Wednesday Roundup: Down 2-0 at half, C-R glues together big 2nd half comeback to get 1st win of the season in 3-2 triumph over GV

Written By Chris Brooks

CUBA — Wednesday night in Cuba was all about searching for the first win of the season, as both visiting Genesee Valley and host Cuba-Rushford went toe-to-toe to settle the score.

In what was a midfield battle in the first 20 minutes of the night, it was quickly turned into a half of domination for the Jaguars. At halftime, both teams talked things over in prep for the second half. When the final 40 minutes came about, the Rebels were more than ready.

Cuba-Rushford came out swinging in the first 10 minutes, as they began to shift all of the momentum toward their direction after each minute. They would continue chipping away until they completed their 2-0 comeback to bounce all the way back and defeat Genesee Valley with a three-unanswered goal second half, and a 3-2 victory on their home field.

“I think Genesee Valley is a great team, and they showed it by punishing us for our mistakes in the first half. But it was awesome to see the guys come out of the second half,” Rebels coach Nick Perillo said. “We turned it around, and we worked together to fight back and get our first win. We were able to limit our mistakes and capitalize on chances, which we haven’t done so far this season. I was really pumped to see the team never give up until the job was done.”

The midfield battle settled in early on before the Rebels (1-1-1) were able to complete their second half comeback. There were not very many chances that either team could connect and capitalize on, as they battled foot-to-foot to win possession. After the quick mask break at the midway mark however, that changed quickly. The Jaguars would be the first team to catch their opponent off guard, scoring a pair of goals within a minute of each other to take the lead.

Thai Norasethaporn was the first to get on the board for Genesee Valley (0-3-1) in the midst of a scrum in front of the Cuba-Rushford cage. It would see Rebels goalkeeper Jarrett Campbell come out to make a play on the ball, but Will Scholes was able to mosey the ball over to Norasethaporn on a cross directly in front of the empty cage, where he was able to put it away.

After the kick at center, the Jaguars added another goal on the next rush down the field. Another pass was capitalized on to the front of the cage once more, but this time, Trent Scott was there to knock it in past Campbell to branch the visiting lead to a pair. More chances would develop over the last 10 minutes of the opening half, but nothing further came out of it, as the Jaguars finished up a dominating end of first half play.

In the second half however, a complete flip of the script by the Rebels. Nearly 10 minutes in, Caden Granger began to power up the offense with one of his two goals coming off an Ethan Rix feed in front to cut the lead in half. Not long after, he would get involved in the game-tying goal Cuba-Rushford had to offer, as he sent along a pass to the feet of Logan Lewis, who connected with his first goal of the season at the 62nd minute mark to tie the game at two.

It would remain the same score up until nine minutes left in the game, when Cuba-Rushford brought it all full circle with Granger recording his second goal, and sixth of the season off a pass from Landon Wight. That would put the finishing touches for the Rebels, and their first victory of the season.

Campbell picked up the win in goal with seven saves, while Keegan McKnight had six for the Jaguars on the other side.

Both teams are back on the field Friday night, as Cuba-Rushford prepares to welcome in red hot Fillmore for a 7 p.m. battle, while Genesee Valley gets set to hit the road again by visiting Bolivar-Richburg for a 6 p.m. contest.

Wellsville 2, Bolivar-Richburg 2

WELLSVILLE — In a game that Wellsville came out swinging in, the Lions held a lead for the majority of the night. But, when the second half came around, a rally from Bolivar-Richburg emerged near the halfway mark of the half. At that point, the Wolverines made up for lost time with two big goals to force extra time with a 2-2 tie. It would remain as such as the extra time passed by, as both teams officially settled on that 2-2 tie.

“We started out slow, and Bolivar-Richburg was the better team at that point. We kind of settled in after the 20 minute mark, and we looked good.” said Lions coach Matt Buckley. “All of a sudden, we’re in the box and we score. Second half, we scored again along with a bunch of chances right on the doorstep. We couldn’t put them away, and then the game got stretched. It was back and forth, and the game stayed like that. Bolivar-Richburg capitalized on their chances, and they broke us down.”

After that back and forth battle through the early stages of the opening half, the Lions (2-0-1) broke the ice on a short goal kick from the foot of Alex Ordiway, lofting in at the midway mark to take the 1-0 lead at the break after shaking off a slow start to their game. Early on in the second half, Dominic Sawyer made it 2-0 for the Lions, picking up the ball from just under 20 yards away and running up the field with it. The goal came shortly after just two minutes into the new session to extend their lead.

Wellsville maintained their momentum for much of the second half after the goal, but the Wolverines (2-1-1) began to emerge right at the halfway mark, as Dom Baldwin cut the deficit in half by digging the ball free in front of the Lions net. After the scramble, he managed to put the score away. That was not all, as Mark Pangburn just two minutes later tied the game at two each after connecting on a cross that creeped across the Lions net.

