Saturday Roundup: Lady Rebels capture 2nd annual Tri-County Cup title with 2-1 win over C-G; C-R boys deadlock Ark-Can after clamorous 2nd half, Wellsville football edged out by Pembroke
CUBA — Bragging rights were hanging in the balance. On the final day of Tri-County Cup Tournament action on Saturday, one team took aim at a potential repeat as champions, while the other looked to play spoiler following a dominant first round victory back on Thursday.
The stage was set for Canisteo-Greenwood to defend their crown up against the host Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford in what was a hard-fought battle that saw a little bit of everything from start to finish. From midfield battles to physical play, to even a second half momentum swing.
The Lady Chargers had control of their own destiny across the majority of the first half. But later on, that was erased completely. The Lady Rebels had other plans in store.
There was no better time to flip the script than in the last 40 minute stanza the tournament would offer, as the Lady Rebels authored such a story to become Tri-County Cup Champions for the first time. Cloey Larabee had a hand in helping make that happen, as she received MVP honors behind two enormous plays on the field to help set up both Cuba-Rushford goals to propel ahead of the Lady Chargers with an eventual 2-1 title-clinching win.
“It’s great to start the year 2-0 and to win our own tournament. I thought defensively, we played very well after giving up the early goal, said Lady Rebels assistant coach Pat Wight. “They man-marked Cloey and she did a great job finding open people and taking on defenders, creating opportunities all evening. Lily Tompkins scoring right before halftime to get us even was a big momentum boost in our eyes. We had some girls step up after an early second half injury. Jen Tuttle was one of them, and she knocked in the game-winner while struggling with a leg injury. That was great for her. Canisteo-Greenwood is a solid team, and they were a great early season test. Collin (Button) always has them ready to go.”
The war for possession was given the green light, as the Lady Chargers and Lady Rebels (2-0) went straight to work up and down the field while warding off Mother Nature’s weather conditions in the process. Cuba-Rushford was nearly awarded with an ice-breaking moment to jump out front first, receiving a golden opportunity from Larabee off a direct kick outside the 18, sailing her shot straight on goal before ricocheting square off the crossbar and away from further danger.
The battle raged on up until the midway mark of the half when Canisteo-Greenwood found the opening in the Cuba-Rushford defense they desired to strike first, as Mya Rexford carved her way through towards the net after receiving a cross from the near sideline, finishing it off moments later to make it 1-0.
Nothing more would develop from either side following the marker, with the Lady Chargers continuing to hold the burst of momentum in their favor leading up to the final 10 minutes of the opening half. But with under a minute remaining to play, the Lady Rebels manufactured an enormous shift behind a showcase of unbelievable speed from Larabee to keep the ball in play on the far sideline.
She finessed around the Lady Chargers defense in the process to deliver an absolutely beautiful pass to a wide-open Lily Tompkins in front of the net, firing it home without hesitation to tie the game at one with 43 seconds left to play.
Some more chances would come in the second half, including a near game-tying sequence headed by Rexford for Canisteo-Greenwood in the early stages of the frame. Off a ball won by Kadyn Piliero on the near sideline, a cross was delivered to the front of the Cuba-Rushford net where Rexford met it immediately with her head. But her shot ultimately squibbed just wide and away from further danger.
Despite another fine chance to do more damage, the Lady Rebels worked to keep the momentum propelled in their favor, as the offense took right to the Lady Chargers defense by pinning them deep in their zone behind some strong possession play. That big burst wound up boiling over, allowing them to jump in front with the assistance of Larabee once again, who started the original sequence on the rush before shifting a pass up the field to Mireya Rutkowski.
A short time later, one more pass was dished out to Jen Tuttle in the middle of the field directly in front of the Lady Chargers net. With it, she received a wide open look and sailed it straight to the top shelf with 20 minutes left to go, giving the Lady Rebels a monstrous 2-1 lead — an advantage that would continue to hold in place, as Cuba-Rushford’s defense staved off Canisteo-Greenwood for the remainder of time to clinch their first tournament crown of their home tournament.
Between both teams, 33 shots combined were taken on goal, with Canisteo-Greenwood coming away with a very narrow 17-16 edge. But in goal, the victory for the hosts in blue belonged to Annaleece Melton, who made 15 saves. On the opposite end, McKenna Ferris also made 15 saves for the Lady Chargers.
Cuba-Rushford will get set to potentially seek a third straight win to open the season on Wednesday, hosting Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 5 p.m. contest.
