Tuesday Sectionals: No. 4 Scio creates 1st half momentum shift, score three straight en route to D2 Finals berth; No. 2 Fillmore clinches 3rd straight D1 Finals appearance
![Hinsdale senior Tucker Schwartz (14) traps the ball near midfield, as Scio sophomore Greg Wesche (3) looks to apply the pressure during Tuesday night’s Class D2 Semifinal at Dunsmore-Latimer Field in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5dec3c09e4272e7a7d75ee48/1635298327159-R84PLMCQP1EDLWE7WPKI/252A5166.JPG)
![Hinsdale senior Brandon Hayman (16) and Scio senior Corey Field (1) joust for the loose ball near the far sideline during Tuesday night’s Class D2 Semifinal at Dunsmore-Latimer Field in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5dec3c09e4272e7a7d75ee48/1635298337684-BMSOGSY495YHXN5BYHNZ/252A5216.JPG)
BOLIVAR — An October Nor’Easter made its appearance across the area in the form of rain buckets and blustery winds. Mix in some cold temperatures, and you have the ingredients for what was a brutal day one of Section V Semifinals action on the field.
In your typical soccer game, having the advantage against your opposition is huge. But at Dunsmore-Latimer Field in Bolivar on Tuesday, with the weather dumping loads of precipitation and the wind howling on the turf, the degree of difficulty was turned up one big notch.
For this kind of game, having that lead is absolutely paramount.
Across the first half, both Scio and Hinsdale tried to navigate their way through some of the toughest conditions of the season in order to get to the big stage this weekend — the Class D2 Finals. An all-out midfield battle for possession ensued up and down the field. For most of the time spent, the top-seeded Bobcats took complete control of play, pounding the Scio zone with chances.
But then, a sudden change. With a massive momentum shift, the fourth-seeded Tigers were uncaged.
Working with the wind for the first half, Scio would find a way to run the table against Hinsdale. After what was a scoreless tie on the board for nearly 40 minutes time, the Tigers would find the back of the Bobcats net twice in the half’s final three minutes to get the lead they wanted.
With a two-goal lead in hand and the pre-existing conditions on the field present, it was a lead they held onto for the remainder of the game, adding to it to stay one step ahead of the top seeds to clinch their 2nd Class D2 Finals appearance in three years with a 4-1 triumph over Hinsdale.
Both teams battled abroad in the first half of play, looking to create any opening they could against one another. Perhaps one of the best chances of the half came during the dominant possession game provided by the Bobcats (11-4-1), when Tucker Schwartz received a ball in front of the Scio cage. With nothing but net to work with, the shot provided dribbled wide and away for the Tigers defense to prevent the score.
But toward the tail end of the frame, the Tigers (9-6-2) would find their way onto the board and then some, scoring a pair of their four goals in the last three minutes with Jordan White starting it off, dishing along a perfect cross in the air, straight onto Lazar Bulajic’s head where he was able to put it away on the empty side of the Hinsdale net to give the team the early lead to work with.
Later on, the lead was extended. On Scio’s final rush into the offensive zone, the ball was picked up by Ethan Davenport. With a trailing Bulajic next door, Davenport controlled the possession far enough to apply a shot on goal, taking a massive deflection of a Bobcat parked in front, one where he was able to pick up the loose rebound for a second attempt that ultimately found its way in with 31 seconds left until the horn to give the four seeds a 2-0 lead.
“The first 25 or 30 minutes, Hinsdale definitely controlled the game,” said Tigers coach Dillon McFall. “We were bending a little bit, but we never broke. We made an adjustment on the fly that really helped us, and we started winning the ball more. That first goal, Jordan beat a guy down the line and had a great cross to Lazar, and he had a great finish with the head. That gave us the momentum we needed going into halftime. The second goal was huge, and that gave us another push toward shifting that momentum in the second half.”
That momentum shift would take full effect in the second half after garnering the two-goal lead on Hinsdale, as Scio maintained control for the majority of the half. Multiple chances were garnered by the Tigers along the way, eventually boiling over near the halfway point where they found the back of the net for a third time with White breaking free from the Bobcats defense on his way in.
