Fillmore turns tide behind Russell’s four-goal game, as Lady Eagles advance to 9-0 with 6-1 road win at B-R

Written By Chris Brooks

BOLIVAR — The Fillmore Lady Eagles offense the past three games has been absolutely relentless, scoring eight against Hinsdale, seven against Franklinville, and then six against Genesee Valley this past Wednesday night. With depth playing the role as one of the team’s biggest attributes, it has helped getting multiple Lady Eagles involved all around the field, and striving for success.

Bolivar-Richburg on the other hand, is looking to return back to their normal form, as they returned to full strength on offense after their return from a six-day break gave them a 2-1 victory on the road in Hinsdale. Friday night’s battle between the two longtime rivals on the soccer field was officially on in a quiet night of soccer in Allegany County.

The Lady Wolverines were off on the biggest of footsteps right out of the gate in the first half, earning a quick chance to bust through the door immediately for the early lead. However, since the quality chance, the Lady Eagles completely flipped the tide, as they took complete command of the game from that point on by pounding the Bolivar-Richburg goal with five first half goals to set the tone permanently to remain undefeated with a massive 6-1 road win.

“The better team won tonight,” said Lady Wolverines coach Mark Emery. “I was proud of the way they played in the second half, we did much better. You have to look for things like that to build off. We had a couple challenges this week to overcome again, and you get them last minute, and I thought the kids pulled another one off. Fillmore did the things right in the first half. As for me, I was happy with how they rebounded in the second half, given the circumstances with how our season has gone so far. As a coach that lost 6-1, I'm proud they didn't give up and they stuck in there until the end.”

The Lady Eagles (9-0) put their foot down on the gas on offense with five big goals in the opening half of play, four of them being scored in an eight minute span that began right near the midway mark of the stanza. But it all spanned off of Hope Russell’s goal from the far side of the Bolivar-Richburg net, receiving a pass from Grace Russell to send in for the goal. Moments later, the lead was quickly extended to a pair with Grace scoring her first of four goals off a corner kick provided by Sophia Templeton.

The two goals were scored in just 60 seconds.

Before the mask break at halfway, Fillmore added two more goals as Grace Russell and Sophia Templeton went back and forth on two separate rushes to find the back of the net each time, as they each collected a goal and assist on both plays. But the break would allow the Wolverines (4-3) to regroup and get onto the board to narrow the lead down, as McKinlee Harris picks up a pass from Madigan Harris. McKinlee proceeded to let go of a high-arcing shot to the far right corner of the Lady Eagles net to erase the goose egg on their side of the scoreboard.

Right before the half, Fillmore was able to extend their lead out to four once more with Grace Russell’s third goal of the half, as she reconnected with Templeton again on another play deep in the Bolivar-Richburg zone, finding top shelf of the cage to continue dealing the damage. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Grace Russell added her fourth and final goal off of Templeton’s third and last assist of the game off a rush down the far sidelines.

“We were executing our game plan really well,” said Emery. “Things don't go our way, and Fillmore's a team that builds off momentum. I told the kids that we can't let them do that. We had a great opportunity at the net early on, and if it went in, who knows after that. Give Fillmore their due, we had some inexperienced spots and we're using this as a teaching element. They spread the ball out everywhere, and they made it get away from us.”

Despite the rough terrain traveled upon in the first half, the Lady Wolverines were able to put together a half that Emery said was a big improvement as opposed to the first 40 minutes, as they held Fillmore to just one more goal on defense despite more scoring chances. It was a 13-6 advantage for the Lady Eagles in the shot department when the final buzzer sounded.

“I've been madder at games that we've won than right now,” said Emery. “I saw a chance to go either way with their decision on how to play the second half, and I felt like they kept coming, they executed their game plan better in the second half. It was a tale of two halves for me. They scored five goals in the first half, and just one in the second. For me, I choose to focus on that. Somewhere along the way, we will use this to our advantage especially now that we have the chance to officially do Sectionals. It will pay off down the road.”

In goal, Preslee Miller recorded the win by tallying two saves. On the other end, Malayna Ayers made six saves for the Lady Wolverines, who will now return to action Thursday night at 5 p.m. with a road trip to Genesee Valley.

With the victory, the Lady Eagles are guaranteed a piece of the Allegany County Division I championship for the sixth consecutive year. As for their next game, they will look to be the first to reach 10 wins on the season back home Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. matchup with Hinsdale.

Chris Brooks
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