Tuesday Roundup: Wellsville boys, And/Whi girls split Tuesday crosstown twinbill; Russell’s late netter helps Lady Eagles edge out C-R

Written By Chris Brooks

ANDOVER — It was crosstown rivalry night between Wellsville and Andover/Whitesville on Tuesday. With the boys doing battle later on in the Lion’s Den, the ladies were up first in Andover in the first of two meetings this season. Both teams were coming off tournament-ending victories, and are now on the prowl, looking for another block to build from.

It was a battle that leaned in one direction for much of the opening half. That being for the hosts in purple, as Zoey Lee and Kennedy Bledsoe highlighted the Andover/Whitesville offense with a pair of goals each, one in each half of play to set the tone against the Lady Lions in what came to be a 4-0 shutout on their home field.

“This was a nice win for us against a very athletic Wellsville team,” said Andover/Whitesville co-coach Al Barber. “The girls were able to set the tempo very early, and they kept the pressure on all night. On the other side of the field, the defense played a disciplined game and the keeper was right there to cover the few chances they let up. This was a positive step for us, and we saw a lot of good things from a lot of girls.”

The goal-scoring started just over 10 minutes into the game with Lee finding the back of the Wellsville cage first to break the ice, as she connected with Bledsoe. Coming immediately after a direct kick opportunity for the Lady Lions from 30 yards out, Bledsoe chipped across a gorgeous ball for Lee to put away to give Andover/Whitesville (2-1) the early lead.

Bledsoe would score herself just past the midway mark of the half, taking a throw-in from Adreanna Buchholz, and running with it all the way into the Wellsville (1-2) zone, picking the right place and the right time to put goal number two away for the hosts to hold at the break.

Lee and Bledsoe added one more goal each in the last 40 minute session, trading assists along the way, with Bledsoe scoring first off Lee’s slide to the penalty kick line, burying it with ease to branch their lead to three. Later on to finish off the goals, Lee broke away from the Lady Lions defense off of Bledsoe’s feed, sending the ball to the back of the net to close it out, conserving the shutout along with it.

In all, Andover/Whitesville outshot Wellsville by an 18-8 count, with Brynn Scholl recording the eight-save shutout for the hosts. On the other side, Makenna Dunbar made 14 saves for the Lady Lions, who are right back at it tonight at the Cohocton Sports Complex, taking on the Dansville Lady Mustangs in a 5 p.m. contest.

As for Andover/Whitesville, they return to action on Thursday by hitting the road, paying a visit to the Fillmore Lady Eagles in a 7 p.m. first kick of their own.

Fillmore 3, Cuba-Rushford 2

CUBA — Goals were traded back and forth all game long. Between Fillmore and Cuba-Rushford, it would come down to whoever had the last strike. The knockout punch, as they say.

A pair of ties were garnered, each team breaking one of the deadlocks once. The last one however, decided the game. That belonged to Hope Russell, who started the scoring off in the first half to give the Lady Eagles the first lead of the game, scoring her last just past the halfway mark of the second half to give them the lead back for good, securing a 3-2 edge over the host Lady Rebels.

“It was a tough game. Fillmore’s offense was just relentless, and it showed tonight,” Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight said. “Tara was making all sorts of stops for us, especially during times when we really needed them. Overall, I’m really proud of how we played against a great team like them. Even though it was 2-1 in the second half, it felt like we played much better as a team during that time.”

Russell’s first goal was tallied right at the halfway point of the opening half, making a run to the Cuba-Rushford net all to herself to break it open. But it wasn’t long until Cuba-Rushford (1-2) provided a response, tying the game going into halftime behind Taylor Searle’s netter, connecting with a Cloey Larabee pass ahead to lock the game in at a 1-1 tie.

The Lady Rebels would start red hot off the burst of momentum provided by Searle, as she dished out an assist to help the team grab the lead over Fillmore just four minutes into the new session, handing out a helper to Sofia Riquelme for her first of the season in a now-2-1 lead for the hosts.

