Monday Roundup: Costello scores late PK for Lions, but Port Allegany triumphs with 2-1 win in Lion’s Den; Lady Rebels score four unanswered to sweep B-R in 4-1 road win

Wellsville senior Cody Costello, left, and freshman Ty Vogel (11) go up for the ball against the Port Allegany defense during Monday night’s home contest in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville junior Gavan Dickerson (20) looks to send the ball down field on his kick while the Port Allegany defense pressures during Monday night’s home contest in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville junior Kavan O’Grady (4) sends the ball down the endline during Monday night’s home contest against Port Allegany, in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville junior Cody Costello, off-center, traps the ball on a throw-in in front of the Port Allegany defense during Monday night’s home contest in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Wellsville freshman AJ Cowburn (8) shifts a pass along to his teammate, sophomore Cooper Brockway (6) during Monday night’s home contest against Port Allegany, in Wellsville. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

WELLSVILLE — Rain. It is a factor in soccer that can weigh heavily on teams, but at the same time, can be game-changing.

As the rain began to pour over the Lion’s Den on Monday when the host Lions took on Port Allegany, both teams had to navigate their way through difficult and inclement conditions to find their success.

It was a start that saw the Lions fall behind when the first half came to a close. In the second half, despite Port Allegany branching their lead out, Wellsville’s response came just as quick to regain traction on a one-goal deficit.

But for the visiting Gators, the one goal would be all that they would allow, as they resumed their composure on defense to hold the Lions still for the last 25 minutes of play, hanging onto a 2-1 lead to secure the decision.

Port Allegany broke open the scoring with 16:11 left in the first half to take a 1-0 lead at the break, after applying the pressure on Wellsville (4-6-1) with four corner kicks in the first 20 minutes, with the fourth ultimately finding the back of the net of a perfectly trapped ball in front of the Lions cage, and in past Logan Dunbar in goal.

With the rain falling, it would create some lengthy midfield battles on the slippery turf for the rest of the night, but when chances needed to be capitalized, they were. In the second half, the Gators did just that by branching their lead to a pair on a breakaway goal, as the visitors caught Dunbar off guard in net to zoom a shot into the empty net just past 10 minutes in.

But the response for Wellsville came shortly after, when the Gators committed a penalty inside the box, resulting in a free kick. Cody Costello elected to take the kick, and was rewarded for doing so with 23 minutes remaining to cut the deficit in half.

The score however, would remain on the board, as the Gators were able to hang on to take the win over the Lions.

Complete statistics were not made available upon publication.

Wellsville’s next chance to rebound into the win column will come on Wednesday back inside the Lion’s Den, as they host a 5 p.m. first kick against the incoming Alfred-Almond Eagles.

Cuba-Rushford 2, Houghton Academy 1

CUBA — After being on the wrong end in four of the last five games, the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, back on their home field for the first time in nearly two weeks, foresaw a chance to provide a bounce back on Monday.

Right before the rain scattered its way across the County, it was a game on the field that saw one team garner a bit of momentum right before the first half came to its conclusion. Visiting Houghton Academy held a one-goal lead heading into the second half, which raised the question — could they feed off the momentum?

Cuba-Rushford provided an answer for said question. Simply put: No.

The Rebels were able to put their foot down on the clutch after battling with the Panthers in the midfield for over 20 minutes of the last period, as they created momentum that shifted the game in their favor for the remainder of the way, netting a pair of goals in the last 15 minutes to spring ahead and into the lead, garnering the 2-1 home win to snap their slide.

“I’m happy the guys were able to really grind out this win. We had a great amount of chances, but we couldn’t finish early,” said Rebels coach Nick Perillo. “Houghton is a very hard working team with many talented players that can make you pay for your mistakes. I’m thrilled the guys were able to come from behind, and find that will to win. I’m hoping we can keep this mentality up.”