White then fired an absolute laser beam straight to the far post from the right wing on his way in, giving the team in white and blue complete control of a three-goal lead in the middle of the rain and wind. It was a lead that they never lost, but was threatened at one point by the Bobcats with 16:11 left on the clock, as they cut the deficit back down to a pair after a miscue in front of the Tigers net.
After the opening initial shot from Hinsdale went off the hands of Landon Arnold in net, it would create a rebound for the top seeds in blue and white to pick up and put home, as Xavier Pascucci scored the shutout-ending goal, with Tucker Schwartz’s first shot morphing into the primary assist on the play.
Going against the wind to end the game, it was no problem for Davenport to find the back of the Hinsdale net one more time. From 20 yards out, he provided a response nearly six minutes later, as he gave Scio their three-goal lead back again once and for all, lofting a high kick in on goal, sailing over the head of Ethan Cashimere between the posts and into the net to seal the deal on the team’s second trip back to the Class D2 Finals in three years.
“It was a completely different game in the second half, and we managed to hang onto it,” McFall said. “That third goal by Jordan was a phenomenal play, and that made things even more difficult for Hinsdale. Not many people know who he is, or what he is capable of, but he’s quietly become one of the best players in the County. I haven’t had anyone score 20 goals in three years, and I have quite a few good players on this team. The last goal by Ethan was a case of good things happening when you put the ball on goal. You’re not going to find many eighth graders that put together a solid Varsity season as well as he has.”
The celebration was on for the Tigers on one end of the field, but on the other, a completely different feeling. The season was over for the top-seeded Bobcats, and it was one that the program has not had a chance to put together in quite some time, as they wrapped up the 2021 campaign with the Allegany County Division II title, the top seed in Class D2 and a record of 11-4-1.
After the game, McFall spoke with the Bobcats and wished them on a great season well played.
“I told them after the game that you guys are going to be disappointed that they lost, but in the big scheme of things, they had a great season,” he recalled. “This isn’t the same Hinsdale team in recent years that a lot of people are accustomed to hearing about. They did a fantastic job this year, and with all of their success that they have had, they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about.”
The Bobcats graduate six Seniors at the end of the year, including the team’s leading goal-scorer in Schwartz, who finished with 22 goals on the season. He is joined by Sam and Ethan Cashimere, Brandon Hayman, Parker Cummins and Isaac Howell.
As for the Tigers, they managed to outshoot Hinsdale by a narrow 9-7 advantage with Arnold picking up six solid saves to keep the Bobcats out of the net, while Cashimere made three stops on the other side.
It was a season that began for the Tigers with four consecutive losses. Since that point in time, the ship that was driven by the No. 4 seeds has begun charting a fresh new course to glory, going 9-2-2 in the next 13 games to leave their start in the rearview mirror. For McFall since their sluggish start, it’s been a matter of refining their game and taking it to a whole different level.
A level that his team has now reached.
“The first four games of the year, we played really quality opponents,” he said. “They exposed us in those games, especially the first two games against Fillmore and Arkport/Canaseraga. We got beat 7-0 and 5-1. Those are two tough teams to start the year with when you have guys out there still getting their feet wet. I kept stressing to the guys that great things were coming to us if we just stay the course, and continue what we’re doing but finetune it. We were doing them right, just not enough. We started little by little each week, and we’ve gotten better.”
McFall continued, adding that his four Seniors that have been to the big stage before during the team’s first Championship winning season in 40 years back in 2019, have given his younger generation of talent a big bolstering of confidence.
“Two years ago, we won our first Sectional title in 40 years. I have four Seniors that have played on that team, and all four of them this year are playing big roles. Some of that experience has helped them with the other kids and bringing them to their potential. And then, there are the younger kids when we won that were in modified. They were at those games, and they didn’t really necessarily get a taste for playing to win, but in a way, they did with the atmosphere. They know how special it can be, and they know how much to put in to get themselves over the top.”
Ironically enough, both Fillmore and Arkport/Canaseraga will meet on Friday to determine this year’s Class D1 Champion. On the same day, Scio will attempt to go for their second Class D2 title in three seasons when they hit the road once more to take on No. 3 C.G. Finney, who rolled past No. 2 Northstar earlier in the night to claim their spot in the Finals, at a site and time to be determined.