But Fillmore would find a way to finish the night strong, as they scored the last two goals of the game with Mallory DeRock tying the game one more time at the midway mark on her first of the season. That coming before Russell broke the tie for good with her second of the game off a Zoe Beardsley assist, four minutes later.

Fillmore would go on to outshoot Cuba-Rushford by a 16-9 count, with Preslee Miller making seven stops in goal to preserve the win for the Lady Eagles. On the other end, Tara Duvall made 13 stops for the Lady Rebels.

Both teams are back on their home fields for action Thursday night, as the Lady Eagles go for four straight with Andover/Whitesville in town for a visit, while Canisteo-Greenwood pays a visit to Cuba-Rushford in a 5 p.m. kick of their own.

Bolivar-Richburg 3, Friendship/Scio 0

BOLIVAR — In their home opener, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg offense took control of what was presented to them Tuesday night at Dunsmore-Latimer Field, as they came away with 21 shots on the Friendship/Scio goal and fueled a shutout effort in the process, winning by a 3-0 count.

The evening for the Lady Wolverines (2-1) was started with a first for Teegan Sibble, as she recorded her first career Varsity goal to give the team a 1-0 lead to work with at the break by capitalizing on a pass provided by McKinlee Harris to break the ice.

The Harris twins would branch the lead for the hosts in black insurmountable when the second half settled in, as both McKinlee and Madigan recorded an unassisted tally in the last 40 minute session to take care of the victory for good.

Malayna Ayers earned the win in goal for Bolivar-Richburg, making seven stops while Nevaeh Ross made 14 saves on the other end for Friendship/Scio (0-3), who hit the road once more with a trip to Franklinville in store for Thursday night at 5 p.m.

The Lady Wolverines will take the week off and prepare for their next matchup right back at Dunsmore-Latimer Field, taking on the Lady Lions of Wellsville in a 7 p.m. first kick next Wednesday.

Keshequa Tourney: Keshequa 2, Genesee Valley/Belfast 0

NUNDA — After clinching their first home tournament since the beginning of the 2014 season, Genesee Valley/Belfast returned to action with another tournament on Tuesday — this time over the road, at Kiwanis Park in Nunda.

They took the stage alongside Notre Dame-Batavia, Alfred-Almond and host Keshequa in a two-day tournament to help determine after numerous practices and a couple of games early on, where they stood thus far.

In what was deemed a defensive battle with the host Lady Indians, something had to give in the last 40 minutes remaining in the second half. Keshequa had the something almost immediately at the start, breaking the ice with the go-ahead goal and then some to officially advance into the Championship game with a 2-0 shutout victory.

“It was a tough night. I thought the girls played really hard, and I think we grew as a team, and playing a team like Keshequa will make us better,” said GV/Belfast co-coach Lisa Scott-Schneider. “They are a very quick and technical team. We had a couple of defensive blunders, and they happened to capitalize on them. It was scoreless at the half, and we felt really good going into the second half. Then they scored early, and we went into a lull. But we had a couple of decent opportunities late to give us a chance.”

Elyse Klump and MacKenzie Gillen were both the driving forces behind Keshequa’s victory, with Klump cementing their lead for good with her goal from Gillen nearly three minutes after the second half began to capture the early lead. It was held until the Lady Indians were able to cash in on a big piece of insurance at the halfway mark, as Gillen knocked away a Julia Wilkins pass to finish off the victory.

Keshequa held an 8-3 advantage in the shot department, with Ashley Burrows grabbing five saves in all for Genesee Valley/Belfast (2-1).

Genesee Valley/Belfast will now partake in Consolation round action when they return to Kiwanis Park on Thursday, taking on the Lady Eagles of Alfred-Almond in a 4:30 p.m. first kick.