For the majority of the first half, the scoreboard did not have a score to display, as both teams collected their fair share of opportunities in the offensive zone. Although the chances began to mount up, it eventually spilled over in the waning seconds of the period, as Houghton Academy (3-6-1) found their way ahead to break the ice with a Henry Sardina goal off a Jack Prentice helper to earn the halftime lead.

In the second half, the Panthers held onto the lead to the best of their ability, despite Cuba-Rushford (4-6-1) chasing their coattails all the way to the end. As a result, the game would find its way toward a tie with the assistance of Jacob Smith, who scored the first goal of the game for the Rebels with 15 minutes left in regulation.

Momentum was built thereafter by the hosts in blue and white, and from the game-tying goal until the end, it was theirs to use. They would go on to score one last goal to propel themselves forward and into the lead with six minutes remaining on the clock, with Logan Lewis providing the eventual game-winner from an Austin Clement pass from the back to finish off the bounce back win for the Rebels.

27 total shots were collected between both Houghton Academy and Cuba-Rushford, with the Rebels outshooting the Panthers by a 16-11 count. In goal, Jarrett Campbell picked up the win behind five saves, while Chris Habecker recorded eight on the other side for the Panthers.

Both teams are back on the field Wednesday night, as Cuba-Rushford looks to keep their winning ways moving with a 5 p.m. home contest against visiting Hinsdale, while Houghton Academy travels further south to Scio to visit the Tigers in a 7 p.m. first kick of their own.

Fillmore 5, Hinsdale 0

HINSDALE — This past Thursday marked a historic day for Fillmore head coach Jamie Mullen, after they defeated Cuba-Rushford to become Allegany County’s All-Time winningest coach in boys soccer.

In their next game, an opportunity to move up another rung on the head coaching ladder came over the road in Hinsdale on a soggy Monday night under the lights.

The Eagles found their groove in the first half by taking a two-goal lead over the Bobcats. But the jets were turned up in the second half, as they went on to score three more goals, two from the foot of the County’s leading scorer Mitch Ward, as they rolled toward victory in a 5-0 shutout.

The win allowed the longtime Fillmore coach to move further up the ranks on the Section V leaderboard, entering sixth place overall on the All-Time wins chart.

Noah Strickland and Deen Muzaid-Omar gave Fillmore (10-2) the early 2-0 lead, with the icebreaking goal coming just past the 10 minute mark of the opening half off a feed from Damon Wood.

Muzaid-Omar added to the lead in the final minutes of the session with Ward dishing out a helper into the wing for him to finish off at the 34:25 mark to finish strong.

Later on, the Eagles continued adding to their lead with a pair of goals from Ward, increasing his goal total to 22 on the season, with his first coming off a pass from Eben Schilke at the seven minute mark, and his next off a penalty kick six minutes later.

The fifth and final goal inside the team’s 15-shot offensive attack came from Wood with 10 minutes left in the game, as Layton Sanasith dished out the helper to put a bow on Fillmore’s 10th win on the season — the first team to reach that mark this season in boys soccer.

Fillmore allowed only six shots in turn on defense, as Mike McCumiskey recorded the shutout by making all six stops. On the other side for the Bobcats (7-2-1), Ethan Cashimere made eight saves.

Both teams are back in action on the road Wednesday night, as Fillmore pays a visit to Belfast to take on host Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 7 p.m. contest, while Hinsdale looks to rebound at Cuba-Rushford in a 5 p.m. battle of their own.

GIRLS SOCCER

Cuba-Rushford 4, Bolivar-Richburg 1

BOLIVAR — The possibility for the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford to sweep their rival, Bolivar-Richburg, became very real when the two teams met up to wrap up their regular season series at Dunsmore-Latimer Field on Monday.

Unlike their last meeting over a week ago in Cuba, where the Lady Rebels held onto a halftime lead to earn their victory, their path toward the finish line this time around came from a very different circumstance — they had to fight their way from behind.

Trailing 1-0 to the host Lady Wolverines at the break, it was now all in the hands of Cuba-Rushford to control their destiny in the second half. With all the time in the world, it did not take the visitors in white and blue long to give one of their biggest responses of the season.

