Saturday Roundup: Lady Sea Lions finish unbeaten for 2nd straight season behind Senior Day win; Stives records first two career Varsity goals to fuel B-R’s road win over GV/Belfast

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — Out of all seven events that were registered as official matches for the final time this regular season for the Lady Sea Lions, they would wrap things up in perhaps the apex of highest notes Saturday morning in their home waters, as they won them all against visiting Hornell, scoring an 84-50 victory on Senior Day to put a bow on their second straight undefeated season with a 10-0 record.

“It was our last meet, our senior meet, and all the girls stepped up today, and we got some more good times and more knowledge going into the LCAA Championship meet next weekend,” Lady Sea Lions coach Steve Hand said. “Hayden (Waldon) continues to swim fast, Tiernee (Brandes) has a nice butterfly and backstroke, Ellie (LaBenne) and Makenna (Cooke) had some drops in the 500. Hopefully we can make some more memories and win the team’s first LCAA title with these next two meets coming up.”

Out of the seven total wins for the Lady Sea Lions (10-0), Hayden Waldon continued her first place winning tear, gathering two more wins, one in each half of the meet, with her first being scored in the 200 freestyle with a winning time of 2:07.84. She would follow later on with her last regular season victory in the seventh event — the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:00.57.

Tiernee Brandes and Morgan Mattison added in individual victories of their own, with Mattison finding her win first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:39.63. Brandes would follow later on in the second half, recording the medaling time of 1:09.31 to score a first place win in the 100 butterfly. The two would also race legs in the team’s lone relay win, teaming with Grace Kinnicutt and Isabelle Hart to deliver a 2:14.50 first place finish in the 200 medley relay.

The Lady Sea Lions wrapped up a perfect meet in the water with the Oswald siblings — Kaylee and Ashley recording wins, with Kaylee providing the winning time of 29.30 in the 50 freestyle, while Ashley scored a 172.58 performance off the diving board.

After their victory over the Lady Red Raiders, Wellsville honored all five of their Seniors — Kaelyn Crawford, Ellie LaBenne, Cameron Gordon, Stephanie Oswald and Lindsey Slocum. Hand said that the team gave them final performance at home to remember.

“In 10 years of coaching, it doesn’t get any easier saying goodbye to Seniors. All five of these ladies have been on this team for four, five, even six years,” he said. “I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch them grow over the years into great swimmers, and young ladies. Today, the team gave them a last home meet to remember.”

The Lady Sea Lions will embark on their journey towards a second straight Section V championship later on in November, but first, they will now have the opportunity to capture their first ever Livingston County Athletic Association League Championship beginning with the diving meet on Thursday, and the overall swim meet on Saturday.

All of the action will begin at 5 p.m. at Bath-Haverling on Thursday.

GIRLS SOCCER

Dansville 3, Wellsville 1

WELLSVILLE — As opposed to their 8-0 loss over the road to the Lady Mustangs of Dansville earlier this season, the Lady Lions put together a solid first half of play on defense to limit the opportunities brought by the Lady Mustangs in their second and final meeting of the season Saturday.

Although the visitors carried a 1-0 lead in the contest, the Lady Lions would find their way onto the board in the second half. But Dansville at the same time, would also add to their lead, as they scored two more to keep themselves a step ahead until the end to record the season sweep with a 3-1 victory.

Out of the three goals for the Lady Mustangs, two of them came from Madison Lee, who recorded the game’s first within the last 10 minutes to earn the 1-0 lead heading into the break. Despite the deficit, the Lady Lions (4-10) garnered their best chance to strike right near the start from a play that began with an Emily Costello throw-in.

The throw made its way toward Jaylynn Mess near the middle of the Dansville net, and then eventually on across to a wide open Kylie Fanton-Acker in attempt to put away the one-timer, but the ball on the host sailed high and out of play to end the threat from the Lady Lions.

In the second half, in the midst of the Lady Mustangs adding onto their one-goal lead, it saw Wellsville end the possibility of a shutout with Mess recording the team’s lone goal off a feed provided by Sawyer Burke. It was just one of seven total shots provided by the hosts in black and white, as they were outshot by the Lady Mustangs by a 9-7 count.

In between the pipes, Makenna Dunbar recorded six saves for Wellsville.

The Lady Lions will conclude their regular season back in the Lion’s Den on Thursday, when they play host to the undefeated Fillmore Lady Eagles in a 5 p.m. first kick.

Bolivar-Richburg 4, Genesee Valley/Belfast 3

BELFAST — Beginning back on Thursday, Bolivar-Richburg has had to overcome quite a bit of adversity. With numerous Lady Wolverines out of the lineup for an extended period of time, all hands were on deck to help lead a potential comeback when they hit the road again to Belfast on Saturday to take on host Genesee Valley/Belfast.

In a game that saw seven total goals cross into the back of the net, it was mainly dominated across the majority of the 80 minutes by the hosts in green and white, applying the pressure by pinning Bolivar-Richburg deep with possession being the biggest of advantages.

But when the time was right, the Lady Wolverines hunkered down and delivered.

With all of the pressure mounting against them, their release was the offensive front led by a big effort from freshman Cassidy Stives, who recorded her first two career Varsity goals to lead the Bolivar-Richburg offense toward victory over Genesee Valley/Belfast, despite a late goal with under 30 seconds left to play, winning by a 4-3 count Saturday night in Belfast.

