Monday Roundup: Viglietta nets game-winning goal in extra time, Wellsville survives season-opening battle with C-R

Written By Chris Brooks

WELLSVILLE — At the beginning of the night, Lauren Viglietta got the start in between the pipes for Wellsville in their season opener against Cuba-Rushford on Monday. But head coach Erica Aftuck pulled her aside at halftime to make some readjustments with her offense.

She swapped her goalkeeping gloves in favor of a spot on the offensive front for the Lady Lions in the second half.

From that point and into the pair of 10 minute overtime periods the night saw, Wellsville’s pressure continued to build up as each minute passed on the field. Shot after shot, transition after transition, pass after pass. The Lady Lions were relentless.

But it all would soon come to a boiling point just over two minutes into the second extra time period. Lauren Viglietta heeded her advice from Aftuck. After a deep 20-yard send in back inside the Cuba-Rushford box, a scrum formed in front of the cage.

The ball was trapped by Viglietta out front after garnering just enough room to send the team into a frenzy with her goal, knocking it past Lady Rebels goalkeeper Tara Duvall on the far right side of the net to give the Lady Lions the paramount 1-0 lead they needed to secure at the end of the night to start their condensed season off on the biggest of footsteps.

“We had a ninth grader in goal in Lauren come out, and play offense, and she scored with a lot of support from her teammates,” Aftuck said. “Even if it took longer than I thought for them to score, it was fun. I told her when we pulled her that we were putting her on the line, and she was a bit surprised with it at first. I just told her what to do, and to go as fast as you can to put the ball in the net, and she did.”

She did just that for the Lady Lions, but leading up to it, it took a massive amount of energy to build up the pressure they had applied on Cuba-Rushford all night. It was a bit of a slow process through the first half, but toward the midway mark of the opening half, Wellsville (1-0) began to open up the field with a few big chances on the Lady Rebels goal.

The hosts picked up two quality chances from both Brantley Pride and Maddie Spicer, who were all over the field all night long for the Lady Lions. The latter of the shots provided by Spicer was the team’s first save Duvall had to make on a perfectly placed corner kick.

The shots on goal continued to pile up with Emily Costello weaving her way in and out of the Cuba-Rushford zone, racing past the visiting defense along the way to win the battle toward the ball. But ultimately, the Lady Rebels defense was able to shuffle away those opportunities.

Despite that, one of the big things that Aftuck has preached since her arrival to the program seven years ago: play with your feet. The Lady Lions succeeded in all fronts throughout the 100 minutes of play.

“I am so impressed. They’re young, and we graduated a bunch of seniors that started pretty much every game for us last year. We have a brand new team out there, and to see them move the ball like they did tonight, it’s like they’ve been out there forever doing this,” she said. “I’m so impressed with the girls winning the ball, with their one-on-one moves, shielding the ball. We had a ton of shots on goal, and that’s been our biggest struggle. Once they got a taste of it, it was going to catch at some point.”

Indeed it was going to catch. Although it didn’t necessarily result in goals, the opportunities the Lady Lions continued to create was enough to proceed with mounting the pressure up against Cuba-Rushford (0-1), with Pride, Spicer, Carly Young and Marley Adams all getting involved with shots through the second half.

Perhaps the best opportunity to score came from the senior captain Spicer with six minutes left in regulation, lifting a perfectly placed direct kick from around 20 yards out from the Cuba-Rushford net. The ball sailed in, but it was not enough to go past Tara Duvall, who wound up making the save to keep the ball out to force extra sessions

After a back-and-forth battle through the first overtime period, it came down to the final 10 minutes of the night. The Lady Lions needed just a fifth of the time to capitalize on, as Mackenzie Cowburn sent a ball in toward a scrum in front of the Cuba-Rushford net.

The ball was trapped by a waiting Viglietta in the right hand side of the box, where she delivered the knockout punch to the far left-hand side of the cage to get Wellsville on the board for good, as the Lady Lions relied on their defense to secure the victory on day one of their season.

“Mackenzie Coburn had that sent back in, she's a ninth grader, and she learned from Marley Adams,” Aftuck said. “She plays exactly like her. Waiting the ball, pushing the ball up, and the thing about having Marley back again this year is that Mackenzie watches her. It builds their confidence. We're building a program, and it takes years to build back up. You don't come out right away, and do wonderful things. You start in modified, and then if we're all on the same page by the time they make their way to varsity, it makes my job easier.”

