After trailing 1-0 to Dundee/Bradford, GV/Belfast fights back and hits hard with a massive comeback to claim 2-1 double-OT win, advance to Saturday’s Class C2 Finals

[PHOTOS BY TRICIA DAVENPORT]

Story by John Anderson/Wellsville Sun

HORNELL — The final minutes were ticking off the clock on the Genesee Valley/Belfast boys' soccer team season Wednesday night, as they trailed Dundee/Bradford, 1-0. The team’s head coach, Mark Sullivan, had seen two of his three keys to a win take place.

"The three H's ... heart, head and hustle ... that's what I want every game," Sullivan said. 

They played with heart. And at halftime, Sullivan said his seven seniors took the floor to talk about hustle. And in the second half, the very skilled Dundee/Bradford team was getting a taste of some good old fashioned Allegany County hustle.

And the staple of the teams from year’s past came out. First, with 5:02 left in the game, a Genesee Valley/Belfast corner kick was headed three times before a Dundee/Bradford fullback tried to head the ball away. Callahan Tallman countered by leaping over everyone and heading the ball over the outstretched hands of the Dundee/Bradford keeper to tie the game at one.

Then in the second overtime, Genesee Valley/Belfast received a direct kick from 18 out, but so close to the sideline that it was more of a corner kick. Sal Gambino sent a perfect ball on goal and Jordan White-Phipps headed it into the back of the net for the Genesee Valley/Belfast United victory.

Two headers, two goals. All three H's completed.

With the 2-1 win in the Maple City, No. 3 Genesee Valley/Belfast (15-2-1) will now play No. 1 seed Kendall (16-2) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Honeoye Falls-Lima for the Section V, Class C2 championship.

Dundee/Bradford, the No. 2 seed, finishes at 14-4 overall.

Sullivan said it was tough to single out anyone because of team effort, but he said White-Phipps has been an unsung hero all season.

"I'm really happy for Jordan, he busted his tail all game long,'" Sullivan said. "He doesn't get a lot of recognition, so I was happy to see him get the game winner."

Then, there was the goalie position.

The game had a strange start as Genesee Valley/Belfast found mistakes in the first two minutes to get one-on-one's with the goalie, but Dundee/Bradford's Jeremy Stiles made two of his 12 saves. Just like that, the Bravescots shook off the cobwebs, passed the ball down field as Francesco Belluomo slid a pass to Ian Pavlina for a 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the game.

Genesee Valley/Belfast goalie Zach Thomas had seen enough. He made 10 saves and turned away all six corner kick attempts.

"Zach made some nice snags right out of the air," Sullivan said. "He played well."

Sullivan said his team then had to play with adversity. And Genesee Valley/Belfast had another advantage, playing teams from Allegany County all season, from one corner of the north in Fillmore to the South in Whitesville.

"This year, we've been down in some games ... we were down to Houghton, Fillmore, Cuba-Rushford, that adversity helps you, it helps your mindset, they knew we could do this ... and they did," he said. "Wellsville, Cuba-Rushford, they are solid. Wellsville was our last loss and they have played some good soccer the last month. And we needed that because now, the teams you play? They are all good."

Sullivan went back to the senior leadership and the decision with 10 minutes left to play aggressive on offense with no fear of giving up a goal.

"With 10 minutes to go in the second half, we had our legs still and even in the overtime ... heart, head and hustle. We got both goals off headers and we played with heart. But those last 10 minutes, we knew we had to take risks. We needed that tying goal. We couldn't sit back and lose 1-0. It didn't matter if we lost 2-0 or 4-0, if we don't score, it's over, so we went for it and scored," Sullivan said. "Dundee/Bradford controlled the play in the first half, but we re-grouped at halftime, the seven seniors looked at each other and said 'Hey this is it.' We out-hustled them."

Sullivan added, "Overall, both teams played a whale of a game and left it all on the field, It was a shame someone had to lose because it was a well-played game."

With the merged teams, coaching in Class C is new to Sullivan. But he said it does have some advantages, as teams in Class D know how Genesee Valley and Belfast played all those years on their own back then, and the two schools merged as one in recent years.

"It's kind of nice sometimes playing new teams, but with the streaming and you can see short clips, so it's easy for teams to scout us," Sullivan added.

In the upper echelon of the Class C2 bracket, Kendall beat Campbell-Savona, 2-1, Wednesday night in Avon to reach the Finals and meet Genesee Valley/Belfast.