“Our team faced some adversity this week and it was nice to see the girls rise to the occasion tonight,” said Lady Wolverines coach Brooke Lovell. “GV/Belfast is a good team and it’s great that we could come out tonight and get the win. As a freshman, Cassidy had her best game of the season, and Bre (Militello) doesn’t have a lot of experience in goal, but she came up with some big saves late in the game. Hopefully this win will help us stay on track come Sectional time.”

Right from the start, the Lady Wolverines (8-6) were the first to jump early on offense. Two minutes after the opening kick, Stives scored her first of two goals in her Varsity career by connecting with McKinlee Harris each time, with the opener coming off of Harris’ corner kick. Stives then took the opportunity to rocket it into the Genesee Valley/Belfast net on the other side to break the ice.

The response from the Lady JagDogs (7-6) was very quick, as they tied, and took their first lead with help provisioned by Hannah Southwick-Powers, who scored both goals in the opening half for the hosts, with her first coming off a pass from Lauren Haggstrom from the other side to tie the game up at one nearly two minutes after Bolivar-Richburg’s first strike.

The second goal for Southwick-Powers allowed them to spring out on top 10 minutes later, digging the ball free from amidst a scrum in front of the Lady Wolverines net after a pass was dished along by Abby Sullivan from the back to set up their 2-1 lead. Since taking the lead, Genesee Valley/Belfast would seize control of the possession for the remainder of the half, and then some, garnering multiple chances along the way but could not finish the golden opportunity to extend their lead.

But right at the very end of the opening session, after a discussion took place on a last second rush engineered by Bolivar-Richburg from both Madigan and McKinlee Harris, it was determined that a ball that was dug out of the grasp of Genesee Valley/Belfast goalkeeper Ashley Burrows by McKinlee Harris found the back of the net, seconds within seconds of the horn sounding to tie the game at two.

In the second half, the momentum that was gained by the Lady Wolverines to begin was erased by the hosts, as the possession across the field returned to their favor. But the efficiency played a role once more for the visitors in white and red to take the lead back with Stives scoring her second goal of the game off another McKinlee Harris corner kick, this time getting a head from the other side of the net to finish the play.

The lead was held onto when the Lady Wolverines were presented with another solidifying marker with 1:36 left in the game, as Jessica Majot connected with a game-sealing penalty kick after a handball inside the Genesee Valley/Belfast box was committed, extending Bolivar-Richburg’s lead to a pair. The Lady JagDogs would make things interesting right at the tail end with Adison Grusendorf scoring to cut the deficit back down to one with 24 seconds left to play.

But time ran out on the hosts, as Bolivar-Richburg managed to survive and complete their bounce back under immense pressure in a game that saw them being outshot by a 10-7 count by Genesee Valley/Belfast. In goal, Breanna Militello would earn the win behind seven saves. On the other end, Burrows set aside four shots for the Lady JagDogs.

Both teams will have a pair of 7 p.m. contests up next on their schedules, with Bolivar-Richburg going back on the road to end their regular season in Fillmore on Wednesday, while Genesee Valley/Belfast plays host to Andover/Whitesville right back at the Rich Sullivan Athletics Complex on Tuesday.

Franklinville 3, Friendship/Scio 0

FRIENDSHIP — Just past the 10 minute mark in the opening half, some noise was made on the offensive front by Franklinville, as the visiting Lady Panthers scored all three goals in a span of nearly a single minute of play, as they set the tone right away and kept host Friendship/Scio at bay behind a 3-0 shutout on Saturday, in Friendship.

Friendship/Scio (3-11-1) was held to just four shots on the Franklinville cage across all 80 minutes, being outshot by the Lady Panthers by a 9-4 total count with Sarah Courtney making four saves in between the posts for the hosts.

The team will take a break away from action and prepare for their final regular season contest on Friday, when they hit the road to visit Cuba-Rushford in a 5 p.m. first kick.

BOYS SOCCER

Allegany-Limestone 4, Wellsville 0

ALLEGANY — The Gators of Allegany-Limestone took control of Saturday afternoon’s game against visiting Wellsville from start to finish, finding the back of the net four times behind Logan Dunbar while holding the Lions in check to record a 4-0 home shutout.

Logan Dunbar was active between the pipes for the Lions (4-8-1), recording 13 saves out of 17 total shots applied by Allegany-Limestone.

The Lions are back on the road Monday night, as they get set to battle undefeated Bath-Haverling in a 6:30 p.m. first kick.

Mount Morris 8, Friendship 0

MOUNT MORRIS — With a 3-0 lead in hand already after the first 40 minutes, the Mount Morris offense continued to dig in for more when the final session began, scoring five more to increase their lead further to secure their lead on their home turf for good, rolling past visiting Friendship with an 8-0 victory on Saturday.

The host Blue Devils would go on to score 26 total shots on the Golden Eagles (1-13) cage, while allowing just eight back the other way on defense. In goal, Taylor Moore set aside 18 shots for the visitors in white and purple.

Friendship is back home to wrap up their regular season on Thursday, hosting Houghton Academy in a 5 p.m. first kick.

Chris Brooks
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