Saturday Roundup: Fillmore authors herculean 2nd half rebound to rally past Northstar with gigantic 1-0 win in Class D Finals rematch; And/Whi boys, B-R girls claim wins on Homecoming in Whitesville

FILLMORE — The Fillmore Lady Eagles have been the class of Allegany County, and even Section V for quite some time now. No matter how much adversity stares them down from afar, they have always found the right path on the map to navigate through it.

The will to win, the art of major success. Those elements are something the program takes a vast amount of pride in. Because of the dedication to improve their craft, the Lady Eagles have been able to capture glory in the County year-after-year, as well as three Section V titles in five years and a historic trip all the way to the very end in Cortland to compete for a State Championship just this past season.

Harboring just five seniors and plenty of youth to go around for their title defense this Fall, the Lady Eagles simply have not lost their touch.

One win after another since the beginning of September, the Lady Eagles have been resilient. Fillmore has once again charted their course to the top of the County, becoming the first team to eclipse the 10-win mark. Inching ever closer towards that crown they have been able to capture for nearly a decade running, they are hungry for more.

Like they always have expressed in year’s past.

Saturday night brought an opportunity to affirm their fealty at the top of Section V, with a Class D Finals rematch against the Northstar Christian Lady Black Knights. The 80-minute battle between the two foes ultimately became one of the toughest challenges the Lady Eagles endured, as they had to overcome a dominant first half filled with possession play from the Lady Black Knights.

There weren’t many chances either side could offer during the first 40 minutes, but the Lady Eagles and the defense were left on pins and needles going into the second half, where they needed to regroup quickly.

Did they ever?

From the start of the frame all the way to the end of it, the Lady Eagles flipped the script completely on Northstar, as they countered with an overwhelming amount of pressure themselves, syphoning all momentum seized by the Lady Black Knights and using it on their own accord.

After knocking on the door ever so loudly and with authority, it was only a matter of time before they broke it down. Entering crunch time with close to 10 minutes remaining, Tenlee Miller did just that.

The Fillmore freshman highlighted a ferocious second half for the home team donning green, as she made an incredible solo effort in front of the near sideline all the way to the Northstar cage. While under duress from multiple Lady Black Knight defenders, Miller warded it off and put away the game’s lone goal to send the Lady Eagles towards their 11th win of the season, as the defense finished the night on the strongest of notes to solidify their 1-0 win.

Before Miller became the superhero for the Lady Eagles (11-0), they had to traverse a first half of incredible constraint against Northstar where possession soccer took center stage, as the Lady Black Knights took advantage of the midfield in any way, shape or form they could to keep the hosts on their feet all throughout.

But despite it all, the Lady Eagles defense stood tall going into the break, with level playing ground to work with for the last 40 minutes.

“Tonight was another battle from beginning to end. The first half, not much was working in our favor,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. “This group cares and tries all the time, but the first half, they just couldn’t get right mentally or physically. In turn, Northstar was composed, moved the ball well and caused us plenty of concern. Although we were outplayed in the first half, we did not give up many quality chances to them.”

In those last 40 minutes, a changing of the guard.

Fillmore turned the tide completely in the second half, applying all sorts of pressure themselves against Northstar, including two dynamic chances from Mylee Miller in the first 10 minutes — one of those including a long ball from the top of the 18 that squirmed just inches wide of the far post.

Several more opportunities would come and go for the Lady Eagles to break the ice leading up to the last 10 minutes on the clock, when Grace Walton helped set up Tenlee Miller with the game-winning goal by the near sideline, as she delivered a pass up to Miller. She would then carry the ball into the Northstar zone all by herself, evading several defenders along the way to apply a shot that initially was stopped at first, but then put away on a second attempt to finally break the ice.

That, allowing them to keep the advantage in their possession for good, as the Lady Eagles defense slammed the door shut on the Lady Black Knights.

“The second half was a turn of events for us,” Beardsley said. “It started with winning the midfield. Grace played a very good game at center-mid, along with Morghyn Ross, and we moved Mylee to outside-mid and she turned her own game around from the first half. Our defense was rock solid in the second half. We played smart, we played safe and we kept them out of their offensive third. Tenlee had to work extra hard tonight and her work paid off in the second half with a true effort goal. Nothing pretty, but it was highly effective.”

Beardsley continued on his team’s efforts, saying that “They have a great will to succeed. Sometimes the soccer isn’t there, but the will and effort seems to always show up. They are a youthful bunch, but they managed the last 10 minutes of the game with the lead impressively.”

The shot department was nearly dead even across the board, with Fillmore claiming a narrow 6-5 advantage against Northstar. In net, a big shutout win was credited to Grace Clark, who made all five stops.

The Lady Eagles will now look to claim a stranglehold on the Allegany County League Championship come Monday night, as they get set to host a 7 p.m. showdown with Genesee Valley/Belfast.

Bolivar-Richburg 5, Andover/Whitesville 1

WHITESVILLE — Between Bolivar-Richburg and Andover/Whitesville, each half of play had its own story to tell on Homecoming Saturday. Developing first was a scoreless midfield battle for possession, as both teams delivered their chances but came away empty-handed after the first 40 minutes.

But in the second half though, it was one of the loudest frames of play, as six total goals between the respective offenses all found the back of the net. For Andover/Whitesville, they were the first to get on the board first in the beginning stages. But the Lady Wolverines? — When it was their turn to strike, their response came one after another.

