Thursday Roundup: Dominant start propels Lady Lions towards 5th straight win, 3-0 sweep of Houghton Academy; Wellsville soccer ends season with 3rd straight win, B-R rebounds vs. C-R

WELLSVILLE — It’s safe to say that the Lady Lions of Wellsville have begun to hit every single stride.

With tough matchups against Bolivar-Richburg and Cuba-Rushford back on the docket next week, there was no better time to continue that torrid pace than on Thursday right before the weekend, as they took care of business in dominant fashion against Houghton Academy with a 3-0 sweep for their fifth consecutive trip to the win column.

The Wellsville (9-2) offense came alive in clamorous fashion with Natalie Adams paving the way towards a game-high 11 kills, adding three aces and three digs along the way. Furthering the team’s cause was Makenna Dunbar and her seven kills, pitching them in alongside three digs and a pair of blocks.

Morgaen Howe chipped in four kills of her own to go with three aces, while Averee Palmatier captained the defensive efforts with five digs to couple with four kills and two aces. Maddy Parks helped the offense take shape with her setting prowess, as she handed out a whopping 31 assists, pairing them with five digs and an ace to round off a Wellsville victory that saw them take the sweep with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-19 decision at the end of the night.

On the other side of the net, Houghton Academy (6-7) was paced by Abby Reitnour on defense, as she garnered 11 digs to pair with three kills and an ace. Bella Stevens had seven more digs to pitch in alongside four kills and an ace. The Lady Panthers are back home to host the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, Monday night at 6 p.m.

The Lady Lions will now look to use every bit of momentum for the homestretch beginning on Tuesday back on their home floor with a massive 7:30 p.m. visit from Bolivar-Richburg.

BOYS SOCCER

Wellsville 4, Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg 0

WELLSVILLE — Right before the big show officially takes the stage after the weekend, the Lions of Wellsville were building a full head of steam. It began with an outstanding Senior Night victory over Cuba-Rushford in overtime back on Monday. 24 hours later, an exciting finish in the game’s final minutes against Bolivar-Richburg.

Now on Thursday, perhaps their most complete game of the season.

Behind incredible ball movement and some pressure on the attack to keep visiting Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg on their feet, the Lions were able to build on an early halftime lead. With it, the momentum eventually boiled over in the last 40 minute session, where the hosts in black scored three more big strikes to insurmountably stretch their lead to finish their regular season campaign with a third straight win by a 4-0 count.

“What a ride. Nick Germain-Tardeu really covered the goal phenomenally tonight with Gavin (Haggerty) out with an injury. We’ve really learned not to over-complicate the game. I have different boys scoring every night, and our ability to utilize every person on the field has really become our biggest asset.” said Lions coach Bethany Faulkner.

Four different goalscorers found the back of the net across the 80-minute regular season finale for Wellsville (5-11), with the scoring beginning towards the tail end of the first half on a corner kick taken by Aiden Cowburn. With it, the ball took a hit off the back of Payson Root in front and into the air for Camron Lyons to head over top of Derek Perkins and into the net to break the ice with a 1-0 lead.

While the defense maintained pressure against their opposition, the Lions continued to connect from all angles across the field on the offensive. Just three minutes off the clock in the second half, they would extend their lead with Blake Kalkhof finding the back of the net off a cross from his right-hand side by Lyons.

The score would remain the same on the scoreboard all the way to the homestretch, when the Lions officially put the game away with back-to-back scores in two minutes from Ethan Bailey and Aiden Cowburn, as they fired home their respective goals near the 10-minute mark to give the Lions a strong end to their regular season, as they now turn their attention to Sectionals next week.

Both teams combined to record 25 total shots on goal, with Wellsville claiming the 15-10 advantage over Andover/Whitesville-Jasper-Troupsburg (7-9). In goal, Nick Germain-Tardieu recorded all 10 saves to preserve the shutout, while Derek Perkins made 11 saves on the opposite end.

The regular season is now over for both teams, as they now await Sectional seeding beginning this weekend.

Bolivar-Richburg 1, Cuba-Rushford 0

BOLIVAR — On Thursday, the Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg paid homage to their eight seniors who have helped propel the program’s ascension to the biggest of heights in recent years. In what was their last time playing at Dunsmore-Latimer Field in the regular season, the seniors wanted to make sure they went out on their own terms.

In their finale with longtime rival Cuba-Rushford, it presented a perfect opportunity to do just that. For one of those seniors, it was everything. That being Cayden Gaines.

Between both squads, just one single goal slithered into the back of the net across all 80 minutes of gameplay. That belonged to the Wolverines senior, who went on a mad dash towards the Rebels goal with possession, shifting a rocket straight to the back of the empty net in the early stages of the opening half to set up what would become a big 1-0 shutout to head into Sectionals on a high note.

Just past five minutes in, the game’s first marker was established off a pass from Reiss Gaines right at midfield. With a wide-open Cayden Gaines off to his right looking to make a run, Reiss airlifted a pass straight up field for Cayden to use his speed, and zip past the Cuba-Rushford defense. With Alex Baron coming out to challenge the possession, the senior would not waste the opportunity to strike, sending it straight into the empty net to break the ice in massive fashion for the Wolverines (7-8-1).

The goal was off nine total shots that Bolivar-Richburg applied against Cuba-Rushford (8-7-1), as they were just narrowly outshot by their opposition by a 10-9 count. In goal, the win belonged to David Abdo and all 10 saves to record the shutout. On the other end, Baron came up large himself, setting aside eight shots.

This weekend, both Bolivar-Richburg and Cuba-Rushford will now await their Sectional fate after the seeding selection process has concluded.

