And/Whi girls soccer battles with Avoca-Prattsburgh, but early icebreaker, pair of late netters in 2nd half allow Lady Titans to start 2024 season with 3-0 blank

AVOCA — Just like that, the summer break has officially come and gone in a flash. Tuesday night marked the beginning of a brand new sports season, as every student-athlete far and wide embarked on their journey back to school and its halls, once again.

Of the many schools around the area, Andover/Whitesville and Avoca-Prattsburgh helped open up another pristine campaign on the pitch for both Allegany and Steuben County with the very first game back outside, with Fall right around the corner.

Through the first 40 minute encapsulation, opportunities were garnered, shots were tallied and saves were made from both ladies squads. But with another 40 minute half waiting in the wings after the intermission, there was still plenty of time left to make some season-opening noise.

That’s where Madison Fitzwater came into play for the hosts in black and gold, doing just that with two of the team’s three goals in the second half, her first coming in the opening 10 minutes of the frame to help Avoca-Prattsburgh get things started on the right foot, garnering an advantage they never looked back from to begin their campaign with a strong 3-0 shutout of Andover/Whitesville.

"It wasn’t the start that we hoped for, but it’s very early in the season and we did see a lot of good things from the girls. We have a better idea of where we are and what we need to focus on moving forward.” said Andover/Whitesville co-coach Aaron Rawady.

Fitzwater did not waste any time getting Avoca-Prattsburgh’s season started red hot. After a scoreless battle across a first half that witnessed them carry a 5-2 shot advantage into the break, the Lady Titans senior broke the ice with a big crack in the shape of the team’s first score at the 32:01 mark, burying it off a pass dished along by D’Mariannah Hinson-Pike.

The lead for the hosts would remain glued in place for a vast majority of time across the half, despite a couple of key shots from Andover/Whitesville (0-1) alongside some big saves mixed in between the posts from Olivia Waters. Down the stretch with less than 15 minutes to go however, the Lady Titans would ultimately strike gold once again with two more goals from within their last three shots of the game.

Fitzwater had the second of those markers at the 11:10 mark, connecting with the back of the net off a pass from Meyah Putnam.

Putnam would cap off the scoring herself just over a minute later, aided by a pass helped along from Brooke Vanskiver with 10:03 remaining. When the curtain came down on the battle, the three goals were totaled off an 11-shot performance on offense for Avoca-Prattsburgh, holding Andover/Whitesville to just four shots on defense in return.

In goal, the first shutout of the season belonged to Ellie Harrell, who made all four stops to preserve the victory for the Lady Titans. On the opposite end of the pitch, Waters made eight saves for Andover/Whitesville.

Next up on Thursday, the season-opening road swing will continue on for Andover/Whitesville, as they now prepare for a 7 p.m. visit to defending Class D State Finalist Fillmore.