Friday Soccer: Harris explodes for 9-point evening for B-R, scoring four goals to fuel their 5-1 home win over And/Whi; Fillmore, GV girls squads also win
BOLIVAR — Over the course of the condensed season, the Lady Wolverines offense has been captained by two up-and-coming superstars on the soccer field - the Harris siblings, Madigan and McKinlee. They started their Varsity careers last year with Bolivar-Richburg off with a bang, combining for 30 of the team’s goals.
Entering Friday’s regular season finale with Andover/Whitesville, McKinlee Harris was two goals off from matching her season total last season of 16 goals. After the final horn sounded, she doubled that difference with a huge night.
Harris caught fire for the Lady Wolverines offense all game, as she scored a heavy nine-point night on Dunsmore-Latimer Field turf, netting four goals and pitching in with one assist on special teams to complete her best night of the season for Bolivar-Richburg in their 5-1 home victory over the Lady Panthers to close out the regular season strongly.
“Overall tonight, I felt offensively, we really clicked. It fit so much better and it looked better,” said Lady Wolverines coach Mark Emery. “Taking nothing away from our game at Cuba-Rushford, where we led all statistical categories, you look at the quality of the approach from that game to tonight’s game, and it was a notch better this time around. McKinlee’s been scoring for us the whole year, but I see a different level from her and her sister (Madigan). They both have been our offense this year, as of late, and what a time it has been for that to happen.”
Two of McKinlee Harris’ four goals came in the opening 40 minute period to give the team a 2-0 lead over Andover/Whitesville at the break, with her first coming on a direct kick from just outside the Lady Panthers 18, sailing the ball into the net just four minutes in to break the ice. Harris then added her second six minutes later from a helper off the foot of Malayna Ayers.
In the second half, Harris found the hat trick-clinching goal very quickly to start it off with a bang, taking another direct kick right on the opposing 18 to find the back of the net on the backside for her third of the game two minutes deep for the Lady Wolverines (8-3-1). But the shutout did not last long however, as the Lady Panthers (7-4) found a way to get on the board from Zoey Lee, taking a redirection off Bolivar-Richburg goalkeeper Paige Taylor and knocking the loose ball into the net.
The Lady Wolverines did not allow the momentum to build off of the goal, as Harris went back to her scoring ways with her final goal of the game. Coming two minutes after Lee’s, Harris received a pass from Madigan Harris and dribbled in on goal from 40 yards away, finding her way inside to bury the ball into the back of the net for a decisive 4-1 lead.
The goal-scoring came to a conclusion with 12:13 remaining to play with McKinlee getting involved on special teams with a corner kick assist, delivering the ball onto Ayers to extend their victory out to four for good to seal the victory.
“We’re still not at full strength, we’re still down a player but this is the closest that we have been to that point all season,” said Emery. “We had four subs tonight, and we’re getting much closer to normal. It makes a great difference, and we’re hoping to keep it like that for the rest of the season. As a team, we’ve always played well in the latter half of the year. Let’s hope that continues on.”
Before moving to the offense, Ayers originally got the start in goal for the Lady Wolverines, making one save before Paige Taylor made her return in the early stages of the first half, saving six more shots the rest of the way to help garner the victory. On the other side, Livia Simon made six saves for Andover/Whitesville.
Both regular seasons are over for each team, as Andover/Whitesville wraps up with a record of 7-4. After their defeat to the Lady Wolverines, it sealed the top seed in the Class D2 bracket for the Belfast Lady Bulldogs in the Sectional Tournament. The Lady Panthers will hold the number two seed.
For the Lady Wolverines, they will wrap up a strong regular season with a record of 8-3-1, and will most likely have their first Sectional home game Tuesday night when the action gets underway. As for the Sectional outlook, Emery says that his blend of youth and veterans will look to help them make an impact on a long potential run in the postseason.
