Wednesday Sectionals: No. 8 B-R ignites 1st half lead, but defense holds fort down to evade late No. 9 Wheatland-Chili rally for 2-1 win; C-R boys, Fri/Scio and GV/Belfast girls also win

FILLMORE — The Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg have returned to full strength. And there was no better time for it to happen than on the very first day of Sectionals, where the opportunity to begin their trek back to the Class C2 Finals once more, kickstarted on Wednesday up north in Fillmore.

In their way was No. 9 Wheatland-Chili, who despite an overwhelming amount of pressure across the majority of the opening half from their No. 8 seeded counterparts, gave Bolivar-Richburg a run for their money in the last 40 minutes of play with a complete flip of the game’s script. A script that was very nearly put on its head when the Wildcats were able to regain traction on offense to inch to within a stone’s throw of the Wolverines.

But despite being backed up against the wall across the entire second half, and despite all of the bending on the defensive front, the Wolverines somehow and someway would not allow themselves to break.

With 15 minutes remaining in the contest, the Wildcats used a big burst of energy they created from dominating the midfield play and put it towards a big score to cut their deficit straight in half against the Wolverines, allowing the pressure to keep boiling over every time they touched the ball deep in their offensive zone. But despite all of the overwhelming pressure, Bolivar-Richburg was able to hang on for dear life to set the table up for a date with top-seeded Dundee/Bradford this weekend in the Quarterfinals with a 2-1 edge.

Right out of the gate, Bolivar-Richburg (8-8-1) came out swinging against Wheatland-Chili with an outstanding solo effort from their leading scorer, Reiss Gaines along the near sidelines. Pinned up against a quartet of Wildcats defenders with possession under his grasp, the Wolverines senior burned them all on a turn towards the opposing cage where he would ultimately fire a big-time shot to the opposite post to break the ice with a 1-0 lead just two minutes in.

The advantage would hold while the Wolverines defense buckled in and delivered an incredible stand in return, keeping the gas pedal down on their pressure against Wheatland-Chili. With some more scoring chances formulating along the way, the team in black and red was able to connect with their second on a direct kick by Cayden Gaines down the field.

The kick would sail straight into the direction of Reiss Gaines again in the middle of the Wheatland-Chili goal, where his first attempt was blocked by the Wildcats defense. But it was a block that created a heavy rebound, one that Aydin Sisson raced towards and rifled straight to the top shelf for a 2-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the half.

Bolivar-Richburg aimed to keep all the momentum in their favor going into the break. But when both teams came back out for the last portion of action, a complete powershift occurred.

Wheatland-Chili took over.

It was the Wildcats’ turn to take advantage of everything that landed all across the midfield against the Wolverines, using a mix of sublime ball movement and speed to keep their opposition on their feet until the very end, accumulating multiple scoring chances along the way. But for the No. 8 seeds, David Abdo was there to make the big stops to keep the visitors in white and blue off the board.

That was up until 15 minutes left in regulation when the Wildcats were able to trim their deficit right down the middle in the midst of a finesse-filled passing play, one that would see Ethan Hallock take control of the ball with a long shot on goal. Along the way in, a rising Camdyn Cremaldi was able to leap straight up to put just enough of a finishing touch on his head to change directions towards the Bolivar-Richburg goal to score it.

The balance of power remained tilted in Wheatland-Chili’s favor across the closing sequences, as the Wolverines were able to escape in dramatic fashion with a one-goal victory that was never broken by the Wildcats.

Each team posted nine shots on goal to set the pace for their offense. In goal, Abdo set aside seven of those shots for the Wolverines to pick up the big opening round victory.

Next up for the Wolverines is a Saturday afternoon matinee on the road to Bradford, where they will now square off against No. 1 Dundee/Bradford in the Class C2 Quarterfinal round beginning at 2 p.m.

No. 5 Cuba-Rushford 5, No. 12 Gananda 1

WARSAW — There was no better start to a game than the one that No. 5 Cuba-Rushford produced right off the bat against No. 12 Gananda on Wednesday.

Just over five minutes removed from the kick at center, the Rebels rattled off a fast and furious start, as they posted three straight goals in a span of seven minutes to break the ice on the Panthers — all of which were scored by Robert Childs, as he recorded the first half hatty to give them all the momentum in their wheelhouse to stroll forwards and toward a 5-1 win in opening round action of Class C2 play.

“I am really pleased with the way my guys came ready to play tonight. This was our best performance of the year, and we played some really nice team soccer,” Rebels coach Rob Wight said. “I thought Robert came out with maximum effort and kept popping up in all the right places. He took his chances early, and he really gave us a spark. Tanner Lewis had a really great game for us too. He never stops moving and every time he found space or picked up the ball, he made the right choice. It’s Sectional time, and you never know what you’re going to get from certain teams. We’re happy to live and play another day.”

On two of Childs’ three scores for the Rebels in the opening half, two were helped along by Tanner Lewis — sandwiched in between Childs’ second goal, which was recorded off a corner kick deep in the Gananda zone. The Panthers were able to get back within reach of Cuba-Rushford (9-7-1) with their first and only score of the game coming five minutes into the second half.

Lewis, along with Kaden Bell, would help finish off the scoring for the Rebels later on in the last 40 minute session, with Lewis helping regain the team’s three-goal lead once again 10 minutes after the Gananda goal off a Childs feed, while Lewis handed out his third assist of the game to Bell with 12:01 remaining to officially seal the deal on a trip to the Quarterfinal round.

