Thursday Soccer: Lady Wolverines exact revenge on GV after overtime loss, as Harris scores pair of goals to propel B-R to 2-1 road win
BELMONT — After their first original meeting back on October 13, Bolivar-Richburg head coach Mark Emery had his eye on October 29 on his calendar. That was the next time his Lady Wolverines squad would face the Genesee Valley Lady Jaguars. Their 3-1 defeat in overtime to the hands of the Lady Jaguars was one that Emery said he would like to have back.
The longtime Lady Wolverines head coach said that it was a chance that slipped right from their grasp.
“That game bugged me the first go-around, and I thought we really had it,” he said. “We had 12 players that night, and it just slipped between our fingers. We ran out of gas, the kids were out of position and when we lost it, it really irritated me. Going over tonight, I thought about wanting that game back. The thing that kept coming back was being thankful to play these games. Me and Lisa (Scott-Schneider) both, and we both talked before the game. We hoped to have another good game this time around.”
A good game it was, and for the Lady Wolverines, it was revenge exacted.
With the assistance of McKinlee Harris, Bolivar-Richburg was able to get the bounce back over Genesee Valley as they wished for, as Harris netted both of the team’s goals, one in each half, while the defense fended off the Lady Jaguars in the last 20 minutes of the game to go on and take the 2-1 victory back home.
“Honestly looking at it, the score probably should have been higher than two for us, and Genesee Valley should have had more too. It felt high-scoring in a way, but it really wasn’t,” Emery said. “It was one of those nights where it was wet, the ball was taking off on the kids. It’s getting close to November, and this is usually the time where the kids start to really come along. I hope it’s the case this time around.”
It was not until 25 minutes into the battle between the two clubs that the action began to heat up. Bolivar-Richburg (6-3) was able to get onto the board first with Harris’ first of two unassisted tallies in the game, taking advantage of a ricochet in front of the Genesee Valley cage, taking a deflection of a Lady Jaguars defender in front toward the goal and with a stroke of luck, the ball slipped out of the reach of Ashley Burrows to make a save, causing the ball to enter the goal for the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The lead was kept up until just past the 10 minute mark of the second half, when the Lady Wolverines added to it with Harris’ final goal of the night to branch the lead out to a pair. Genesee Valley (5-3) was able to apply a bit of pressure late in the last 20 minutes of the contest, when they cut the deficit in half just prior to the midway mark off Lauren Haggstrom’s first goal of the season, taking an Emera Aquila pass from center to put away.
But the Lady Wolverines were able to hang on in the end to officially bounce back from their early season loss to the Lady Jaguars back home at Dunsmore-Latimer Field, with a victory over the road at Judy Bliven Field.
Bolivar-Richburg held a narrow lead in the shots department, as they outshot Genesee Valley by a 10-6 count. In goal, Malayna Ayers picked up her second win in between the pipes, stopping five shots. On the other side of the field, Ashley Burrows made eight stops for the Lady Jaguars.
The Lady Wolverines will have an extended break to prepare for their next battle back over the road on Wednesday, as they get set to do battle with the Cuba-Rushford Lady Rebels in a 5 p.m. contest. As for Genesee Valley, they will take part in one of two games going on Saturday afternoon, as they hit the road to visit the Belfast Lady Bulldogs for a 3 p.m. contest at the Rich Sullivan Complex.
Fillmore 6, Cuba-Rushford 0
FILLMORE — When it comes to scoring goals, once the Lady Eagles of Fillmore find their way onto the board first, it becomes a momentum changer through the entirety of the game. When Thursday came around, it proved no different.
The Lady Eagles were able to get on the board first near the midway mark of the opening half. When the first goal found the back of the net, the avalanche came shortly afterwards, as they went on to score two more in the first half and three in the back half to roll their way toward a 6-0 shutout of visiting Cuba-Rushford.
Hope Russell had another explosive night for Fillmore (11-0) on the frontlines, erupting for four goals, three of them consecutively to score a first half hat trick, with Sophia Templeton, Zoe Beardsley and Grace Russell all providing assists on the first three Lady Eagles goals of the game to give them a 3-0 lead at the half.
The trio of Russell goals were scored in just a four-minute span.
“Cuba-Rushford plays good, organized defense, and they worked hard throughout the entire game. I thought our defensive organization and our help starting the offense was better. Our offense continues to have spurts where they do some really nice things.” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley.