Even though they were stacked up against a whopping 26 total shots on goal, the Lady Rebels were able to hang right with Wellsville the entire night despite the outcome. Duvall would make 25 saves in all, while on the other end, Viglietta and Makenna Dunbar combined to make three saves, with Dunbar getting the shutout after coming in goal from the second half onward.

When Monday came around, Aftuck was not sure at first that she and the Lady Lions were going to be able to take the field at all this year. But with New York State taking a roll of the dice on a condensed Fall season, the seventh-year head coach says she is very grateful for the opportunity they were given.

“We're so fortunate, and we live it day by day,” she said. “We cheer for the days that we're able to come out and practice for these games. Another week of school, we're so thankful to have even played tonight. The girls, this is what they wanted to do. They continue to beg me to keep practicing even when practice is over. They're eating it up because they're grateful to have this opportunity presented to them.”

The Lady Lions will look to carry the momentum into Wednesday night, when they welcome in the Genesee Valley Lady Jaguars for a 6 p.m. contest. As for the Lady Rebels, they head back home to open their home slate with the Hinsdale Lady Bobcats coming to town at 5 p.m.


Bolivar-Richburg 4, Hinsdale 0

BOLIVAR — The rust appeared early on for the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg, but when the second half came around, there was none.

An avalanche of shots, and soon after, goals would come for the Lady Wolverines, as they scored three of their four goals in the next 40 minutes to power past visiting Hinsdale with a 4-0 shutout on Monday.

“The long and the short of it is, we got a win,” Lady Wolverines coach Mark Emery said. “Credit to Hinsdale, they battled tough. We tried to switch the point of attack, but it was difficult at times because they’re such a great team. Their goalie was tough. We would have a great lead-up, but the finish wasn’t there in the first half. The second half, the kids started to catch it a bit. I hope they’re getting it, but being happy to go out and get some normal back on the field again, it’s a great feeling.”

Bolivar-Richburg (1-0) had to battle their way through a tough first half with Hinsdale in order to get on the board first. Their first came with four minutes to go until the break, when Madigan Harris made a run to the net to put the finishing touch on her goal.

Shortly after the break, McKinlee Harris would add hers, also on an unassisted run, just over seven minutes into the new half. But the victory was finished off at the midway mark by Bolivar-Richburg, as Malayna Ayers and McKinlee Harris scored 4:30 apart, with Madigan Harris and Kelsey Pacer adding assists along the way.

Paige Taylor recorded the shutout in net for the hosts, saving one Hinsdale shot. As for the Lady Bobcats (0-1), Haylee Jozwiak made 14 saves out of 24 total shots applied to the net by Bolivar-Richburg.

Both teams are back at it on Wednesday, as the Lady Wolverines head toward a 7 p.m. contest in Fillmore, while Hinsdale stays out on the road to face their I-86 rival Cuba-Rushford in a 5 p.m. contest.

Andover/Whitesville 1, Friendship 0

FRIENDSHIP — Leading up to Monday’s season opener, the move was made to officially combine Andover and Whitesville girls soccer into one collective group for the shortened 2020 season.


Their first game together was in Friendship, the next night after their very first 90 minute practice. It took well over nearly 60 minutes of soccer, but the combined team picked up their first victory of the season, as they shut down the host Lady Golden Eagles with a 1-0 triumph.

“It’s going to take a few days for our girls to mesh together. Before the game tonight, we have had less than two hours together as a combined group,” said Andover/Whitesville coach Al Barber. "At first glance, we compliment each other well. It won’t take long to work out the tactical stuff all these girls have to become technically sound.”

Zoey Lee was responsible for the lone goal in the contest, as she picked up through the midst of a scrum in front of the Friendship goal, jarring it loose to fire it past Navaeh Ross in the Golden Eagles net to secure the lead, which held toward victory for Andover/Whitesville (1-0).

Ross had 24 saves total for Friendship (0-1), while Livia Simon tallied the single-save shutout for the Lady Panthers.

Both teams return to action Wednesday night with Andover/Whitesville opening up their home slate with a 5 p.m. contest against Scio, while Friendship hits the road for a 7 p.m. game under the lights with Belfast.

