked to put a stop to it with a massive rebound from Tuesday’s loss to Hinsdale.

When one team scored, the response was provided. That was until the final 20 minutes of regulation when the game broke a deadlock for the final time, as Graham Cahill provided the big goal that was needed to do so, helping propel Fillmore back into the winner’s circle with his game-winner at the 17:19 mark to edge their way past Genesee Valley/Belfast with a 3-2.

“It was a back and forth game, and it was a Sectional-feeling game,” GV/Belfast coach Mark Sullivan said. “It was a fun game to coach, fun game to watch, and the kids had a lot of fun playing in it. After how we played last night, we definitely rebounded. Fillmore is a quality team, and we matched their intensity the whole game. It was a game that could have went either way really.”

All five goals between Fillmore and Genesee Valley/Belfast were scored in the second half of play, having previously fought through a scoreless tie after the first 40 minutes. From the start of the second half’s opening kick, the teeter-totter battle raged. It began with Mitch Ward scoring just over a minute into the new session off a pass provided by Jack Cool to break the ice for the Eagles (11-2).

The response was provided by Genesee Valley/Belfast (8-5) not even a minute later, as Trent Scott tied the game up at one on a goal of his own from Matt Weaver. Ward would then give the lead back to Fillmore just past the 10 minute mark with his second of the game off a feed from the foot of Brent Zubikowski.

At the 24:33 mark to go in the final session, Genesee Valley/Belfast dished out one last response for the Eagles with Matt Weaver finding the back of the net himself after hooking up with Evan Turybury for the assist, tying the game at two. It would remain until Cahill made sure the visitors in white and green had the lead for good, connecting with Rayyan Muzaid-Omar and his pass to lock up the victory.

The Eagles would outshoot Genesee Valley/Belfast by a narrow 9-6 count in the contest. In goal, Luke Colombo scooped up the win behind four saves, while Thai Norasethaporn made seven saves on the other side for the hosts in red and white.

Fillmore heads back home for a 7 p.m. first kick Friday evening with Ellicottville in town for a visit, while Genesee Valley/Belfast remains pat at home for a 6:30 p.m. battle with Bolivar-Richburg in Belfast.

Cuba-Rushford 3, Hinsdale 1

CUBA — All the Cuba-Rushford Rebels needed to make some noise was the first 40 minutes. While Hinsdale was looking to get back into the win column after their 5-0 defeat to the hands of Fillmore a day prior, the Rebels went to work by scoring three consecutive goals to fuel a big first half lead they never lost, as they rolled toward victory by a 3-1 count.

“I’m very happy with the result. We needed to show up for both halves against a team like Hinsdale, so I think for the first time, we did that,” said Rebels coach Nick Perillo. “We had some lucky bounces and we defended really well. They have a few really good players that gave us fits, but we did well enough defensively to keep them somewhat at bay.”

Kane Adams, Logan Lewis and Jacob Smith were all at the forefront behind Cuba-Rushford’s (5-6-1) massive first half on offense, as all three helped establish a 3-0 lead on the Bobcats right from the get-go, with Austin Pinney assisting on the first goal from Adams, and later Lewis added an assist on Smith’s goal to close out the half.

Even though a shutout was brewing for the Rebels, the Bobcats (8-3-1) managed to put a stop to it near the midway mark of the second half, as Tucker Schwartz continued his goal-scoring tear with his unassisted tally to get the visitors in white and blue on the board. But in the end, the early first half deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

Cuba-Rushford narrowly outshot Hinsdale by a 9-8 count with Jarrett Campbell picking up the win behind seven saves. On the other end, Ethan Cashimere made six stops for the Bobcats, who continue their road swing on Friday with a 5 p.m. meeting in Friendship.

The Rebels are back on the field tonight over the road, as they pay a visit to the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg at Dunsmore-Latimer Field for a 5 p.m. contest of their own to close out their season series.