“If we can get a couple more games under our belt, I think we can be in a much better position to take on this C2 bracket,” he said. “We can be positioned pretty well for this whole thing, and take it to the end. Historically, we’ve been a team that progresses through the season. It’s anything but a normal season, but the factor is in there. We have a unique blend of seniors, juniors and sophomores, and we really haven’t had a diverse blend like that in years past. A lot of it will come down to how much we will gel together as a cohesive unit toward the end. We need some more time together to bring it all together.”
Fillmore 7, Wellsville 1
FILLMORE — Both Fillmore and Wellsville have taken an extended period of time away from the field, but they made their return going head-to-head for the second and final time this season in Fillmore, Friday night.
In the Lady Eagles case, they picked right up where they left off from last week, as they scored six or more goals in the sixth consecutive game to cap off a perfect regular season on the field with a big 7-1 victory over visiting Wellsville under the lights.
“Wellsville’s been off for a couple of weeks, and we had been off for over a week from game action, so there was a little bit of uncertainty coming in,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. "I think it was just nice to get back on the field. Wellsville has some good athletes and they make you work for everything you get. For us, this season started with some uncertainty after graduating nine seniors and losing eight starters to graduation. Our youth and experience really meshed together well to form a pretty good regular season.”
The Russell siblings led the Lady Eagles (12-0) offense with a pair of goals, upping their season totals to a County-leading 19 on the year. Hope Russell started the scoring with back-to-back goals in a two minute span with her first coming off a pass from Rachel Hatch just past the 10 minute mark of the opening half. Morgan Byer would then deal an assist to Russell for her second to extend their lead to a pair.
The lead would grow to four past the halfway mark with Shelby Beardsley finding the back of the net herself off a pass from Grace Russell. Five minutes after the Beardsley goal, Sophia Templeton netted her 14th of the season for Fillmore on Grace’s second assist of the game. But the shutout came to an end with five minutes left in the half, as Jaylynn Mess connected with a big penalty kick to close out the first half with the first goal for the Lady Lions (1-5-2).
But Fillmore would find a way to continue their goal-scoring in the second half, as they accounted for three unanswered goals, two of them from Grace Russell herself to complete a six-point offensive night. Beardsley dished both assists for the Lady Eagles freshman, as Russell netted her two goals in five minutes with her first coming seven minutes into the frame. The scoring concluded with a penalty kick from Torann Wolfer with 20 minutes remaining to play to extend the lead to 7-1 for good.
Preslee Miller and Lizzy Nugent both saw time in goal for the Lady Eagles, combining for five saves to hold the victory for the hosts in black and green. On the other side, Lauren Viglietta made nine saves for Wellsville, who will end their regular season with one last road trip to Genesee Valley this afternoon at 1 p.m.
As for the Lady Eagles, they wrap up a perfect 12-0 regular season to go with the top seed in Class D1 and home-field advantage throughout the Sectional playoffs, which for them begin next weekend. Going into the second season, Beardsley says the team will be heading into unfamiliar territory, given the circumstances with the global pandemic.
“Sectionals is another unknown for us,” he said. “It has a lot of winning record teams that we know nothing about given the situation going on in the world. We’re in for a battle from game one. We’re excited to be the number one seed and playing at home. We will do our best to prepare for a good run if we can stay healthy and safe.”
Genesee Valley 3, Cuba-Rushford 0
BELMONT — With only one game left on the slate after Friday night, the Lady Jaguars of Genesee Valley had an opportunity to put up a second place finish in the Allegany County Division I standings with Cuba-Rushford in for a visit to Judy Bliven Field.
Genesee Valley made the most of the opportunity in a big way, scoring fast in the first half while adding two more goals to their lead in the second half, as they sprung out into the driver’s seat while keeping the Lady Rebels at bay in their 3-0 shutout victory.
“It was a nice win,” said Lady Jaguars coach Lisa Scott-Schneider. “Cuba is young, and they have some nice, young scoring threats. It was nice to keep them off the board. Savannah Werner did a great job keeping the Taylor Searle girl off the board with her defense. We had some first half opportunities that we couldn’t put away, but it was nice to score early to get us out in front. They’re a great group of kids and it’s been a great year for us, so I’m hoping we can make that nice little run for Sectionals if we can stay healthy.”