BOYS SOCCER
Cuba-Rushford 3, Arkport-Canaseraga 3
CUBA — Arkport-Canaseraga and Cuba-Rushford are two schools coming off a historic year to remember for their respective communities. For the Wolves, that happened just a few months ago when the baseball team travelled to Binghamton and won everything New York State had to offer for the very first time.
Another first happened last Fall, this for the Rebels, following the defeat of Geneseo in the Class C2 Championship to become first-time Section V titleholders. Both the Wolves and Rebels have travelled at maximum overdrive on the superhighway since then, going into the new school year. The glory, now piecing together a clash like no other on a collision course in Cuba upon the pitch, Saturday afternoon.
There was simply no doubt that when their paths intersect, the two teams would put on a fireworks show from start to finish.
The decibel level on the field rose after each passing minute, taking what was a 1-0 halftime lead and turning it into a five-goal bonanza across the second half that ultimately forced overtime. The Wolves and Rebels fought tooth and nail across it all, but in the end, after 100 hard-fought minutes, the two foes would conclude with a 3-3 tie on the scoreboard — Arkport-Canaseraga’s second in as many days, following a penalty kick session with Olean the night before.
“My guys showed a lot of heart and pride today, and I couldn’t be happier with their effort,” Rebels coach Rob Wight said. “To come from behind twice, especially in the end when we had gone from up 2-1 to 3-2 down, that takes some real resiliency to fight back. Chase Haas stepped up with a goal in his first Varsity minutes and obviously with a player like Robert Childs, you always feel like you are in the game. Brock (Stadler) was also immense tonight, holding down our backline and dealing with constant pressure while also picking out Robert to have a hand in all three goals. He had a really great game.”
A scoreless battle developed across a vast majority of the first half between the two foes before the game’s first marker was found with 2:40 remaining, as Jacob Bacon helped paint a beautiful picture in front of the Rebels (0-0-1) cage off a corner kick, floating directly to the top of his head and into the net to carry the momentum into the break.
The second half was a completely different story however, as both teams converged to record five more goals — all of which being scored in back-and-forth fashion, beginning with a strong response out of the gate from Brock Stadler and his kick down the field to a streaking Robert Childs on the run away from the Wolves defense. In the midst of their odd-man rush into the offensive zone, Childs navigated the ball over to Chase Haas, who fired it straight home for his first Varsity tally and an early 1-1 tie.
Stadler helped set up Cuba-Rushford’s go-ahead goal later on in the half, following a foul against the Wolves deep in their offensive zone. Upon the election to take a direct kick, Stadler delivered yet another perfectly-placed ball with the right velocity and the right altitude right to the lap of Childs on the breakaway. With no one but the Arkport-Canaseraga keeper to beat, Childs found his opening with ease for his first of two scores in the game.
Then it was Arkport-Canaseraga’s turn to respond. Following a lengthy battle across the field, the Wolves worked against the clock and pushed the pace against the Rebels. With 11:53 left to play, the ball navigated just outside the 18 where Eli Merry met it with an absolute airmail that sailed straight into the opposing cage to tie the game once again, at two.
If the shot succeeded in tying the game, it would work once again in taking their first lead since the end of the first half. Just three minutes later, the Wolves did exactly that, as the ball landed in nearly the same exact position in front of the Cuba-Rushford goal as before, this time with Bacon providing the go-ahead airmailing into the net for a 3-2 lead.
The Rebels went from having control to falling behind the eight ball with less than 10 minutes left in regulation. But that was absolutely no problem with 2:16 to go, as Childs picked up his second score following a challenge from the Wolves keeper, winning the battle by firing his shot straight into the empty net ahead of him for a 3-3 tie going into overtime.
Overtime would see plenty of opportunities for each side, including perhaps the best chance from either party to end the game coming on a rush led by Carter Brown for the Rebels, carrying the ball down the near sideline before delivering a strike to the middle of the Wolves box for Anderson Seigel. The ball was met by a trap from Seigel with the Wolves keeper down and out, but somehow and some way, the defense was able to clear the ball away from any more danger.
In the end, both teams would wind up finishing deadlocked in a 3-3 tie to close up the day.
The offenses combined to record 35 total shots on goal, with the Wolves taking the 23-12 advantage over the Rebels.
Cuba-Rushford will play host to Genesee Valley/Belfast coming up next on Tuesday, beginning at 5 p.m.