Friendship 2, Andover/Whitesville 0

FRIENDSHIP — For the very first time this season, the Friendship Golden Eagles have officially found the win column. Wednesday night on their home field, they made sure it was one for the books.


After a scoreless tie through 40 minutes of play against Andover/Whitesville, the Golden Eagles within the first 15 minutes made sure they were the team that sprung out to the front, as they garnered a pair of big goals to gain the advantage all the way to the end to record win number one on the season in the form of a 2-0 shutout.

“It was great, the kids put together a full 80 minute game as a group,” said Golden Eagles coach Brad Gertis. “They fully bought into the all-together for 80 minute deal, and even though there was some pressure against us, our goalie Taylor (Moore) was thanking our defense because it was a complete team effort. Everyone left it all out there to make this happen. Hopefully we can keep rolling with it into Homecoming on Friday, and play with the same passion and desire.”

Both teams weaved their way through a scoreless first half that was filled with midfield battling up and down the grass. But in the second half, a spike in activity. Cameron Blouvet with just 13 minutes remaining in regulation gave Friendship (1-11) their game-winning unassisted goal. The lead was further cemented just four minutes later by Conner Otero, who added an unassisted tally of his own to finish off the scoring.

The Golden Eagles outshot Andover/Whitesville (1-11) by a 16-9 count, with Taylor Moore making four saves to earn the shutout. On the other side, Lucas Erdmann made seven saves for the visitors.

Both teams are back in action Friday, as Friendship hosts their Homecoming game against the Hinsdale Bobcats beginning with a 5 p.m. first kick, while Andover/Whitesville heads back out on the road, visiting the Scio Tigers in a 7 p.m. contest of their own.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Wellsville 3, Houghton Academy 0

HOUGHTON — In a meeting of red hot teams in Allegany County, only one streak could be extinguished. After a even dead heat through the night’s opening set, one team turned on the jets for the remainder of the game.


That would be unbeaten Wellsville, as they overcame a slow first set start, despite the victory, and managed to find their groove in the second set to power up what was a straight-set win over host Houghton Academy to end their six-game win streak to remain unbeaten on the season Wednesday night behind a straight-set, 25-19, 25-10, 25-18 decision.

“The girls started off with a very low level of intensity. But as the matches went on, they started to gain that momentum, and we began to go back to the game that we are used to playing,” said Lady Lions coach Shannon Steiner. “Houghton was fantastic competition for us to match up against, which was great for us to hopefully use for our next game coming up on Friday, which will be huge.”

Leading the way for the Lady Lions (7-0) was Brooklyn Stisser and Kaylee Coleman, as they both recorded seven kills each, with Coleman tallying five aces in addition. Jaelyn Knapp pitched in five kills and four aces along the way. Along with two blocks up front, Marley Adams pitched in with three kills, while Emma Dunaway had two to add.

Setter Maddy Parks dished out 22 helpers to pair with two aces.

Statistics for the host Lady Panthers (7-2) were unavailable to report upon publication.

Wellsville will now look to end another hot streak when they return to action on the road Friday night, as they visit the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg, winners of five in a row, in a 7:30 p.m. first serve.

Bolivar-Richburg 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 0

BELMONT — Behind another dominant showing on the floor from Jianna Nix, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg overcame a back-and-forth battle with host Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they used the momentum to power up a straight-set win over the road to record their fifth straight win, taking the 25-22, 25-16, 25-12 victory on Wednesday.

Nix led the Lady Wolverines (7-2) with another big night on the attack, recording a game-high 13 kills to pair with six aces and two blocks. Carmen Crowley provided a fantastic outing at the service line, powering the way with 19 service points and 10 aces. Setter Kaitlyn Graves handed out 16 assists to go with three aces of her own.

On the other side of the net, Genesee Valley/Belfast (4-7) was led by Kaitlin Sadler, who recorded a team-high eight kills on offense to go with three aces and one assist. Addy Herring was busy at the net, handing out 11 assists to pair with six more aces of her own.

