Saturday Roundup: Red hot 1st half from Lady Rebels, led by Searle, fuels big 4-1 home win over B-R; Lady Eagles fly past Wellsville with 5-1 win to remain unbeaten

Written By Chris Brooks

CUBA — Similar to the performance that was put together over the road against Wellsville earlier in the week, it was the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford were once again red hot from start to finish, as they held visiting Bolivar-Richburg in check across the majority of the 80 minutes while capitalizing on big pieces of offense in their 4-1 home win over the Lady Wolverines, Saturday afternoon.

“To hold them to a single goal with the amount of firepower that they possess over there, that was pretty nice for us to do that,” said Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight. “It was nice to see some of the girls step up again today for us. We were down seven, and we still came away with a 4-1 win. Sydney (Howard) stepped up and scored when we needed it, so that was nice to see from her.”

Within the first eight minutes, the Lady Rebels (5-4) took complete control of the possession over the Lady Wolverines. As a result, the game’s first goal would come from Taylor Searle, who started the game in the first five minutes with a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar. But a short time later, her next ball would find the back of the net once and for all, taking a Cloey Larabee pass from center to let her shot to the far side fly in to break the ice.

Behind Searle, the Lady Rebels saw two more scorers find the book for their first goals of the season, as Sydney Howard extended Cuba-Rushford’s lead to a pair after picking up the ball in the midst of a passing play that began at midfield by Christy Childs, who sailed a long pass in Searle’s direction, moving in on goal along the way.

The ball would work its way out front of the Bolivar-Richburg (4-4) cage, where Howard is able to trap it past Madison Carney’s grasp to make it a 2-0 lead. Searle would go on to add her second assist of the half, and her fourth point of the day by providing a perfect pass to Shae Maples, who then proceeded to trap the ball into the net for a 3-0 Cuba-Rushford lead.

But the response for the Lady Wolverines was almost immediate with three minutes left in the session, as Madigan Harris pulverized a big pass from Teegan Sibble from the near sideline to get the team on the board, ending the possibility of a shutout.

The midfield battle began to set in for much of the second half, but would come to a close just past the midway mark of the final session via Searle’s second goal of the game from Larabee on the front line, as the two hooked up for the final time at the 17:19 mark to extend Cuba-Rushford’s advantage insurmountably until the end.

“It feels like it’s a bit of a rollercoaster. One day, we’re feeling the highest of highs, and then we’ll have that game or two where we are lower than low,” said Wight. “Our defense is okay, so I feel like things are beginning to come together, and you never know what can happen in one of these League games. Especially coming off the loss against Genesee Valley/Belfast, to get this win over Bolivar is huge.”

It was safe to say that both teams had their fair share of chances on goal, as the Lady Rebels outshot the Lady Wolverines by an 18-14 count, with Cuba-Rushford’s Tara Duvall and Bolivar-Richburg’s Madison Carney both making sevens saves each, with Duvall getting the victory.

Both teams will have Andover/Whitesville up next on their schedule, with Cuba-Rushford heading to Whitesville to take them on Monday night in a 5 p.m. contest, while Bolivar-Richburg will head back home to Dunsmore-Latimer Field on Wednesday to host the same Andover/Whitesville squad a few days later, on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Fillmore 5, Wellsville 1

FILLMORE — The Lady Eagles of Fillmore have been putting together a solid season right from the start. One of their big reasons behind their massive amount of success — playing fast.

They would put that to good use once more on Saturday by scoring while the iron was hot just three minutes in to break the ice. The early goal would help the Lady Eagles set up shop for bigger things to come in the night, scoring a 3-0 halftime lead that was never looked back on to defeat visiting Wellsville by a 5-1 count on Homecoming.

“We were able to have a great day for Homecoming all the way around. All of our soccer teams were in action, there were some volleyball games, and the community really came out and supported us,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. “It’s not something that we have seen in a while, so to have a nice crowd was good for the kids. We were able to get all 20 out there tonight for big minutes, and they got to experience the fun atmosphere. We appreciate the support, and hope it continues.”

The Lady Eagles (9-0) saw Sophia Templeton break it open just over three minutes into the contest after Hope Russell picked off an attempt to clear from the Lady Lions, sending the ball back into the offensive zone on her dribble past the defense, crossing the ball over to Templeton in front of the net for her to put away and score a 1-0 lead.

The offense would keep the Lady Lions (3-6) pinned deep in their defensive zone for the majority of the half, allowing themselves to maintain their pressure on the scoring front. Chances were collected after the goal up until the half, but the Lady Eagles would soon see their lead grow to three with back-to-back goals in three minutes from Grace Russell, the second stemming after a missed penalty kick immediately following the team’s second goal of the game.

Russell would grab helpers from Hope Russell and Allie Mills along the way to give the hosts a big lead at the break.

A midfield battle would formulate between both Wellsville and Fillmore for nearly half of the final session of play, but that came to a close when Fillmore added another block to their lead from Emily Krzeminski and her first goal of the season off a shot from just outside the Wellsville 18, sailing into the back of the top right corner to branch out the advantage to four past midway.

The Lady Lions saw their shutout reach its end with nearly 10 minutes left on the clock, as Fillmore’s attempt to clear the defensive zone was miscalculated, resulting in an own goal that slipped behind Preslee Miller in goal to get Wellsville on the board. Emily Costello would get credit for the goal, with Jaylynn Mess tacking on an assist after their play set up a miscue in the Lady Eagles zone.

Not even three minutes after the shutout-ending goal, the Lady Eagles and their lead grew back out to four with a goal for Hope Russell, hooking up with Zoe Beardsley on her shot that rode the gusty winds in on goal to wrap up what was a 21-shot day on offense for the team in black and green.