Craig Lawrence Tourney Consolation
Wellsville 2, Wayland-Cohocton 1
COHOCTON — The Lions of Wellsville have built a bundle of momentum to return home with on Saturday. Following a tough defeat to the hands of Alfred-Almond in the opening round, they bounced back in a supermassive way with big goals from Blake Kalkhof and Aiden Cowburn to record their first win of the season in style — a 2-1 decision over host Wayland-Cohocton in the Consolation round of the Craig Lawrence Tournament.
“Gavin (Haggerty) had some saves that really allowed us to stay in this game,” said Lions coach Bethany Faulkner. “We definitely looked like we were slower and still recovering from the 100 minutes we went through on Thursday with Alfred-Almond. But through it, we managed to stay on top of it.”
The Lions (1-0-1) managed to outshoot the Eagles by a 10-7 count, with one of those shots working their way into the back of the net just over 10 minutes into battle, as Jace Densmore sent along a pass for Kalkhof. With it, he provided a dribble down the sideline before letting a floating straight on goal go from around 25 yards away to help break the ice for the team in black and orange.
The advantage would remain glued in place up until the first half’s final minute of play, when Wayland-Cohocton provided a strong response behind the aid of Stephan Hayes, who snuck the ball underneath Lions keeper Gavin Haggerty and into the net.
Both teams remained competitive across the field for the fight for possession, but a prime opportunity arose with less than 10 minute remaining for Wellsville, when Aiden Cowburn elected to take a free kick. With it, the senior did not hesitate, as he delivered an absolute strike to the back of the Wayland-Cohocton cage to give the Lions the lead, ultimately for good with 8:38 left.
Haggerty managed to keep the Eagles on their feet from start to finish, making six gigantic saves to pick up the win for the Lions.
Wellsville returns to the field Wednesday night with a 6:30 p.m. visit to the Bath-Haverling Rams.
Jasper-Troupsburg 3, Friendship/Scio 2
SCIO — There was level playing ground across the first half between Jasper-Troupsburg and Friendship/Scio on a Saturday afternoon for some soccer in Scio.
With a tie going into halftime, something had to give way for the last 40 minutes of play. That, being Landon Zver for the Wildcats, as he gave them all the room possible to work with two gigantic goals against Friendship/Scio to help pick up an advantage that was threatened at times, but ultimately never lost, securing what was a 3-2 road win.
The Wildcats were the first to reach the board during the opening half of action, with Nolan VanGorden doing the honors of breaking the ice. Later on, Friendship/Scio (0-2) responded with a game-tying score to close out the half, as Daniel Lamberson shifted off a pass for Charlie Taylor to finish off to the back of the Jasper-Troupsburg net.
Landon Zver would then take matters into his own hands with the next two Wildcats goals — one of them off a direct kick, in the second half to give them a 3-1 lead they never looked back from, despite Friendship/Scio closing the gap one more time late with a score from Cooper Greenman off a direct kick.
14 total shots were collected between both teams, with Jasper-Troupsburg garnering the 9-5 advantage. In goal, Zac Hyman made three saves to earn the win, while Deacon Brown stopped six shots for the hosts.
Friendship/Scio is back on the field Tuesday night with a 5 p.m. home contest against Bolivar-Richburg in Friendship.
FOOTBALL
Pembroke 26, Wellsville 24 (PPD from Friday)
WELLSVILLE — The nearly day-long wait to resume play between Pembroke and Wellsville was over, with much better weather conditions Saturday night, as the game picked up right where it left off with the Lions controlling an 8-6 lead on the defending State Champion Dragons with less than five minutes remaining until the half.
The back-and-forth exchange between both teams that was put on full display the previous night wound up carrying over to establish a thrilling and epic conclusion to their first battle of the season. Wellsville gave Pembroke everything they had in the tank from all facets of the game — a strong and clutch game under center from Brennen Geffers, some major stops and forced turnovers by the defense, you name it.
The only problem at the end of the night was Caleb Felski, as the Dragons senior exploded from the backfield and ripped off all four of the offenses scores — two from the goal line and two from long range to keep the Lions defense at bay, as they officially warded off Wellsville tough challenge to garner their first win of the season by a 26-24 count.