As for how quick Genesee Valley got onto the board? The Lady Jaguars (9-3) needed just three minutes to open the gate, as Natalie Brodman knocked on the door with a direct kick opportunity, sending the ball in on goal toward Kayci Bigelow, where she was able to put the ball into the back of the net to give them the 1-0 edge going into halftime.
The lead was extended upon toward the midway mark of the second half after an engaging midfield battle through the first 20 minutes, as Emera Aquila found the board herself on the last two goals for the Lady Jaguars, with her first coming on a feed from Bigelow. The game was put away with five minutes left to play with her second and 11th of the season with Sierra Burrows dishing out the final assist.
In all, Genesee Valley garnered a 9-5 outshooting of Cuba-Rushford (1-7-2) in the offensive department, with Ashley Burrows stopping all five shots for the Lady Jaguars to preserve the shutout. On the other side, Tara Duvall made six saves for the Lady Rebels, who end their regular season with a record of 1-7-2.
As for the Lady Jaguars, their regular season comes to an end this afternoon right back at Judy Bliven Field, as they host a Saturday afternoon matinee with the Lady Lions of Wellsville at 1 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Bolivar-Richburg 4, Cuba-Rushford 2
CUBA — A chance for Bolivar-Richburg to perform a season sweep of their longtime rival Cuba-Rushford appeared Friday night over the road, after they defeated the Rebels by a 3-1 count earlier this year back at Dunsmore-Latimer Field.
It was a little different this time around with both teams fighting their way toward a 2-2 tie after the first 40 minutes of play. But the result remained the same, as Bolivar-Richburg came up with two decisive goals in the last 40 minute frame of play to pull ahead of Cuba-Rushford for good to provide the 2-0 sweep behind a 4-2 victory.
Eight minutes into the game, the Wolverines (6-4-2) kicked things off with one of two Landon Danaher goals, with his first coming from Mark Pangburn’s ninth assist of the season to break the ice. Six minutes later, Jason Greeson added his sixth of the season to provide the offense with another spark. But the Rebels (3-5-2) would find a way to tie the game up when the game reached halftime, as Caden Granger scored a pair of goals.
But in the second half, Bolivar-Richburg broke the tie just moments after the first kick at center with Mark Pangburn getting on the board with a goal of his own, taking a Wyatt Karnuth ball from center during his rush into the Cuba-Rushford to put the ball away for a 3-2 Wolverines lead. The game was capped off by Danaher’s final goal off a Dom Baldwin assist to give them a two-goal edge with 23:50 left to play, enough for the defense to hang on and hold the Rebels offense at bay.
Defensive statistics were unavailable to report upon publication.
Both regular seasons for each team are now over, as they both await Sectional play after the weekend with Bolivar-Richburg finishing with a record of 6-4-2, while Cuba-Rushford finishes with a 3-5-2 record.
Genesee Valley 2, Friendship 0
BELMONT — Will Scholes was busy on the top line for the Genesee Valley Jaguars, as he produced both of the team’s goals with one coming in each half, as he helped the hosts in green finish their regular season on a strong note with a 2-0 shutout of visiting Friendship at Judy Bliven Field on Friday.
Scholes scored his first goal just past the midway mark of the opening net, jaunting on a solo run to the cage to put away the goal at the 15:12 mark. The lead would be held before he added his second goal towards the tail end of the contest, when he elected to take a penalty kick with 7:42 left to play, scoring it to extend the Jaguars (4-5-2) lead for good.
The Genesee Valley defense allowed just two shots on goal across 80 minutes, with Keegan McKnight making both saves to preserve his shutout. On the other side, Dekota Stewart made six saves for the Golden Eagles (1-10).
Both teams will now await Sectionals next week, as Genesee Valley finishes with a record of 4-5-2, while Friendship concludes with a record of 1-10.