In goal, Miller would record the win behind two saves before being relieved by Alex Thur with 10 minutes left in the contest. On the other side, Makenna Dunbar was active in between the pipes for Wellsville, putting a stop to 16 shots with her mitts.

The Lady Eagles will look to be the first team to reach 10 wins on the season Wednesday night back on their home field, playing host to Cuba-Rushford in a 7 p.m. contest. As for the Lady Lions, they head back home in hopes of rebounding with Canisteo-Greenwood in for a 5 p.m. visit on Monday.


FOOTBALL

Wellsville 38, Finney/Northstar 28

ROCHESTER — For the first time in recent memory, the Wellsville Lions have collected their second win of the season over the road Saturday afternoon, but it didn’t come easy, as they had to battle with host C.G. Finney/Northstar until the end to get the job done in their 38-28 triumph.

Wellsville (2-3) took a lead by as much as 16 at one point during the first quarter, with John Layfield breaking the ice with a 31-yard touchdown, and a two-point conversion immediately after with Alex Perkins finding JJ Howard in the end zone to complete the eight-point play.

After C.G. Finney/Northstar cut the deficit in half with a touchdown to open up the second quarter, the Lions extended their lead back out to two possessions once more with Perkins using his legs to finish off a red zone threat with a 5-yard touchdown, followed up by a two-point conversion from Perkins to Jere Havens.

But with under four minutes left until halftime, the hosts would keep providing a response to remain stride for stride until the end, making it 24-16 at the break.

C.G. Finney/Northstar would get to within two of Wellsville in the third quarter, converting a massive 4th down with a long touchdown run. But the game would officially be put on ice by the Lions later on, as their lead grew to as big as 10 in two different drives, with their first score stemming off a 40-yard run by Havens to go up by a 32-22 count.

After the hosts kept attempting to trim the lead back down to single digits, it was extended back out one more time, and for good, with Havens finding the end zone for his second score of the game from 25 yards out, finishing off the 10-point, 38-28 victory.

The Lions are back on their home turf Friday night, as they search for their third straight win with the South Seneca Falcons in town for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

BOYS SOCCER

Hinsdale 4, Salamanca/Catt-Little Valley 0

SALAMANCA — The hot streak continued for the Hinsdale Bobcats back over the road on Saturday. After sweeping their season series with Andover/Whitesville just 24 hours prior, the Bobcats took care of business once more with a 4-0 shutout over host Salamanca/Catt-Little Valley to record their sixth straight victory.

The Bobcats (7-1) took a 1-0 lead at the break led by Tucker Schwartz’s first half tally off a feed provided by Damion Brown. Later in the second half, they would score their next three goals including a pair from Brown to finish off his five-point night for the visitors in white and blue, as Ethan Chapman and Schwartz both handed off assists along the way.

Brandon Hayman would finish off the goal-scoring for Hinsdale with the team’s final goal.

Hinsdale will go for seven straight wins when they visit the Jungle on Wednesday, getting set to battle with host Genesee Valley/Belfast.

Alfred-Almond 8, Andover/Whitesville 1

ANDOVER — The Eagles of Alfred-Almond were relentless on the frontlines all game long over the road on Saturday, as they scored four goals in each half to set the tone against Andover/Whitesville, coming away with an 8-1 victory.

Statistics were not available to report upon publication.

Andover/Whitesville (1-9) will now hit the road when they return to action Thursday night, visiting Bolivar-Richburg in a 5 p.m. first kick.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Fillmore 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 0

FILLMORE — Emma Cole fired up a Fillmore offense that battled through thick and thin for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore in the first two sets, coming with a team-high 12 kills to go with one ace to help set up what was a straight-set win on Saturday, as they soared past Genesee Valley/Belfast with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-14 victory.

Helping the cause behind Cole for the Lady Eagles (5-2) was Jadyn Mucher, who added in six aces from the service line to go with three more kills. Setter Zoe Hubbard dished out 17 assists at the front of the net to go with two aces and a kill.

On the other side of the net, Kaitlin Sadler led the way for Genesee Valley/Belfast (1-5) with four kills and three aces. The team’s setter, Addy Herring handed out 10 assists to pair with her two kills and two aces.

Fillmore will return to their home floor Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. first serve against the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg, while Genesee Valley/Belfast hits the road once more on Monday for a 6 p.m. first serve against Avoca/Prattsburgh.

SWIMMING

Lady Sea Lions continue rolling on road at Salamanca

SALAMANCA — Nine more first place finishes were gathered by the Lady Sea Lions of Wellsville when they dove back into the water, Saturday morning on the road, as Tiernee Brandes led the way by having a hand in three of the team’s triumphant events to help fuel a 99-72 road win against Salamanca.

Brandes recorded a pair of individual victories in each half of the meet, as well as swam in the third position of the team’s winning 200 medley relay squad alongside Hayden Waldon, Allie Bidzerkowny and Grace Kinnicutt, as the four Lady Sea Lions recorded a winning time of 2:14.70. After the opening event, Brandes scored wins in the 200 individual medley (2:32.57), and later on in the 500 freestyle (5:57.91).

The Lady Sea Lions (6-0) would garner another relay victory from the team of Waldon, Reegan Perkins, Isabelle Hart and Kaelyn Crawford, as the four combined to record the medaling time of 2:01.64 in the 200 freestyle relay. Individually, Waldon would add in a 100 freestyle (1:00.97) along the way.

Other individual winners for Wellsville include: Kennedy Ewing in the 200 freestyle (2:20.85), Morgan Mattison in the 50 freestyle (28.40), Ashley Oswald off the diving board (211.32), and Ellie LaBenne in the 100 butterfly (1:20.01).

The Lady Sea Lions return to the pool on Thursday, paying a visit to Bath-Haverling for a 5 p.m. meeting.

Chris Brooks
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