On the previous night, the clash on the gridiron began with a defensive eruption from the Lions (0-1), as they forced three big turnovers against the Dragons in the first half to keep them on their feet early on. On the flip side, the Dragons countered with a strong defensive stand themselves, as they issued a goal-line stand against the Lions to force the ball over on downs towards the tail end of the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lions would regain control of the ship behind some clutch throws from Geffers, providing a 21-yard touchdown strike to JJ Howard on 3rd-and-12 to put them on top with an 8-0 lead. The momentum shifted right back to Wellsville on the ensuing kickoff, as Felski muffed the return, allowing Xander Outman to jump on the loose ball for his second fumble recovery of the half.
But despite the opportunity to capitalize even more, it was ultimately denied by the Dragons with three straight stops on defense, forcing a turnover-on-downs. With the momentum slightly tilted in their favor following their latest stand, Pembroke punctuated their strongest outing on the field with a 63-yard touchdown scamper from Felski behind some tremendous blocking up front to create a wide open lane up the middle.
That would finish off a second quarter that saw an early end to the evening, due to the severe weather.
Fast forward to Saturday night for the start of the third quarter, the Dragons picked up where they left off with some big help from the backfield. Following a 15-yard penalty for the Lions to start the frame, the first possession of the second commenced from midfield where the defending State Champions used a series of runs to set up Felski’s third touchdown of the game from the goal line and an 18-8 lead.
Wellsville countered, using a roughing the passer penalty against their opposition to their advantage. Facing a 3rd-and-12 straight in the face, Geffers came in through the clutch once again under pressure, rolling out to his left before circling back around to the opposite side of the field, shedding three Dragons defenders to find a wide open Trenton Green for what was a 40-yard touchdown.
With the gap closed to a pair of points, it all came down to the wire in the last 12 minutes of play. Pembroke looked to respond to Wellsville’s touchdown behind the guidance of Felski, who used a series of runs from the backfield to set up his score from 28 yards out, finishing off a lengthy drive that would leave the Lions with just four minutes to work with.
Although there was little room for error remaining, Wellsville made the most of the opportunity. Following a big kickoff return past midfield from David Clark, a big 20-yard connection from Geffers right back to Clark set up a goal-line score from the Lions quarterback under center to close the game to 26-24.
Pembroke was given the ball back for what would be the final drive of the contest, falling under pressure to the Lions defense and their three straight stops in the backfield to force fourth down. But some of that yardage was regained after a five-yard penalty on Wellsville now made it 4th-and-5.
On the snap, the ball reached the hands of Felski, who picked up 13 yards on the play to issue a new set of downs for the Dragons with under two minutes remaining — time that Wellsville could not stop.
Pembroke then took the field for victory formation to close the game out, as they staved off one brilliant challenge from Wellsville to open up the new campaign on the gridiron.
Further in-depth statistics were not available to report upon publication.
The Lions will look to bounce back next Friday night with a 7 p.m. visit from Thomas A. Edison.
Pembroke 0 12 6 8 – 26
Wellsville 0 8 8 8 – 24
Scoring Summary
1st
None
2nd
WLSV – JJ Howard 21-yard pass from Brennen Geffers, 2-pts good (8-0 WLSV)
PEM – Caleb Felski 63-yard run, 2-pts failed (8-6 WLSV)
PEM – Caleb Felski 1-yard run, 2-pts failed (12-8 PEM)
3rd
PEM – Caleb Felski 2-yard run, 2-pts failed (18-8 PEM)
WLSV – Trenton Green 40-yard pass from Brennen Geffers, 2-pts good (18-16 PEM)
4th
PEM – Caleb Felski 28-yard run, 2-pts good (26-16 PEM)
WLSV – Brennen Geffers 1-yard run, 2-pts good (26-24 PEM)
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Warsaw 3, Fillmore 2
FILLMORE — It was one heck of a battle to start the Fall for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, Saturday night in The Rock.
Back and forth all game long, they battled right alongside the Warsaw Lady Tigers, with the action reaching a boiling point by clinching a decisive fifth and final set. At the end of it all, the visitors donning the black and orange found a way to gather the last two points needed in extra serves to record a thrilling victory, as they left town with a 25-19, 9-25, 25-18, 20-25, 17-15 victory.
Propelling the offense for the Lady Eagles (0-1) was Mya Keeler, who recorded five kills, five aces and a pair of digs on defense. Michaela Lewis chipped in with eight team-high aces from the service line to go with a trio of kills, while Eleanor Reitnour has 11 helpers to hand out along with a six-pack of aces.
Fillmore will look to bounce back over the road with a 7 p.m. visit to Hammondsport on Monday.
