Olean spoils Lady Rebels home opener, crack through 2nd half ice with pair of goals in 10 minutes to record 2-1 triumph in the rain

CUBA — It wasn’t the most ideal day as far as weather is concerned. But after rains that fell and continued to fall for what seemed like an endless period of time, the Allegany County High School Sports would not be denied its grand return to the scene on Tuesday.

Game one on the soccer field belonged to the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, as they welcomed in the Olean Lady Huskies to open up their regular season campaign. Like many first games back out on the field, it took some time for both teams to get reacclimated to their surroundings once again.

But then as time passed, the action would heat up. After a first half that saw plenty of scoring opportunities on both sides but no markers crossed the white line and into the net, the second half was a completely different story.

It was officially game on.

Three goals were scored in a span of nearly eight minutes all close to the midway mark. Although the Lady Rebels were able to respond with a tally after Olean opened the curtain, the Lady Huskies were able to shut off the momentum the hosts were able to build, and use it to their own with one final goal with 19:49 left to go, jumping back ahead into a 2-1 lead they would hang onto to secure the win.

“Overall, I’m pleased with how we played in our first time out today,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “That was a tough first game to have right away, and it showed that we have some inexperience in a lot of areas that we have to work on. We had a couple of really nice chances in the first half that we just couldn’t find a way to capitalize on. Those chances ultimately came back to haunt us in the end.”

35 total shots on goal were applied between both offenses, each garnering plenty of scoring chances along the way. Perhaps the best for the Lady Rebels (0-1) in the opening 40 came from the foot of Sofia Riquelme, who sent a pass along to Sydney Howard in the left wing.

Howard proceeded to weave her way past the Olean defense to create an opening for a charging Taylor Searle at the top of the box to provide a one-time shot, but the ball faltered wide while also creating a loose rebound for Cloey Larabee to control.

It would send her chance near the 30 minute mark wide of the Olean goal moments after. As the clock wound down, so would an empty first half.

But in the second half, a complete flip of the script. Many more scoring chances would come about, especially for Olean straight out of the gate with a pair in the first two minutes, including a breakaway opportunity from Jez Fayson.

The Lady Huskies would provide two big cracks into the ice before finding a way to break through it later on with the help of Emily Gibbons, who buried a long shot from the top of the Cuba-Rushford box past Tara Duvall in goal to open the scoring at the 27:34 mark.

A short time later, the Lady Rebels shook it off and connected with the equalizer.

The first goal for Allegany County this Fall season would belong to Larabee, as she concluded a play which stemmed off a flurry of passes deep inside the Olean box. With Taylor Searle and Sydney Howard both pitching in to help the cause, Larabee was able to grab the final pass to put away into the lower left corner of the Lady Huskies goal to tie the game. Howard was credited with the primary assist on the team’s first goal.

With time in regulation beginning to tick away, Olean was presented with a prime scoring chance off a rare instance in the game — from the corner.

Only three corner kicks were scavenged in all, with the last being the very first for the Lady Huskies. One they would not let go to waste, as they worked it out of the corner and into the wheelhouse of Allie Stayer at the top of the Lady Rebels box — the same spot where Gibbons scored the team’s first, as she fired off a shot into the lower left corner past Duvall to regain the lead, ultimately for good at the 19:49 mark.

Wight says that despite falling in their season opener, the Lady Huskies presented a tough challenge for his group — one that he hopes will set a pretty big tone going forward.

“I think it sets a pretty big tone,” he said. “I told the girls to keep their heads up, and that Olean is a good program and a big school. We showed them that we could compete with them. I’m really proud of our underclassmen tonight, we had four girls play in their first career Varsity games. To do it and hold their own against a team like them, that is something that we can really build off of.”

Olean outshot Cuba-Rushford by a 22-13 total count, with Duvall seeing great activity between both goalposts all evening long, setting aside 12 total shots.

As for the outlook ahead, the majority of the team that saw a great deal of success from within a 10-7 campaign a year ago, are back once again to maximize their potential to the fullest, including one of Allegany County’s best on the field in Taylor Searle, who will look to help guide the Lady Rebels once more.

Cuba-Rushford is now off until next Tuesday night, as they prepare to welcome in the Bolivar-Richburg Lady Wolverines for a 5 p.m. first kick.

“I think this group does have a lot of potential,” Wight said. “I think it’s important that the girls understand that and believe in themselves. Our focus is one game at a time, and it’s always been like that. Right now, we will start prepping for Bolivar through this week and hope to get League play started off on the right foot.”