“We’re excited to be back in the Finals, and playing for a Section V title again,” McFall said. “It took us a long time to get that first one, and quite a few years to get into the Finals game itself. Being in that title game two years out of three, it’s not too shabby for a program like ours. I anticipate being solid on the ball, being quick, the works. We’re not going to get on the bus, turn around and come home. We’re going to give it all we got.”
Class D1 Semifinals
No. 2 Fillmore 2, No. 3 Wheatland-Chili 1
PERRY — To say that the conditions for soccer were horrific, would be an understatement. The rain and winds up north in Perry created havoc across the turf for the second-seeded Eagles of Fillmore to attempt another return trip to the Class D1 Finals this weekend.
So much havoc, that the Yellowjacket-embroidered turf began to create pools of water. Although the obstacles on the turf were hard to navigate through, the Eagles made sure the trip was worthwhile.
Consistency was the name of the game, and for Fillmore, they scored two big goals off five shots on offense, with Jack Cool ultimately netting what was deemed as the game winner with 20 minutes left in regulation, pulling the Eagles ahead and toward victory, as they stamped their return ticket back to the Class D1 Finals for a third consecutive year, edging out the third-seeded Wildcats by a 2-1 count on a messy Tuesday evening.
“It was an awesome, full team effort in some of the worst soccer conditions I have ever seen,” said Eagles assistant coach Jordan Mullen. “It hardly resembled soccer as the entire game, the field was holding pools of water. But, we were the most prepared team tonight and it showed. We were able to provide the vast majority of chances and it allowed us to live and play another day.”
Battling against the rain and wind all night long under the lights, Fillmore (16-2) was able to take control of the midfield battle for the majority of the time that was spent there, allowing them to create an opening in the Wheatland-Chili defense in the first 10 minutes of play with the game’s opening goal, beginning with a Deen Muzaid-Omar corner kick from the far sidelines.
After the kick, the ball landed in the midst of a scrum formulated between the Wildcats and Eagles parked out front of the net. The ball was ultimately dug free by Jack Cool out in front, and delivered along to Mitch Ward, who knocked it home to give the second seeds the lead.
The kick was one of seven the Eagles recorded in the contest, while holding Wheatland-Chili to just one across the 80 minute showing.
The one-goal lead for Fillmore would stand until just past the midway mark of the half when Wheatland-Chili tied the game up at the 17:18 mark, as Aaron Lund earned a direct kick opportunity just a few yards outside of the Fillmore box. After lining up the kick, Lund was able to angle the ball around a five-man wall of Fillmore defenders in front of the net, zipping it past Luke Colombo in goal next to the near post to tie the game at one.
The tie would remain all the way into the second half, as both teams re-engaged in their midfield battle until the Eagles garnered the biggest opportunity of them all, coming right at the midway marker of the period. Wheatland-Chili began their transition downfield off a goal kick, which was intercepted at center by Muzaid-Omar, who then made his way down the far sidelines.
Muzaid-Omar would let a shot go on goal, which created a big rebound right out front of the Wildcats cage after an attempted save. The rebound would reach Jack Cool in front to poke home into the empty net behind the keeper to put Fillmore out ahead for good with a 2-1 lead.
Colombo would make four saves in between the pipes to lock down the win on defense.
Fillmore has now finalized their third straight trip back to the Finals this weekend, as they now get set to battle No. 5 Arkport/Canaseraga for this year’s gold in Class D1. The Wolves upset top-seeded Naples earlier in the night at Penn Yan in overtime, winning 2-1 over the Big Green.
The Wolves and Eagles will meet for the second and final time this season on Friday at a time and site to be determined. Their last meeting came right at the beginning of the year, when Arkport/Canaseraga was triumphant on opening night by a 1-0 count in Fillmore on September 1.
“We are really starting to enjoy this ride together as a team. We will look to bring home the title for a perfect finish to an incredible season that we have put together, as well as an incredible career for our coach.” said Mullen.
