Saturday Roundup: GV/Belfast sweeps Friendship with shutouts on Homecoming Night; C-R falls at C-G, And/Whi rebounds at A-A

BELMONT — After the boys took care of business with the first win of Homecoming Weekend in the Jungle (see more on the game below), it was the ladies turn to take the field as the sun began to set, and the lights began to turn on Saturday night.

Genesee Valley/Belfast would look to close out the festivities on the strongest of notes against visiting Friendship/Scio. In the first eight minutes, they would do that, garnering a lead that would grow as the game went on, as the hosts in green and white accumulated five goals, two of them coming as firsts for a pair of Lady Jagdogs to help fuel their 5-0 sweeping shutout of Friendship/Scio.

“I thought we played a fantastic game tonight, from start to finish,” said GV/Belfast co-coach Duane Powers. “We changed things up a little bit for this game, and it was nice to see it pay off with some goals. It’s no secret that we’ve struggled offensively, but things were really clicking tonight. It’s always nice to win on Homecoming and get some momentum into a couple of tough games next week.”

Abby Sullivan started the scoring off for Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-3), as she hooked up with Hannah Southwick-Powers on a play beginning from the middle and working their way into the Friendship/Scio zone, resulting in a finish that would put them ahead at the 32:56 mark of the opening half.

Towards the tail end of the half, the hosts would add two more goals to take a 3-0 lead at the break, including a first career Varsity goal for Jaslyn Shipman, as Lexi Burrows dished out her first career Varsity assist to help further unfold the play, and extend the lead to a pair. With 2:51 left to play, Alicia Borden found her way onto the board off a pass from Adison Grusendorf from the back to go up by three.

The lead would hold until more was added on with two more goals, the first coming past the midway mark of the second half from a massive penalty kick off the foot of Grusendorf. The scoring was finished off in the waning minutes by Burrows and her first career Varsity tally provided by Borden to put a bow on what was a 21-0 outshooting of Friendship/Scio (3-7-1) in the game.

In goal, Ashley Burrows and Angel Jimerson both saw time in net, combining to record the shutout. On the other side, Nevaeh Ross and Grace Drumm both combined to make 16 saves for the visitors.

Both teams are back on the field Tuesday night, as Genesee Valley/Belfast aims for their fourth straight win in their return to the Jungle against perhaps their toughest test yet — unbeaten Fillmore, in a 7 p.m. first kick, while Friendship/Scio heads back down the road to Scio to meet Andover/Whitesville in a 5 p.m. contest of their own.

Canisteo-Greenwood 2, Cuba-Rushford 1

CANISTEO — In a dead even affair on the offensive, the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford provided a quick response to tie host Canisteo-Greenwood up in the middle stages of the opening half.

It would remain as such all the way until the final three minutes of the game when the tie was broken. And in the end, it was broken by the hosts in red and white with 2:58 left to play on a goal scored by Sarah Coddington to give the Lady Redskins the win to split their season series with Cuba-Rushford, in a 2-1 count.

“They did a great job defensively, and they took advantage of their opportunities,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “It felt like we could never really get into the flow of the game, especially on offense. The game was pretty open, and it was a constant battle through the midfield. We were short on girls again tonight, so it makes it harder to try and build some momentum.”

After Canisteo-Greenwood broke the ice just five minutes into the game from Andi Williamson to take the first lead, Cuba-Rushford (6-6) saw an opportunity to strike with their only goal of the game coming 10 minutes later off the foot of Sofia Riquelme, as she connected with Cloey Larabee in the middle on a goal that tied the game ultimately for the remainder of the game.

That would be until the eventual game-winning goal by Coddington was scored with under three to play to pull the hosts ahead for good in what was a 10-10 even distribution on offense.

In net, Tara Duvall would make five saves for the Lady Rebels, who will look to bounce back on Monday back on the road, visiting Bolivar-Richburg in a 5 p.m. first kick.

Andover/Whitesville 3, Alfred-Almond 1

ALMOND — For Andover/Whitesville, the goal in their chance to rebound on Saturday, was to start fast on the road against the host Lady Eagles of Alfred-Almond. They would do just that with two quick goals in the first 10 minutes of play.

The lead was cut in half later on in the second half, but Andover/Whitesville used their defense to hang on until the end, adding a big piece of insurance along the way to regain traction on their two-goal lead over Alfred-Almond for good to secure a rebounding 3-1 victory.