“The first game of the night wasn’t too bad,” said GV/Belfast coach Darren Bradt. “We played really well to start out, but bad passes and some service errors really started to catch up to us in the last two games. "It definitely showed what areas we still need to work on in practice, but I still believe that we are a much better team than when we played Bolivar the first time.”

On Friday in a pair of 7:30 p.m. contests, the Lady Wolverines will now go for their sixth straight win back home against undefeated Wellsville — the unbeaten Lady Lions who won their first matchup at the beginning of the season in five thrilling sets.

As for Genesee Valley/Belfast, they will hit the road themselves with a visit to Hinsdale in store.

Cuba-Rushford 3, Hinsdale 1

HINSDALE — After falling to the hands of Fillmore just 24 hours ago, the chance for the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford to record a comeback performance came back over the road in Hinsdale on Wednesday.

After taking advantage in dominating fashion to begin the night, the host Lady Bobcats would rebound and force an extension of the match. But it was just by one set, as Cuba-Rushford found a way to cap the night out on top with a four-set win, earning the 25-11, 25-4, 21-25, 25-17 win.

Leading the way for the Lady Rebels (3-5) was Lauren O’Keefe, who had an absolutely explosive night from the service line, garnering a game-high 25 aces to go with three digs and two aces. Kendall Tompkins pitched in with nine aces of her own to go with five assists, two digs and one kill.

Rounding off for the visitors in blue and white was Ella Jaffe, who had five aces to contribute along with three kills, one dig and one assist.

No statistics for Hinsdale (2-7) were provided upon publication. The Lady Bobcats will host Genesee Valley/Belfast at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

The Lady Rebels will head for tournament action in Olean beginning Saturday morning in a 9 a.m. first serve. Their return to regular season action will come on Tuesday back home in the Wighthouse, as they host Bolivar-Richburg in a 7:30 p.m. contest.

GIRLS TENNIS

Class B2 Quarters: No. 3 Mynderse 5, No. 6 Wellsville 0

NAPLES — The Sectional journey through the Class B2 bracket officially came to a close in Naples for the Lady Lions of Wellsville on Wednesday, as the number six seeds were shut down by No. 3 Mynderse across all five matches, with the Lady Blue Devils forcing elimination behind a 5-0 sweep.

In the singles department, Samantha Bidzerkowny headlined a terrific effort in the third singles match for the Lady Lions, forcing a 7-6 tiebreak with her opponent, but ultimately fell in straight sets.

Across the court, the second doubles team of Kelsey Seely and McKenna Wonderling battled through thick and thin to bounce back after a 6-0 first set defeat to force a deciding third set, in which they would also ultimately fall to Mynderse in the end.

Complete results for all five matches are listed below.


Wellsville’s season has officially reached its conclusion, as the Lady Lions wrap up with an overall record of 7-4.

Singles

1. Sydney Partee (MYN) def. Carina Kling (WLSV), 6-0, 6-1.

2. Amy Mahoney (MYN) def. Meagan Riley (WLSV), 6-1, 6-0.

3. Holly Marriott (MYN) def. Samantha Bidzerkowny (WLSV), 7-6, 6-0.


Doubles

1. Eleka Goncz/Flora Lin (MYN) def. Caitlin Bittel/Hanna Miles (WLSV), 6-0, 6-3.

2. Bridget Aceto/Leah Redding (MYN) def. Kelsey Seely/McKenna Wonderling (WLSV), 6-0, 4-6, 6-0.

Chris Brooks
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Thursday Roundup: Lady Rebels stave off late pressure from Wellsville with big goal to score 2-0 shutout; B-R boys top C-R with early 1st half goal in home blank
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Tuesday Roundup: Lady Lions advance to next round of B2 Sectionals, roll past Whitman with 4-1 win; Fillmore girls win 7th straight D1 County title with shutout of GV/Belfast