Led by Ward hat trick, defending champ Fillmore explodes toward 7-1 season opening win over Belfast

Written By Chris Brooks

FILLMORE — For nearly seven months, the COVID-19 Pandemic has shelved sports all across the area, especially in the local sports scene. But when New York State began flattening the curve back toward normalcy over the summer, optimism surrounding the possibility of high school sports returning in the Fall, began.

With football, volleyball and cheerleading being moved to the Spring, the opportunity to play soccer soon followed after, as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) decided to proceed with precaution with a shortened Fall season. That day officially came on Saturday, with the first athletic contest taking place within the local scene since March.

The first game spotlight was on Fillmore, where the defending Class D1 champion and New York State Finalist Eagles hosted their down-the-road rival - the Bulldogs of Belfast.

Eagles head coach Jamie Mullen, who returns for a 32nd season as head coach, was once of many in the area that was quite optimistic about this year’s soccer schedule being salvaged. Now, he says that he and his team are very fortunate to have the chance to play.



”Everything about these days is perspective. Being out here on a beautiful October day is just glorious, and who would have thought that this would have ever happened,” Mullen said. “We start there, and then we count our blessings. Weirdly enough, one of the things I like preaching is that this is our sanctuary. We cross that line, and all of our troubles go away. That’s pretty much how it’s been.”

Even though the season has been shortened, Saturday’s game with the Bulldogs saw Fillmore pick up right where they left off from their deep run from a year ago, as Mitchell Ward found the net with a hat trick to power the Eagles offense toward a strong 7-1 victory over the Bulldogs.

“Anytime you walk away with a win over a team like Belfast, it’s a good day,” said Mullen. “I know they’re struggling a little bit with some numbers and COVID hitting them a little bit as well. That’s not the team we’re going to face later on in the season. Belfast always comes and fights bigger and badder than they should. They’re a great team, and I will take this win any day.”

The Eagles (1-0) were able to get off on the strongest foot with a 2-0 lead through the first half, and quick. The pressure was on early in the first half, and with it, came the first goal of the day from Carter Sisson, who received a great cross on the way in toward the Belfast goal from Zach Herring, burying the ball to the right of Stephen Struckmann in goal to break the ice.

Another opportunity came a short time later for Sisson to add his second goal of the day off a feed from Mitchell Ward approaching the halfway mark of the opening half, but sailed the initial shot high above the Belfast goal and wide. But after the brief break in the action, the hosts were able to score with 12:43 left in the half, as Ward added his first tally on a breakaway run to the goal.

His momentum carried over into the second half. With just six minutes removed off the new set of 40 minutes on the clock, Ward connected on another goal by finessing past not one, nor two, but three different Bulldogs defenders on his way inside the Belfast box, taking care of the shot to the short side of Struckmann between the pipes for a 3-0 Fillmore lead.

After Belfast (0-1) was able to connect with their first big scoring opportunity of the game from Justin Hill, Ward capitalized on his hat trick-clinching goal on another gorgeous feed from Sisson off to his right, finding wide open netting on the left side of the Belfast net to finish his six-point game.

“I really like the composure that we have,” Mullen said of his group. “The kids were playing to feet for the most part. We’ve been trying to do some good soccer combinations stuff for this time in the season, and I’m happy. Carter Sisson is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever had. He’s on the near post and every kid in the universe tries to shoot that ball in. He lays it right back across the green for an easy goal for Mitch. As for Mitch, he’s an unselfish player. He’s a pure, natural scorer, and we don’t get the kind of talents he brings very often, and I get out of his way.”

After a goal from Zach Sisson extended the lead to 5-0 for Fillmore, the next two goals came via penalty kick on back-to-back transitions, with Fillmore reaching six goals off Mason Cool’s free goal with 10:48 left to go in play. 24 seconds later, Belfast came back to erase the shutout on the scoreboard with a free goal of their own from Justin Hill, as he beat Dylan Valentine in the Eagles net.

The scoring concluded with under four minutes remaining, with Isaiah Voss scoring off another Zach Sisson feed in front of the cage, as the Eagles finished a brilliantly strong day on offense with a 7-1 victory. The Eagles outshot the Bulldogs by an 18-4 final count, with Valentine getting the three-save victory. Struckmann finished with 10 saves on the flip side for Belfast.

At the end of the game, Mullen said that his group has done a tremendous job making adjustments, and bracing for the challenges the COVID-19 Pandemic brought to the table over the course of time.

“We had to make some adjustments obviously with COVID. Honestly, the kids deal with it a lot better than the grown-ups,” the veteran Fillmore coach said. “They’ve followed the rules, and they’ve done what they needed to do. This group in particular, they just want to please you. They’re a good, coachable group and I like that a lot. That’s 99 percent of the reason why I came back to coach again. Shoutout to my other coaches, Mike (Witkowski) has been with me forever, and then Jarrett (Vosburg) and my son Jordan (Mullen). They’re the future of this program.”

Both teams are back on the field Tuesday night, with Fillmore welcoming Genesee Valley to town, while Belfast returns home to open their home slate with a Senior Night contest against the Hinsdale Bobcats. Both games are slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Chris Brooks
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