“It was a nice win for the girls this afternoon,” said Andover/Whitesville co-coach Al Barber. “We have been seeing some nice improvements in practice, and on the field. Today, we got on the board with Zoey (Lee) and Gabby (Terhune) working very hard from the get-go. We were able to keep them off-balance for most of the first half. The second half, we got a little tired and lost our shape, but we were able to fend off some late chances to keep the win.”

Gabby Terhune had the first two goals of the contest for Andover/Whitesville (5-6), with her first coming nearly three minutes in to break the ice underneath Alfred-Almond off a pass provided by Kennedy Bledsoe from the middle at the 37:45 mark. Terhune would add her second before the 10 minute mark to extend the lead by a pair off a feed from Zoey Lee.

It would become a one-goal lead at the break behind Alfred-Almond’s first and only goal of the game with 10 minutes to go, and would remain as such all the way to the midway point of the second half, when Zoey Lee recorded a goal of her own off of Bledsoe’s second helper to make sure Andover/Whitesville kept their lead in tact.

Both offenses kept the action pretty tight on the frontlines, with Andover/Whitesville squeezing by Alfred-Almond in the shot department by a 9-8 count, with Brynn Scholl picking up the win in goal for the visitors behind seven saves.

Andover/Whitesville will continue their road swing on Tuesday in Scio, visiting host Friendship/Scio in a 5 p.m. first kick.

BOYS SOCCER

Houghton Academy 1, Hinsdale 1

HINSDALE — A bounty of shots were gathered between both Houghton Academy and Hinsdale on Saturday, combining to provide a whopping 27 combined shots in all. But despite the heavy activity on offense, just two goals crossed the white line.

One was scored by each team, as they reached the deadlock to force overtime, where two 10-minute sessions were required to finish up the contest. After it all, it was declared a 1-1 tie, the first for each team this season.

The goals came from each team’s leading scorer to settle the deadlocking score, as Henry Sardina netted Houghton Academy’s (3-5-1) netter off a feed provided by Jack Prentice, while Tucker Schwartz found the back of the net on his unassisted tally for the Bobcats.

Houghton Academy outshot Hinsdale (7-1-1) by a 16-11 count, with Chris Habecker making nine saves, while Ethan Cashimere stopped 10 shots for the Bobcats.

Both teams will have a pair of home games on Monday beginning in a 5 p.m. first kick, with Houghton Academy playing host to Cuba-Rushford, while Hinsdale welcomes in red hot Fillmore for a visit.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 3, Friendship 0

BELMONT — To begin Homecoming evening inside the Jungle, Genesee Valley/Belfast made their return to the field to take on visiting Friendship.

Both facets of the game by the hosts in green and white were used to their complete advantage, as the offense provided a quick hop to their step, while the defense added a stout outing in the team’s 3-0 shutout of the Golden Eagles on Saturday.

The hosts picked up a 2-0 lead on Friendship right in the first 40 minutes of play, garnering assistance from both Matt Weaver and Trent Scott, with Canaan Sullivan dishing along the helper to Weaver to break the ice with the first goal. Later on, the scoring was capped off by Dameon Cobb and his first goal of the season off a feed from Garrett Miller in the second half.

In all, Genesee Valley/Belfast (8-3) recorded 12 shots, while in turn only letting one shot from Friendship reach Thai Norasethaporn in goal, who made the save to record the shutout in between the posts. On the other side, Taylor Moore stopped nine shots for the Golden Eagles (0-11).

Genesee Valley/Belfast will return to action Tuesday night back in Belfast, taking on the Hinsdale Bobcats in a 5 p.m. showdown, while Friendship heads back home to host Andover/Whitesville in a 5 p.m. contest of their own on Wednesday.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Genesee Valley/Belfast 3, Arkport/Canaseraga 0

BELMONT — Kaitlin Sadler provided a massive amount of offense, while Addy Herring set up all the plays up front for Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they rolled their way towards victory Saturday afternoon in sweeping fashion over visiting Arkport/Canaseraga, taking the 25-18, 25-16, 25-20 decision.

“I think the team played pretty well today,” said GV/Belfast coach Darren Bradt. “Their passing has improved, which made the work of the setter and the hitters much easier. Kaitlin did a great job at the net moving the ball around, and creating opportunities for those hits. Addison had many great serves to help build and maintain our offensive scoring. It was a great game for Homecoming weekend.”

Sadler led the Genesee Valley/Belfast (4-6) offense with a team-high 17 kills to go with four aces and two assists. Herring followed up with her big day at the front and back, recording team-highs in assists with 16 and aces with 11 to go with two more kills.

Genesee Valley/Belfast will return to the Jungle on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. first serve against the Bolivar-Richburg Lady Wolverines.