The game would remain tied for the remainder of regulation, and then after 20 minutes of extra time on the board.


”Both teams were pretty much gassed at this point,” said Buckley. “There wasn’t really many good chances, maybe a couple free kicks but that was it. We had a couple starters banged up, but both teams played extremely hard tonight.”

The shot department was nearly dead even across the board, but Bolivar-Richburg managed to outshoot Wellsville by a 14-13 count. In goal, Wayne Karnuth and Logan Dunbar both had nine saves for their respective teams.

Both teams are back on the field Friday night, as Wellsville plays host to Scio for a 6 p.m. contest, while Bolivar-Richburg heads back home to take on Genesee Valley in a 6 p.m. contest of their own.

Houghton Academy 3, Andover/Whitesville 2 (OT)

HOUGHTON — With each team scoring a pair of goals in each half, extra time was required at Houghton Academy on Wednesday between the host Panthers, and visiting Andover/Whitesville.

With the visiting team of Panthers forcing the overtime in the second half, it all came down to just the first set of 10 extra minutes. When it was over, Houghton Academy had Duy Le to thank for it, as he scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute for his second of the game to deliver the host Panthers a 3-2 overtime victory.

“We controlled much of the first half, and in the second half, Andover/Whitesville really took it to us,” Houghton Academy coach Jeff Prentice said. “To get the goal in OT, that’s big for our team because we’re not really known for doing that. They have some talented players over in Andover, and Spencer Cook is one of them. We just managed to hold our own in the end. We’ve really been working hard on persevering in the end, and that’s something uncommon. We didn’t give up tonight, and we got a big reward out of it in the end.”

As it was outlined, Houghton Academy (2-1) was the first team to get on the board first with a 2-0 lead at halftime. Warren Torraca was the first to score, as he put away a corner kick off the foot of Henry Sardina just eight minutes into the game to break the ice. It would remain the same score up until the last 10 minutes of the half, when Le earned a direct kick from within the Andover/Whitesville box. When the whistle blew, he managed to send the ball to the back of the net to give his team a 2-0 lead.

In the second half, Andover/Whitesville (0-3) began to take over. Just over 10 minutes in, Tommy Thorp cut the Houghton Academy lead in half, going in unassisted to deliver the goal. Soon after, they would come back and tie the game with Connor Phillips, as Thorp delivered along a pass for him to put away three minutes later.

The rest of the time would see a big chance come from Andover/Whitesville to potentially go ahead on a penalty kick, but Houghton Academy keeper Chris Habecker made an enormous stop to keep the game tied, forcing extra time. In overtime, all that was needed was just seven minutes for the hosts in blue to end the game, as Le capitalized on a clear and breakaway down the field to end the game with the victory.

28 total shots were applied in between the goals, with Andover/Whitesville taking the 16-12 advantage. In goal, Habecker earned the win by making six stops himself. On the other end, Luke Erdmann made five stops for the visitors.

Both teams are back at it Friday night, as Houghton Academy welcomes in unbeaten Belfast for an early Allegany County clash in a 5 p.m. first kick. Andover/Whitesville will return home to play host to Hinsdale in a 6 p.m. contest.

Fillmore 8, Scio 0

SCIO — The Eagles of Fillmore remain undefeated on the season through four games on Wednesday, as they held down on the gas pedal and never let up after scoring seven first half goals over the road in Scio, marching their way toward an 8-0 shutout of the host Tigers in their first matchup since last year’s Class D State Qualifier at Houghton College.

Of those seven goals by Fillmore (4-0), three of them came in a span of just over two minutes. Mitchell Ward dialed in to help the cause during that stretch, scoring back-to-back goals for the Eagles in 41 seconds to help them immediately take a 2-0 lead on Scio. Mason Cool also had two goals during the first half stretch, as did Zach Sisson, Alex Ellsworth and Isaiah Voss, who all had a goal each. Cool would go on to record a hat trick with the team’s final goal late in the second half.

On special teams, Eben Schilke dished out two assists while Cool, Sisson, Voss, Herring and Ashton Brian had an assist each. In goal, Dylan Valentine recorded the shutout by making only one stop, while Cory Bolzan set aside 18 saves for the Tigers (2-2-1) at the other end.

“I thought Cory played much better for us in the second half, he made some great saves,” Tigers coach Dillon McFall said of his senior goalkeeper. “Fillmore is a great and tough team, and they don’t have a single weakness. They come to play each time. They have a great program, and they’re most likely to be the team to beat in the county again this year.”

Both teams are back on the field Friday night, as Fillmore looks for a 5-0 start on the road at Cuba-Rushford in a 7 p.m. contest, while Scio will look to rebound over the road themselves with a 6 p.m. matchup in Wellsville.

Chris Brooks
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