Monday Semifinals: Top-seeded Belfast survives offensive shootout with No. 5 Northstar, clinch 4th straight D2 Finals berth with wild 5-3 win

The Bulldogs come together to celebrate their first of five first half goals, this one scored by senior Melvin Hamer (4) during Monday night’s Class D2 Semifinal matchup against Northstar, in Belfast. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Belfast junior Matt Weaver (20) jousts with the Northstar defense for the loose ball at midfield during Monday night’s Class D2 Semifinal matchup in Belfast. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Belfast sophomore Justin Hill (1) traps the ball to himself while under pressure from the Northstar defense during Monday night’s Class D2 Semifinal matchup in Belfast. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Belfast sophomore Stiven Lopez (16) looks to trap the ball while under pressure in front of the Northstar defense during Monday night’s Class D2 Semifinal matchup in Belfast. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Belfast sophomore Caanan Sullivan, right, looks to control possession while under pressure from the Northstar defense during Monday night’s Class D2 Semifinal matchup in Belfast. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Belfast senior Chase Sadler (7) battles alongside the Northstar opposition for the loose ball by the near sidelines during Monday night’s Class D2 Semifinal in Belfast. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

BELFAST — The first 40 minutes of Monday’s Class D2 Semifinal between No. 5 Northstar and top-seeded Belfast was one of the more pyrotechnical openings to a game you may see all season long. Those that were able to witness the electrifying and fiery chaos that ensued in the first half received their price of admission. And then some.

For those that couldn’t battle the icy and paralyzing wind in attendance, three words can sum it all up adequately - Goals. Goals. Goals. Before you ask, no it is not an altered version of Mötley Crüe’s famous hit from the 80's.

Both the Knights and Bulldogs offenses were on an absolute tear in the first half, with one goal finding the back of the net after another. When the final horn sounded for halftime, there was a combined total of eight goals. But one goal created a power shift that changed the course of the game permanently.

That being from Stiven Lopez.

With an assist already in his back pocket off their first goal following Northstar’s red hot start in the opening minutes, the Bulldogs sophomore made a brilliant offensive play off an errant clear by the Knights defense, regaining control of the ball only to send it right back in with the goalkeeper pulled out on a challenge, as he lifted it to the empty cage that awaited to give what was narrowed down to a one goal lead its two-goal advantage again, keeping it the same score on the board until the very end to help Belfast win the offensive battle by a 5-3 count at the Rich Sullivan Complex.

“After they cut their lead in half, Stiven came right back to give us that two-goal lead back again a minute afterward. That really sunk their heads down, and it took the wind right out of Northstar’s sails,” Bulldogs coach Mark Sullivan said. “There’s nothing more that hurts when you score seconds after the other team does. The boys never got down. They battled back, and kept their heads up the entire time. They had the belief that they could do it, and they did.

Those four goals in a sequential succession came after Northstar’s Jerry Miller opened the window toward a hot start just like their previous round matchup against Andover/Whitesville, where he scored a first half hat trick to lead the Knights toward a 4-2 win over the Panthers back on Friday. It was a similar case scenario when Miller started out hot again by weaving his way past the Belfast defense for a pair of goals within minutes of each other to start what was a 2-0 lead. Unlike Friday’s matchup, he would not find the back of the net again.

Then, Belfast’s avalanche.

The Bulldogs (9-3) found their rhythm in the form of a wake-up call after falling into an early hole, as Melvin Hamer begun the goal-scoring for the top seeds by poking past what was a gorgeous pass from Lopez on the far left side of the Northstar cage, crossing it to the senior next to the empty side by the far post, where he was able to apply a touch to put it away, cutting the deficit down to a pair two minutes after Miller’s second goal for the Knights.

They weren’t done. Belfast would tie the game just past the 10 minute mark of the opening half with another far post connection, this time from Matt Weaver to tie the game up at two on each side. Just over a minute later, the top seeds would get the lead on a goal that would wind up being the game-winner in the end. That belonging to Christian Lopez for his first of the season, as he dug the ball loose in the midst of a mad scramble in front of the Northstar net to spring ahead.

The offense continued on the upswing for another goal nearly a minute after Lopez’s, as Justin Hill provided his fifth tally of the season by jarring the ball loose in front of yet another scrum in front of the Knights cage, as he took advantage of the defensive breakdown to push the ball across the line to give Belfast their own two-goal advantage. When the math was completed, the Bulldogs scored all four goals in just 6:13 of time.

The goal-scoring slowed down as the game reached the halfway mark for the brief pause in the action, only for it to pick back up again in the late stages of the half with Northstar narrowing the lead down to a single goal once again off a goal by Josiah Zeafla.

