Wednesday Roundup: B-R blanks Hinsdale, Houghton edges past GV/Belfast to set up Friday title game; Wellsville boys fall in Addison to begin season

BELFAST — While girls soccer officially kicked off 24 hours ago, a yearly tradition to open the boys soccer season was renewed in Belfast on a gorgeous Wednesday evening for Hinsdale, Bolivar-Richburg, Houghton Academy and host Genesee Valley/Belfast to take the field.

To open up the festivities, a great deal of pressure was brought on early by the Wolverines against the Bobcats. Numerous chances came across, which at the same time, provided some cracks. But when it came time to break through, Reiss Gaines provided the sledgehammer to do so, recording a hat trick led by a pair of first half goals in a two-minute span to help set Bolivar-Richburg’s tone in their 4-0 blank of Hinsdale in opening round action.

“Tonight was a great way to start our season. The boys played a really well put together game, and it was even more exciting to see them all work together to make this happen. We are excited to see what this season holds for us.” said Wolverines coach Mike Zilker.

The build-up of pressure for the Wolverines (1-0) kicked into gear right from the start with multiple chances against the Hinsdale cage. Perhaps their best sprouted off an Evan Pinney send-in after jarring the ball loose from the defense. The ball was sent in towards goal and into the left wing for Gaines, which would then see a mad scramble formulate in front of the Bobcats net. Multiple Wolverines attempted to cash in on the chance, but could not find the right foot to finish the play.

But it would lead to bigger and better things — A 2-0 Wolverines lead at the break behind Gaines pair of goals in two minutes, with his first being fed across the front of the Hinsdale goal and into the right wing, going far side against Ethan Chapman in the Bobcats (0-1) net to open the scoring with 13:51 left to play.

A short time later, Gaines gave Bolivar-Richburg some more room to work with going into the break with his second goal, breaking free from the defense after a beautiful pass from Ian Unfus from center snuck its way through untouched, clanking off the top of the crossbar and down into the net in the process.

The action slowed down in the midst of a brewing midfield battle between both clubs, but the hat trick was clinched by Gaines with 22:05 left to play, picking up a pass from in the middle of the Hinsdale box to bury his shot short side. The scoring was later capped off with 5:30 on the clock by Gary McDowell on a flawless corner kick opportunity, sent in by Aydin Sisson and was met with a header into the empty far side of the net.

The assist was one of three total Sisson had recorded.

The Wolverines went on to outshoot the Bobcats by a 12-7 total count, with David Abdo making all seven stops to record the first shutout of the season. Chapman would set aside eight shots.

As for their Championship-round opponent, Houghton Academy and Genesee Valley/Belfast battled through the midfield all game long in the nightcap. Goal scoring was hard to come by between both squads, but when the back of the net was found, the Panthers made sure it was worth the wait.

With a 1-1 tie at the half to break, just one more goal was needed. That came from the foot of Lucus Matias, who buried it home just over 10 minutes in. The goal would allow Houghton Academy to ward off a late Genesee Valley/Belfast push in the last five minutes of play to pick up a 2-1 victory to begin their 2022-23 campaign on the right foot, and into Friday’s title game.

“Mark always gets his guys prepared for games and they’re a scrappy bunch. It’s their tradition, but for us to have a chance to beat them like tonight, it’s a great win any way you look at it,” said Panthers coach Jeff Prentice. “The first half, they outworked us to every ball. But when the next half came, it gave us a chance to match their intensity with the effort and consistency we were able to give. It’s early in the season, and sometimes it can be a game of mistakes. That’s what we said at the half, and we had to minimize on those in order to capitalize on theirs.”

For much of the first half, Genesee Valley/Belfast had found their groove, working Houghton Academy early on. But the momentum would shift towards the Panthers (1-0) just past midway off a key miscue. As Thai Norasethaporn was preparing to grab a hold of the loose ball in front of the net, a charging Brian Patipewe was able to jar the ball free from his grasp, and provide enough juice on his kick for the ball to roll into the net to break the ice with the early lead.

Not long after the opening tally however, Genesee Valley/Belfast (0-1) was able to provide the equalizer back on the attack. A kick from near midfield by Sean Mahon was able to find a streaking Stiven Lopez on his way into the Houghton Academy goal, shimmying his way past a pair of Panthers defenders along the way, knocking the ball short side with 15 minutes left to tie the game at one at the break.

Upon returning for the second half, no momentum was kept between both squads, as the midfield battle continued to rage on through the first 10 minutes before Houghton Academy was able to find one final opening in the Genesee Valley/Belfast defense to take the lead back for good.

At the 26:40 mark, a pass provisioned by Shams Zia is dished along to the front and Lucus Matias, who worked his way past the defense for a prime opportunity at the net. Matias would let his shot rocket towards the bottom left corner past Norasethaporn between the posts, and in to break the tie and exchange it for what came to be a 2-1 victory for the Panthers, despite some late chaos coming down the homestretch.

29 total shots were recorded between both teams, with Genesee Valley/Belfast garnering the 18-11 upper-hand over Houghton Academy. In goal, it was Marco Zanini who would go on to pick up the victory behind 15 saves. On the other side, Norasethaporn set aside seven saves.

On Friday, tournament action will wrap up for all four clubs, with the Consolation round between Hinsdale and Genesee Valley/Belfast beginning with a 5 p.m. first kick before Bolivar-Richburg and Houghton Academy cap it off with a battle for this year’s crown later on, at 7 p.m.

Lions fall in opening round action in Addison

ADDISON — The four Allegany County teams who saw tournament action in Belfast on Wednesday weren’t the only teams that saw their first piece of the season. Nearly an hour off to the west, were the Wellsville Lions in Addison, as they took on the host Knights to begin their 2022-23 conquest.

It was a battle that saw the Knights go up early before Wellsville worked their way into the fight with a first half lead to work with, going forward. In the second half, the outlook changed.

It was anyone’s game throughout the final 40 minute period with back-and-forth barbs being traded between the two foes. In the end, three unanswered goals by Addison saw them rip away a lead from Wellsville’s grasp, as they propelled their way towards the front of the pack and into victory lane at the end of it all, securing their place in Friday’s title game with a 5-3 win over the Lions.

Addison was able to get off to the start they wanted to work with, capturing the early lead against Wellsville (0-1) in the opening half of play. But when the first 40 minutes were officially in the books, that lead was ultimately lost thanks to a pair of go-ahead goals by Cody Costello and Aiden Cowburn, with Costello tying the game up off a pass provided by Ayden Faulkner before Cowburn gave the Lions the lead at the break.

In the second half, a teeter-totter affair settled in. Both teams would trade goals which would allow the Lions to remain in the lead with a 3-2 decision in hand with Trenton Green grabbing what would become the team’s final goal of the game off a pass from Ty Vogel. The Lions were then slowed down by the Knights for the remainder of the game, as the hosts went on to capitalize on three unanswered tallies to spring ahead into the lead, ultimately for good to secure the winning edge.

Further statistics were not provided upon publication.

The Lions will look to regroup with a Consolation round battle back in Addison on Friday, as they take on the Alfred-Almond Eagles at 4 p.m.