BOYS SOCCER

Wellsville 11, Andover/Whitesville 0

WELLSVILLE — From the word go, the Lions of Wellsville started their home opener in the Lion’s Den with a bang. Finding their first goal just six minutes in, the goals continued to come one after another until there was no more left to score. When it was all said and done, they had 11 of them.

Cody Costello and Ethan Bailey each led Wellsville’s offense on the frontlines with a hat trick each, as Kavan O’Grady, Matt Bittel and Dillon Day all had a hand to pitch in, as they rolled their way past visiting Andover/Whitesville with an 11-0 victory on Tuesday.

Out of their 11 goals, Wellsville (2-1) set the tone with five of them in the first 40 minutes, with Costello starting the festivities with a pair in a two-minute span, his first being helped across by Ethan Bailey in the midst of a scrum in front of the Andover/Whitesville net. His next would come after intercepting a throw-in just inside the offensive zone, taking it himself to the goal and burying it to branch the lead to a pair.

Cooper Brockway made it 3-0 near the midway mark of the half, as Wellsville won the possession at center with AJ Cowburn sending a pass up the middle in Brockway’s direction, finessing his way past the defense and in to finish the play.

The team’s last two goals of the half came courtesy of an own goal which was awarded to O’Grady, who last touched the ball just past halfway, and Ethan Bailey getting a goal of his own to close out shop on a sharp-angle shot from the side of the Andover/Whitesville (0-3) cage to give them a 5-0 lead at the half.

Both Costello and Bailey would finish off their hat tricks in the last 40 minutes of play, with Costello concluding his two minutes into the new session off a Bailey assist, and Bailey later on in the second half. All three of Bailey’s goals were unassisted. Matt Bittel would find the back of the net twice himself to help the cause, while Dillon Day had a goal of his own to add.

Aidan Riley would chip in with an assist on Bittel’s second goal to help wrap up what was a 32-shot evening for the Lions on the offensive front. In goal, Logan Dunbar helped preserve the shutout on defense with three saves, while Landon Ordway made nine saves for the visitors, who head to Whitesville to open their home slate on Monday against Genesee Valley/Belfast at 5 p.m.

The Lions hit the road to take on Wayland-Cohocton on Thursday at the Cohocton Sports Complex in tournament action, with their contest beginning promptly at 5 p.m.

Fillmore 7, Scio 0

FILLMORE — Mitch Ward was Allegany County’s leader in goal-scoring last season, netting 27 goals in the team’s 14-1 campaign from a year ago. On Saturday, his hot start caught fire with four of the team’s seven goals in their shutout over the road at Cuba-Rushford.

Back home on Wednesday, it was no different, as the Fillmore junior continues to make some noise a red hot Eagles offensive front by netting four more goals to up his total thus far to eight in three games, assisting the team in another 7-0 shutout, this time against visiting Scio.

The Eagles (2-1) took a 3-0 lead at the break with Ward scoring a pair in each 40 minute session, as Alex Ellsworth and Eben Schilke each had a hand in assisting on the goals in the first half. To round off the scoring, Jack Cool scored a pair of his own, with his first concluding the offense on a feed provided to him by Zach Sisson. Aiden Wagner netted one of his own in the second half to finish furthering the cause.

In all, Fillmore outshot Scio (0-1) by a 17-1 count, with Luke Colombo earning credit with the one-save shutout. On the other end, Landon Arnold made 10 saves for the Tigers, who return home to host the Arkport/Canaseraga Wolves in opening round action of the Brock Young Invitational Tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m. The tournament will begin with Bolivar-Richburg taking on Cuba-Rushford beforehand, at 5 p.m.

As for the Eagles, they will go for their third straight win when their homestand continues into Saturday night, when they host the incoming Allegany-Limestone Gators at 7 p.m.

Chris Brooks
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Saturday Roundup: GV/Belfast wins home tournament behind Proctor and Borden’s 2nd half connection in 1-0 shutout over C-R