But perhaps the biggest momentum shifter came 1:08 after the Knights goal, as Lopez took advantage of a bad Northstar clear to provide a ball back toward the goal, beating the keeper on the challenge to knock in the empty-netter before losing his footing on the way down to give the Bulldogs the two-goal buffer zone back again.

All five goal scorers for the Bulldogs received praise from Sullivan for their efforts during the bounce-back moment in time.

”I had to wake the guys up, those 12 days off showed right in the beginning tonight,” he said. “We woke up when they finally scored. The first goal was a mistake, the second one too and the third went off our fullback. I think we scored four goals in six minutes after they got out in front. We had five different guys score those goals, and that’s huge. We had a bit of a different offensive look moving Matt back and putting Justin up top. Justin Hill had a wail of a game for me tonight, he won the ball in the middle of the field. Melvin and Christian hadn’t scored a single goal all year, and they each got one tonight. They stepped up big time, and as seniors, they had to do that.”

At halftime, Sullivan provided a message for his team.

“40 minutes.” he said. “I told them all along, there’s three H’s to this game - heart, hustle, head the ball. If you do those things, you win the game. I told them at halftime that it’s all about heart at this point. Do you want this more than them. They had to outrun them in the second half to do that, and you could see that they wanted it. They did, and time management is huge in a game like this.”

Belfast, with a two-goal lead in hand, would go on to manage the clock in the second half. Despite Northstar taking advantage of the time of possession, the Bulldogs defense would not allow another ball to cross behind Stephen Struckmann between the pipes, as they shut the door on any chance of a potential comeback by the Knights to seal up the victory, punching a return ticket to the Class D2 Finals for a fourth consecutive year.

“Q (Struckmann) did a great job in the second half for us, he bounced back and he didn’t get rattled,” said Sullivan. “He had some good, long punts. There was a lot of adversity these guys had to overcome tonight. They did that. Most teams in the Semifinals being down 2-0 would have folded. We didn’t. Northstar may have gotten the ball a lot in the second half, but the defense did their job and they shut the door. There’s no doubt about that.”

Belfast was able to pull away with a narrow outshooting of Northstar, as they accounted for their five goals on eight shots, while Northstar scored their three off seven total shots. Struckmann made four saves to preserve the win with his mitts in between the pipes for a Bulldogs team that will now go for their second Class D2 championship brick in four years.

That will all be determined when the Bulldogs get set to defend the Rich Sullivan Complex one last time in front of their home crowd, this time vying for a chance to win that coveted brick against the second-seeded Jasper-Troupsburg Wildcats. Sullivan says to go for a championship victory in front of their home crowd is one that very rarely happens, but he is excited for the challenge the Wildcats will bring in their final clash of the condensed season.

“I’m excited to see what J-T has,” the longtime Bulldogs coach said. “I told these guys after the game that I’m sick of losing in the Finals. We won it three years ago against Bradford, we lost the last two against Avoca and Scio, and now we’re back again. They’ll be tough, and Coach (Bryan) Lewis does a great job with his guys. All my years I’ve never had the chance to go for a title here on this field. This is where we play, and there’s something about these kids that gets them going. They give everything they have out there to win these games. If we play with the same type of emotion we had tonight, we’ll be alright.”

First kick for Wednesday’s Class D2 Final is slated for a 7 p.m. start.

Class D1 Semifinals

No. 1 Fillmore 3, No. 4 Arkport/Canaseraga 0

FILLMORE — In order to get to the Class D1 Finals, you would have to travel the road all the way through Fillmore to get there. As for those Eagles, it was a chance to defend their turf, and their Class D1 title. With the potential to play a fellow State Semifinalist for the championship brick on Wednesday, the top seeds had to get through No. 4 Arkport/Canaseraga to do so.

After 80 minutes across the board, the Eagles put together what is perhaps their most complete game of the season to this point, with the offense generating the goals to back up a defense that allowed just a single Wolves shot on their cage, as Fillmore went on to punch their one-way ticket back to the Class D1 Finals with another 3-0 shutout, this time of Arkport/Canaseraga in the Semifinal round.

“This is a special group of men, and they’re great at this game. Tonight was the performance we’ve wanted all year long. An investment in “team” from start to finish,” said Eagles assistant coach Jordan Mullen. “We spend so much time and energy on the value of buying into something that is so much greater than yourself. Our mission has been not to build soccer players, but to build warriors who will compete and fight for those around them on and off the field. We’re at a point in our season where we believe that these brothers have embraced the most valuable lesson you could ever learn in sports.”