Fillmore 5, Genesee Valley/Belfast 1

FILLMORE — For a second consecutive regular season on the pitch, the Fillmore Eagles conducted absolute perfection on Thursday. For all eight of the team’s seniors, it was the most sublime of endings to their regular season careers on the field they’ve grown to know over the years, as they ended the night under the lights with a 5-1 win over Genesee Valley/Belfast to fuel their title defense going into next week’s playoffs.

“Tonight belongs to our seniors, who we honored this evening for Senior Night. Many of these young men have been the heart and soul of this team for the better part of four seasons, and their impact on the program rivals any class to ever put on the Eagles uniform,” said Eagles coach Jarrett Vosburg. “It’s only fitting that they scored and assisted on all five of our goals. As we close the regular season undefeated, and get ready for a challenging slate of games in the Section V tournament, we will continue to look to our seniors.”

The Eagles (16-0) came out red hot in the first 10 minutes of the battle with Genesee Valley/Belfast, as Henry Sardina and Layton Sanasith went back-to-back in just over a minute’s worth of time, connecting off feeds dished along by Noah Strickland and Zach Sisson, respectively, to claim a 2-0 early lead.

The lead would hold until Fillmore was able to extend upon it even further to a trio of goals, as Eben Schilke recorded one of his own off of Sisson’s second helper of the game at the 24:41 mark. Looking to continue holding the fort down on defense going into the break, the visiting opposition had other plans in store.

Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-6-2) bounced back with 32 seconds remaining in the first half on a solo rush up the field by Ryan Snyder, as he found the back of the net behind Brayden Hennard to cut their deficit down to a pair.

“GV/Belfast played tough as they always do, and they had an effective counter-attack during the game,” Vosburg said. “But I’m proud of the boys for wrapping up the regular season in sound fashion. We’re at that point of the season now, where tomorrow is never guaranteed. With that being the case, we’ll continue to enjoy each day we have together, and prepare as best as we can for the next game up.”

Although their lead was threatened at halftime, it was never relinquished, as Fillmore went on to further cement their lead on the visitors in white with two more scores from Noah Strickland just 10 minutes off the kick at center, and later on, Sardina’s second marker of the game off an Eben Schilke helper just past midway.

The five Fillmore goals all stemmed off a 17-shot output, as they outshot Genesee Valley/Belfast by a 17-7 count. In goal, Hennard recorded the victory with six saves, while Kyle McCumiskey made 12 saves in net for the visitors, who now closes their regular season with a 5 p.m. visit to Houghton Academy.

The defending Class D State Champions will now begin their title defense in Section V, as they await Sectional seeding beginning this weekend.

Houghton Academy 7, Friendship/Scio 1

SCIO — Three different scorers for the Panthers of Houghton Academy each tallied a pair of goals, with Ricky Song leading the charge on the front line with his hat trick performance, as they set the tone right away with a 4-0 halftime lead against host Friendship/Scio and never looked back to finish their regular season campaign strongly with a 7-1 win in Scio on Thursday.

The tone was set right out of the gate in the first 10 minutes for the Panthers (6-8-1), with Ricky Song and Josh Davidson exchanging pleasantries just 48 seconds apart. Davidson would receive credit for the primary assist on Song’s first of three markers. Later on, Song would record his second with 17:19 left in the half before Davidson was able to put away his second of the game right down to the wire, netting the team’s fourth score with 10 seconds on the clock.

Houghton Academy dictated much of the play through the majority of the 80 minutes, which would lead to a hat trick-clinching score for Song just five minutes in to record a 5-0 lead. But right at the 10 minute mark in the half, Friendship/Scio (2-14) was able to find a way to get on the board themselves with a massive penalty kick chance for Jerome Harmon. One that he would bury to the net to further extend Houghton Academy’s lead.

The scoring for the Panthers would conclude with Francis Chen scoring both remaining markers for the offense with 19:26, and 1:20 left to go in the contest.

When it was all said and done, Houghton Academy provided a 14-7 advantage over Friendship/Scio in the shot department. In goal, Marco Zanini set aside six shots, while Deacon Brown made seven saves on the opposite end of the pitch, for the hosts, who now await Sectional seeding this weekend.

Houghton Academy will look to close out their regular season on a high note with a 5 p.m. visit from Genesee Valley/Belfast in store for the last official day of the regular season, tonight.

GIRLS SOCCER

Avoca-Prattsburgh captures Steuben County Tourney crown with 2-1 edge over C-G

ARKPORT — Despite an early strike coming off the feet of the Canisteo-Greenwood Lady Chargers, the response afterwards was even stronger by the Avoca-Prattsburgh Lady Titans on Thursday, as they accepted and conquered the challenge that was brought forth by their opposition to win the Steuben County Tournament crown in thrilling fashion, 2-1 at the Melody Harwood Soccer Complex in Arkport.

Following the opening score of the game from the Lady Chargers, the Lady Titans would go to work with their game-tying marker off the foot from Olivia Kilmer, who made the most of the opportunity off a direct kick parked out front of the Canisteo-Greenwood net from Ina Kjernli.

With the game tied, it would need one more response to become broken. Later on, Meyah Putnam had it, as she posted what was the game-winning score for the Lady Titans to capture the tournament crown all to themselves at the end of the day.

In net, Ellie Harrell was able to captain the Avoca-Prattsburgh defense in between the posts, as they held the fort down to deliver a monster win right before Sectionals officially kick into gear.

In-depth statistics for each team were not made available to report upon publication.

Both teams will now await Sectional seeding, which begins this weekend.