Fillmore 5, Genesee Valley 0

BELMONT — Attempting to build off their massive 6-0 shutout of Belfast at home on Saturday, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore continued the shift into their second game of the season by posting another shutout. This time, it was at Genesee Valley, as they spoiled the Lady Jaguars Senior Night with a 5-0 win on Monday.

Sophia Templeton led the way in scoring for Fillmore (2-0), as she netted a seven-point night consisting of the team’s second straight hat trick, adding an assist along the way. Grace Russell and Zoe Beardsley each added a goal to finish the scoring, while Hope Russell and Delaney Hillman had an assist to dish out.

Preslee Miller comes up with her second shutout of the year, stopping four Genesee Valley (0-1) shots. On the flip side, Alex Thur made two saves for the Lady Jaguars.

Both teams are back on the field on Wednesday, as Fillmore returns home to welcome in Bolivar-Richburg for a 7 p.m. contest, while Genesee Valley goes over the road for the first time with a 6 p.m. visit to Wellsville.

Belfast 6, Scio 0

BELFAST —After falling to an insurmountable defeat to the hands of the Lady Eagles of Fillmore on Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs of Belfast bounced back with a vengeance on Monday back home, as they made the most of their Senior Night with a shutout of their own - a 6-0 blanking of visiting Scio.



Belfast (1-1) struck while the iron was hot right away in the first half of play, as they scored their first of four goals just five minutes in, with Emma Sullivan getting things started with her first of the season.

10 minutes later, Anna Drozdowski added to the offense with a goal of her own. Harley Proctor would get involved with the next two Lady Bulldogs goals, assisting with the team’s third of the half by Hannah Southwick before scoring one of her own with 6:36 left to make it a 4-0 lead at the break.

Proctor added her second of the game 10 minutes into the final half, as Southwick repaid the favor with an assist. The scoring concluded when Alicia Borden found the back of the net off a Mary Hamer feed with under 12 minutes remaining to play.


In goal, Kaitlin Sadler earned the shutout by making one stop. On the other side, Kiara Grover made four saves for the Lady Tigers (0-1).

Both teams are back on the field Wednesday night, as Belfast welcomes in Friendship for a 7 p.m. visit, while Scio continues on the road at Andover/Whitesville, beginning at 5 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER

Scio 1, Houghton Academy 0 (OT)

SCIO — One way to open a season? Winning a game in overtime. That’s exactly how things unfolded down in Scio, as senior captain Cam Loucks came through with under three minutes left to play in overtime to defeat Houghton Academy by a 1-0 count on Monday to begin their title defense strong.

“I’m really happy for Cam getting that game-winner. He’s been around a while, so I was proud to see him get that win for us,” said Tigers coach Dillon McFall. “The main thing for tonight was that we’re actually back bigger not only than soccer, but have a bit of normalcy with us too. Being able to play a game for the kids, it’s really nice. They haven’t done anything competitive since earlier this year, and topping it with a win is even better.”

In a game where it saw the Tigers (1-0) heavily outshoot the visiting Panthers, Houghton Academy was able to hang right with the defending Class D2 champions for the majority of the night.

But at the 7:30 mark of the first overtime period, Loucks opened up the floodgates by ending the game, playing a goal kick back into the Houghton Academy zone by taking it away from multiple defenders in front to finish the game-winning opportunity for the Tigers.

“It was great to start things off with a win,” McFall said. “We have a lot of young kids this year. Eight sophomores that haven’t played a minute of varsity, and seven of them played the majority of the game, and then we’ve got some juniors who didn’t see much time last year. We don’t have much experience altogether, but I was proud of how the kids turned things around in the second half as opposed to the first half. They weren’t winning the ball back then, but they settled in after the break.”

Cory Bolzan got the shutout victory in goal, stopping both Panthers shots he saw on goal. Chris Habecker recoded nine saves on the other end for Houghton Academy (0-1).

Scio has a quick turnaround tonight, as they head for a 7 p.m. contest at Bolivar-Richburg. Houghton Academy however, will return home to open up their home slate against Hinsdale at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Chris Brooks
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Saturday Roundup: Lady Eagles start title defense off hot, shutout Belfast 6-0; Hinsdale/GV ties, B-R boys victorious