Fillmore (14-0) was tested through the first half by Arkport/Canaseraga, despite holding a 1-0 lead through the majority of it, as Carter Sisson got on the board first with his first of two goals that he was able to scavenge up to power the Eagles offense. Sisson’s goal was set up by Mitch Ward, who also got on the board himself to start the second half strong.

After a penalty inside the Wolves box, he was elected to take the penalty shot, which ultimately found its way to the back of the netting for his 27th of the season and a 2-0 lead for the hosts in black and green. It was a lead that Fillmore never looked back on, as they went on to add the last goal from the foot of Sisson on an unassisted tally with four minutes remaining to officially put the game on ice.

When it was all said and done, the Eagles provided 14 total shots on the Arkport/Canaseraga cage, while the defensive backfield did its job by holding the Wolves to a singular shot back the other way to keep the shutout in tact. Dylan Valentine was able to make that stop in between the pipes for the top seeds to secure the shutout.

With that victory, the Eagles of Fillmore are now back in the Class D1 Finals picture, as they now set up perhaps the most anticipated matchup in the entire tournament for the Class D1 title against a fellow State Semifinalist from a season ago - A relentless No. 2 Keshequa offense that has scored over 100 goals as a unit throughout the condensed 2020 season on the field.

As for what will it take to go back-to-back? Mullen says it will have to take their strongest defensive effort on their own turf yet, to do so.

“It’s going to take something special,” he said. “We have to win the defensive battle and count on our star on the front end to make a play or two. Coach (Ron) Macomber Jr. has built a fantastic soccer program at Keshequa and this is their pay off year. They are as good of a team as any team in the State when it comes to the Ds. We are going to do our best to try and steal one from them. We’re on our field, and anything can happen when we are playing at home.”

First kick to decide the Class D1 title is set for a 6 p.m. start in Fillmore on Wednesday.

GIRLS SOCCER

No. 1 Geneseo 6, No. 5 Bolivar-Richburg 0

GENESEO — There was a big mountain to climb for the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg over the road Monday night. The opposition? - Top-seeded Geneseo, a team that has only given up two goals all season long.

The hands were full for the No. 5 Lady Wolverines, but the high-octane Lady Blue Devils offense sent it overboard with their strongest showing of offense in the postseason, as they set the pace with four first half goals to take a big lead at the half, never looking back on what came to be a 6-0 shutout on their home field.

“It was one of those games where the kids just did not give up. That was the big thing for me tonight, I was happy that they continued to battle all game long,” said Lady Wolverines coach Mark Emery. “You get into a game where you’re playing the number one seed, and the girls aren’t naïve either. Our team didn’t roll over and they battled even after Geneseo got going. We were a little bit at the lull, but in the second half, there were parts I thought we controlled. They kept right on them and our play improved because of it. We just ran into a really good soccer team.”

The offensive happenings were led by Geneseo’s breakout freshman Morgan Walton, who recorded a hat trick for the Lady Blue Devils offense, with two of those goals coming in a four-goal opening half to give the team a 4-0 lead at the break.

Mary Claire Rollins also helped the cause for the top seeds with two goals of her own, with one coming in each half to continue the offensive momentum that never showed any signs of slowing down, as they rolled their way toward a 13-4 outshooting in the shots department.

Paige Taylor was active for the Lady Wolverines (10-4-1), stopping seven shots. The team wraps up a season where adversity had to be overcome from the beginning, but Emery says despite it, his team put together a strong season, let alone somewhat of a season with COVID-19 ravaging the world.

“You reflect on a season where our first five games, we had exactly 11 kids. Even when you’re inching back toward normalcy with 12 or 13 kids, the first time we had our whole entire team was the game against Cuba-Rushford to start Sectionals,” he said. “You look back on this whole thing, and it tells me that we were amazed that we could play a season. It was evident how much they all grew, and even growing through the abnormal, they took tremendous strides forward. It was good for them, especially for coaching a team that didn’t have their best outing tonight, the overall journey was good.”

The Lady Wolverines finish the condensed season with an overall record of 10-4-1, and will say goodbye to five seniors at the end of the year in Taylor, Aliyah Cole, Kelsey Pacer, Nichole Davis and Kelsey Ferris.

Emery says the five seniors that he will be without next year have laid the foundation down for what he believes is a bright future for his program.

“We had a great group of seniors,” the longtime Bolivar-Richburg coach said. “They are definitely going to be missed. "Paige, Aliyah, the two Kelseys, Nichole. They’ve been with us for a long time it seems like. We say it every year, they become a part of this program and they are part of us coaches. I got to say that the future of our soccer program, it looks pretty good. They are a part of that future too by helping lay down that foundation. They’ve all had tremendous success in building our success as a group.”