In the second half, Grace Russell got on the board herself off of Templeton’s second helper of the game near the midway mark to branch the lead to four. In the last 15 minutes, the Lady Eagles would grab their final two goals within seconds of each other, as Shelby Beardsley successfully converted off a feed from Grace Russell, while Hope Russell finished her eight-point night with her fourth goal on an unassisted beat to the Cuba-Rushford (1-6-1) net.
Preslee Miller and Lizzy Nugent combined to make two stops for Fillmore, with Miller grabbing credit for the shutout. On the other side, Tara Duvall made 10 saves for the Lady Rebels, who return to action back home for a 6 p.m. contest against the Friendship Lady Golden Eagles.
The Lady Eagles will have an extended time off from action until next Thursday, when they hit the road to face the Franklinville Lady Panthers in a 4:30 p.m. contest.
Belfast 4, Friendship 1
BELFAST — After falling to the hands of Bolivar-Richburg this past Tuesday night over the road, the Lady Bulldogs of Belfast returned home in hopes to rebound off the 6-0 shutout to the Lady Wolverines. Despite the conditions created by the remnants of Hurricane Zeta hitting the east coast, it was not going to stop Belfast.
All five goals that were scored between the two teams on the field were scored in the first 40 minutes of play. In the end, the Lady Bulldogs had more of them, converting four goals off nine total shots with Alicia Borden leading the way with two of them, as they went on to deliver a 4-1 home victory at the Rich Sullivan Complex over visiting Friendship.
The game would reach a 1-1 tie through the first 15 minutes of play, when Borden opened the goal scoring for Belfast (6-2) with her first of two goals finding the back of the net. Not two minutes after, the Lady Golden Eagles (1-7-2) tied up the festivities with Nevaeh Ross and her goal, as she made a run to the Lady Bulldogs net to tuck the shot away.
The Lady Bulldogs would go on to score the next three goals consecutively to ultimately put the game on ice, with Hannah Southwick-Powers giving the team the lead back for good over two minutes after the game-tying goal Friendship provided. Borden then followed with her second of the game after the midway mark, grabbing another unassisted chance at the goal with 17:53 left to extend the lead.
Finishing off the scoring was Mary Hamer, as she found the back of the net on a rush that began with a pass from Anna Drozdowski, scoring the final goal with 5:38 left to cap off the insurmountable lead for the hosts in red. In all, the Lady Bulldogs outshot the Lady Golden Eagles by a 9-3 final count in the shot department.
In goal, Kaitlin Sadler earned the win by making two stops, while Madeline Lerro and Karlee Cochran combined to make five saves for Friendship, who now hits the road for a 6 p.m. contest at Cuba-Rushford.
As for Belfast, they will now host the Lady Jaguars of Genesee Valley for a Saturday afternoon matinee at the Rich Sullivan Complex, beginning at 3 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Cuba-Rushford 5, Friendship 0
CUBA — The Rebels of Cuba-Rushford have not been in action for over nine days on the field. When Thursday night came around to get back into the swing of soccer, it was time well spent, as they took a 2-0 lead at the half and built upon it with three more goals, branching their lead out to preserve their 5-0 home shutout of visiting Friendship to get back on track.
“Friendship had only nine guys and despite that, they were able to do a great job of staying compact defensively. They made it tough for us to break through into the offensive zone. Luckily in the second half, we made some great adjustments and we scored some goals out of it to do so.” Rebels coach Nick Perillo said.
Five different scorers found the back of the net for the hosts in blue, as Logan Lewis and Jacob Smith gave the Rebels (2-3-1) the 2-0 lead at the break with their goals. Lewis found the back of the net off a Chander Wirth assist from center, while Smith connected on his goal with the assist coming from Caden Granger to get the ball rolling.
Cuba-Rushford was able to break loose in the next 40 minute session, adding three more goals with Nate Cole getting the first off a Landon Wight helper. Caden Granger followed with one of his own to make it a 4-0 Rebels lead off an assist from Austin Pinney. The scoring concluded near the end of the contest with Lucas Boutwell recording a goal off a Hunter Rix feed.
Jarrett Campbell and Jack Frank combined to make seven total stops on goal for the Rebels, with Campbell earning credit for the shutout. On the other side, Pehyton Moore made 12 stops for the Golden Eagles (1-7).
Cuba-Rushford will have a quick turnaround tonight, as they head out to visit the Fillmore Eagles for a 6 p.m. matchup, while Friendship regroups and readies up for a trip to Bolivar-Richburg on Monday at 6 p.m.
