Friday Soccer: Young records 1st career hat trick, Clark grabs 1st career point in GV/Belfast’s 4-2 win over And/Whi; C-R tops Hammondsport at MacMichael Tournament in Scio

ANDOVER — It was loud and clear that Genesee Valley/Belfast wanted to leave Wednesday’s loss to Friendship/Scio in the rearview mirror. When they returned to action for the final time this week, they were granted an opportunity to do exactly that back on the road Friday night in a visit to Andover/Whitesville.

There’s a first for everything. And for the visitors donning black and white, two of those instances unravelled right in the first 40 minutes of play to create a lead that they continued to build on.

They have Whitney Young to thank for that.

The Genesee Valley/Belfast sophomore was on fire all game long, as she posted her first career hat trick — two of the goals coming in the first period to keep the team in the driver’s seat for good, as they officially bounced back in a big way with their sixth win in the first seven games, defeating Andover/Whitesville by a 4-2 count in Andover.

It was a first half that was primarily controlled by Genesee Valley/Belfast (6-1), as they forced Andover/Whitesville on their feet early with a ton of pressure caused by their possession game. With it, would come their first goal from Young after a handball against the hosts in black saw them make a run immediately after the kick.

Hannah Southwick-Powers proceeded to dig the ball free inside the Andover/Whitesville (1-4) box, shifting a pass off to her left for Young to knock home the icebreaker, 10 minutes in.

The lead would hold just past midway, but an unfortunate circumstance deep in the Genesee Valley/Belfast zone, as a loose ball was squibbed around the front of the goal, eventually rolling its way into the net with Leigha Phelps receiving the score to tie the game at one. But the visitors wanted to ensure they grabbed the halftime lead, as Young connected with Haelyn Clark — who was credited with her first career Varsity point on the assist with 6:58 left to go, giving them the 2-1 advantage.

Going into the second half, the lead would grow once more to a pair just past 10 minutes off the board, as Young completed her first career hat trick off of another Southwick-Powers helper. The last two goals of the contest would come in a span of 2:50 in the late stages, with Andover/Whitesville trimming the deficit back down to one on a score from Makaila Brewster off a Graci Lewis-Ellison connection, before Danika Scott branched out the advantage back out to two for good for Genesee Valley/Belfast.

When it was all said and done, Genesee Valley/Belfast outshot Andover/Whitesville by a 15-3 count, with Kimme Ball making one save for the victory. On the opposite end, Olivia Waters made 11 saves.

Both teams will resume play on Tuesday, with Genesee Valley/Belfast heading for the Rich Sullivan Complex to welcome in the undefeated Lady Eagles of Fillmore in a 7 p.m. first kick, while Andover/Whitesville looks to bounce back themselves with a 5 p.m. contest at Cuba-Rushford.

Amy MacMichael Tournament in Scio

Cuba-Rushford 2, Hammondsport 1

SCIO — The Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford controlled much of their first game at the Amy MacMichael Tournament in Scio on Friday, pouring 24 shots onto the Hammondsport cage. But the Lady Lakers would stand tall through it all, eventually forcing a humongous deadlock in the second half going down the homestretch.

But despite the late second half pressure against them, the Lady Rebels navigated their way back out on top with less than 10 minutes to go, grabbing the go-ahead goal they needed to put Hammondsport in the rearview mirror and their foot down on the gas to pick up what was a 2-1 victory.

“I have to give a lot of credit to Hammondsport. They played with 10 girls, nine at times. We struggled to finish around the goal again,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “Brynn (Lavery) played well for moving up to a new spot for the first time. Lily (Tompkins) and Cloey (Larabee) played a couple of really nice balls on their assists.”

The scoring would begin with the Lady Rebels (2-2) across the first 10 minutes of the game, led by an excellent performance from Brynn Lavery — who recorded both Cuba-Rushford goals, the first off a big helper from Lily Tompkins to break the ice.

The hosts would then lean upon their defense to hold the Lady Lakers in check to finish the first half and into the next 40 minutes. But Hammondsport would find their way onto the board in a big way with a score from Zayda Braun at the 23:26 mark, creating even playing ground with a 1-1 tie.

With a brand new ballgame taking the pitch by storm, the pressure against the Lady Rebels to provide a response was never higher. With 9:11 left to play, Cuba-Rushford would eat it all up with Lavery’s second score off a pass from Cloey Larabee to springboard ahead at one of the more crucial times of the contest, keeping their go-ahead lead glued together until the final horn to claim victory that awaited them.

The Lady Rebels went on to outshoot Hammondsport by a 24-3 count, with Annaleece Melton recording a two-save performance to claim the win in goal.

Cuba-Rushford will now meet with Friendship/Scio this morning right back in Scio for an 11 a.m. first kick to conclude the Amy MacMichael Tournament.