Like an avalanche cascading down a polar mountainside, Bolivar-Richburg’s offense provided a massive disruption and multiplied their output against Andover/Whitesville by five, as they kicked the tires on a second half that allowed them to overwhelmingly turn the tide in their favor with five consecutive goals to claim a 5-1 road victory in Whitesville to spoil their Homecoming celebration.

With a scoreless first half being exchanged, the offense ramped up its intensity across all 40 minutes of the back half with Andover/Whitesville (2-9) receiving their first prime opportunity near the 10-minute checkpoint of the frame, as Graci Lewis-Ellison broke the scoring open by connecting with a penalty kick.

It would be the only goal capitalized upon by the hosts in black, as Bolivar-Richburg (4-7) went on a tear with five straight goals, tying the game first just six minutes removed from the penalty kick behind the first of two Sydney Faulkner goals tucked away off a solo effort in on the Andover/Whitesville cage.

The game would remain deadlocked up until 15 minutes remaining, when the Lady Wolverines assembled a strand of three goals in a six-minute span to completely flip the game on its head, as Cassidy Stives, Haley Gaines and the second of Faulkner’s markers all composed a humongous 4-1 advantage for the visitors, with Raegan Giardini handing out an assist to Stives, while Stives also pitched out a helper to Gaines. Faulkner scored her second goal off a penalty kick with 9:05 left to play.

Bolivar-Richburg scored one more goal with 6:44 remaining, as Teegan Sibble provided a solo rush in on the Andover/Whitesville net to complete a victorious afternoon over the road.

Each team supplied 10 shots on their respective cages, with Maya Zilker putting a stop to nine shots faced to earn the win for the Lady Wolverines.

Olivia Waters made five saves for Andover/Whitesville on the other side of the pitch. The team will return to action back on their home field Monday night with a 6:30 p.m. visit from Hammondsport over the hill back in Andover.

As for the Lady Wolverines, they will now step away from action until Thursday, when they head below the border to visit Port Allegany in a 6 p.m. first kick.

BOYS SOCCER

Andover/Whitesville 2, Bolivar-Richburg 1

WHITESVILLE — Following the ladies matchup in Whitesville, it was the boys’ turn to make some noise on Homecoming Saturday. It featured an Andover/Whitesville boys team coming off a hard-fought comeback victory over Avoca-Prattsburgh that could be of monumental service, come Sectional time in a couple of weeks.

With a bounty of momentum well within their possession, they would go on and put it to full use against the visiting Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines, as they overcame a tough first half battle and scored early in the second half, maintaining control of their advantage all the way to the end, as they edged their way towards a 2-1 victory.

Between the two first half goals — one from each team, the degree of separation was 55 seconds, with Bolivar-Richburg (2-9-1) climbing aboard first by the aid of Landon Barkley before Colton Calladine responded quickly by tying the game on a solo rush into the offensive zone himself with 29:52 remaining in the frame.

The tie would remain in place, as the two teams fought straight through the remainder of time in the first half across the midfield, heading into the break. But in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Andover/Whitesville (6-4-1) reclaimed the lead once and for all off Trey Kent’s score off a pass sent along by Brody Vance at the 33:20 mark.

Despite the loss, the Wolverines managed to outshoot Andover/Whitesville by an 11-6 count. But in goal, the win belonged to Skylar Orpet, who made 10 saves for the hosts. Ayden Music made four saves for Bolivar-Richburg.

Both teams return to the pitch on Tuesday, with Andover/Whitesville hitting the road for a 7 p.m. clash with Genesee Valley/Belfast at Judy Bliven Field in Belmont, while Bolivar-Richburg heads back home to host Houghton Academy in a 5 p.m. contest at Dunsmore-Latimer Field.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Wellsville 3, Waterloo 2

WATERLOO — A long two-hour bus ride up north to Waterloo was in store for the Lady Lions of Wellsville, Saturday afternoon. Their meeting with the Lady Tigers was one of more grueling battles of their campaign, with four of the five sets of action being decided by no more than four points.

With many contributions left and right across all angles of the floor, the Lady Lions were up for the mighty challenge, as they used a clutch play from Lindsay Stuck, along with a game-ending ace from Natalie Adams on the very next sequence to put a ribbon on a fifth-set victory, as Wellsville escaped Waterloo’s grasp with an outstanding five-set, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16, 23-25, 18-16 victory to bring back home.

“This was an awesome game to be a part of,” Lady Lions coach Shannon Steiner said. “It was definitely a nail-biter for pretty much the entire game. The fifth set went back and forth, and Lindsay saved a ball and free-balled it into a deep corner. We were able to get the ball back and Natalie sent over the winning ace to lock it down for us. The girls really played their hearts out today. This was well worth the two hour trip.”

Leading the offense for the Lady Lions (7-3) was Averee Palmatier, who recorded a team-high 13 kills to go with four digs on defense. Following behind was Lindsay Stuck and her 11 additional kills, pairing them with 11 digs and three aces. Natalie Adams finished with 10 kills, 10 digs and a six-pack of aces, while Makenna Dunbar kept the ball off the floor to the best of her ability, compiling a whopping 17 digs to couple with eight kills, four aces and four big denials at the net.

Wellsville’s setter, Lexi Irish, was absolutely busy at the front of the net, handing out 47 assists to go with six digs, three kills and three aces.

The Lady Lions make their return to the hardwood on Tuesday, as they head back over the road for a 7:30 p.m. visit to Cuba-Rushford.

Hinsdale at Genesee Valley/Belfast - No report.

GIRLS TENNIS

Individual Sectionals at Canandaigua — Will be posted separately.