As a result, they would run the table in the last session of play, scoring not one, two, nor three, but four straight goals against the Lady Wolverines, three of them in a span of six minutes to navigate their way into the lead, knocking away one last piece of insurance towards the end to ensure their regular season-sweeping win over Bolivar-Richburg by a 4-1 count.

“It was a little different this time around. Instead of leading at the half, we trailed. I was actually pretty pleased that we showed a great amount of grit in the second half,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “That’s the first time we trailed, and we’ve actually found a way to win the game. Our offense really came alive, and our midfield and defense did a much better job limiting B-R’s chances in the second half. Those (McKinlee & Madigan) Harris sisters are tough, and we did a solid job limiting the damage they could have done in both games.”

The Lady Wolverines (5-5) were able to come away with the halftime lead behind a goal from McKinlee Harris, who made her run alone into the Cuba-Rushford zone to score the icebreaking goal. With the lead in hand, Bolivar-Richburg looked to their defense to keep the Lady Rebels at a standstill on offense in the second half.

Instead, the visitors came out with a half-changing spurt, scoring a strand of goals within the first 10 minutes of play, beginning with Taylor Searle just four minutes into the new session, scoring the first of her two goals off a feed from Brynn Lavery to tie the game with the Lady Wolverines at one. Just four minutes later, the lead was taken away, ultimately for good by Sofia Riquelme at the 32:31 mark, as Searle dished out her lone assist along the way to make sure the lead was secured.

The scoring did not stop at that point, as Searle put away her second of the game right at the 30 minute mark left to play for the Lady Rebels, as Riquelme then repaid the favor from her goal in the form of one of two big assists to help fuel the massive rally. It would all come to an end with 7:28 left in the game, as Cuba-Rushford secured their victory down the stretch with a goal from Shae Maples from Riquelme.

In all, Cuba-Rushford recorded 28 total shots against Bolivar-Richburg, outshooting the Lady Wolverines by a 28-10 count, with Tara Duvall recording the win behind six saves. On the other side, Malayna Ayers put a stop to 18 shots for the hosts, who have a quick turnaround back on the road tonight with a 5 p.m. meeting against the Wellsville Lady Lions.

Cuba-Rushford will also have Wellsville up next on their schedule, but will face them back home on their turf Wednesday night, as they end their regular season with three straight home games beginning with the Lady Lions in a 5 p.m. contest of their own.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Fillmore 3, Arkport/Canaseraga 1

FILLMORE — It was a beginning stage that saw host Fillmore attempt to dig their way through a first set marathon against visiting Arkport/Canaseraga on Monday.

Despite falling to the Lady Wolves to begin the night, that was made up for in the biggest of ways for the rest of the way, as the Lady Eagles fought tooth and nail to tie the match after a narrow second set before running away in the last two to pull away with a 3-1 comeback victory on Monday, taking the 25-27, 25-22, 25-10, 25-17 decision.

Emma Cole recorded a stellar showing on the offensive for the Lady Eagles (6-3), tallying a team-high 19 kills to pair with four aces at the service line. Helping further the cause on the attack was Jadyn Mucher, who added in eight kills of her own, and two aces. Setter Zoe Hubbard dished out a team-high 23 assists to go along with four kills.

Fillmore will have a quick turnaround back on their home floor tonight, as they host the incoming Cuba-Rushford Lady Rebels for a 7:30 p.m. first serve.

Houghton Academy 3, Hammondsport 0

HOUGHTON — The Lady Panthers of Houghton Academy remained red hot on the volleyball court Monday night, as they welcomed Section V power Hammondsport into town, and escorted them back to the buses in sweeping fashion, rolling to their sixth straight victory in straight sets, taking the 25-14, 25-14, 25-21 decision.

Individual statistics for the Lady Panthers (7-1) were not made available upon publication.

Houghton Academy will now go for their seventh straight win back on their home floor Wednesday night, hosting the unbeaten Lady Lions of Wellsville in a 6 p.m. first serve.

Bolivar-Richburg at Hinsdale: No Report