The five Cuba-Rushford goals accounted for 23 total shots against Gananda, as they outshot the Panthers with a massive 23-6 advantage. In goal, Alex Baron set aside five shots to record the victory for the Rebels.

Up next for Cuba-Rushford is the Class C2 Quarterfinal round this weekend, as they now prepare for a trip to Kiwanis Park to visit No. 4 Keshequa at 6:30 p.m.

Class B First Round

No. 4 Bishop Kearney 8, No. 13 Wellsville 0

GENESEO — After a hot end to their regular season going into Sectionals, the No. 13 Lions of Wellsville saw their campaign reach its final conclusion up north in Geneseo on Wednesday, as No. 4 Bishop Kearney’s offense came alive and produced a victory in shutout fashion to claim a spot in this weekend’s Class B Quarterfinal round — an 8-0 win over the Lions.

Statistics were not made available to report upon publication.

The Lions wrap up their 2023 campaign on the pitch with a record of 5-12 overall. The team will bid farewell to their three seniors — Cooper Brockway, Ethan Bailey and Nathaniel Flansburg when Graduation arrives later this school year.

GIRLS SOCCER

Class D First Round

No. 6 Friendship/Scio 4, No. 11 Lima Christian 1

SCIO — Head coach Dillon McFall noted that in his first season with the Friendship/Scio girls soccer program, he and his team put two big goals front and center on the table going into the season. The first: A home game for Sectionals.

When the seedings were released over this past weekend, their one goal was already checked off of their list, as they received the No. 6 seed in Class D play and welcomed in No. 11 Lima Christian for a visit in Scio, Wednesday night to begin their journey through the second season.

Their next goal? Perhaps just as big as the last — winning the game.

In the part of the season where everything matters the most, and in the part of the season where anything can happen, one thing was for certain. With the guidance of both Nevaeh and Morghyn Ross on the attack, Friendship/Scio was able to get the best view of both worlds, as the Ross sisters came together to record the first three markers — two in the first half to take an advantage over the Lady Saints that they would never give up to capture that sweet home Sectional game victory with ease by a 4-1 count.

“We’re excited that we got to host this game tonight, being the higher seed. We said going into the year, we wanted to win a Sectional game at home. We checked that off the list,” said McFall. “Tonight, I was really happy with the first half, especially with my halfbacks keeping the ball moving forward. We had 12 shots, but they were all legit scoring chances. If we were able to finish just a little bit better, we could have stretched this out a bit more. But we will absolutely take this and move on to this weekend.”

After a lengthy, but advantageous battle with the Lady Saints across the first half, Friendship/Scio (9-8) was able to strike with the game’s first two markers in a span of five minutes from one another, with Morghyn Ross finding the board first at the 14:30 mark before she sent along a big assist to her sister, Nevaeh Ross a short time later to branch the lead out to a pair going into the break.

The momentum continued to boil over in the second half when the hosts in black and gold kept swinging for the fences with a rapid response out the gate, as Morghyn connected with her second of the game off a pass dished along by Cece Davenport just two minutes off the kick at midfield.

Despite Lima Christian ending Friendship/Scio’s potential shutout bid a short time later, the victory was cemented permanently with 13:41 left to play by Nevaeh’s helper along to the foot of Avery Lamberson, as she scored the team’s final goal to help fill in a vacancy in this weekend’s Quarterfinal round.

The four goals by Friendship/Scio came off 12 shots, as they provided a 12-9 advantage in the shot department over Lima Christian. In between the posts, Grace Drumm was solid for the hosts, as she set aside eight of those shots to record the victory.

On Saturday, Friendship/Scio will now prepare for a visit to Judy Bliven Field right down the road in Belmont, as they prepare for a 6 p.m. first kick against No. 3 Genesee Valley/Belfast — a team they split with earlier this year, in regular season play.

No. 3 Genesee Valley/Belfast 4, No. 14 Andover/Whitesville 0

BELMONT — The scoring chances came raining down like an uncontrollable monsoon for No. 3 Genesee Valley/Belfast, especially right in the first 40 minutes of play, where they posted a whopping 15 shots against No. 14 Andover/Whitesville to set up shop.

Despite all the prime opportunities they were able to muster, they were only able to grab one goal out of the mix, as they carried the one-goal advantage into the break along with the game’s momentum in their back pocket. But in the second half, all of that momentum was put into full use.

After several attempts to open the door even further against their opposition, it was broken down completely with three more markers with the assistance of Hannah Southwick-Powers and Bayleigh Tallman, combining to score them across a span of three minutes to put away the game for good for Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they raced towards the finish line with a 4-0 shutout in Class D opening round play at Judy Bliven Field in Belmont.

In the midst of all the offensive pressure they had established against Andover/Whitesville, Genesee Valley/Belfast (13-3-1) was able to get on the board through it all with a 1-0 lead going into the break, courtesy of an unassisted marker from Sophie Zillgitt, posting it with 14:49 to go in the half.

After a midfield battle across the early portion of the second half, the momentum that the hosts had constructed before the break was carried over past the 10 minute mark where the offense unraveled a game-changing strand of scores to further distance themselves away from Andover/Whitesville (3-12).

From 26:21 to 23:26 left on the clock, Genesee Valley/Belfast was able to garner three consecutive goals in that span, with the first stemming off an Ava Aaronson pass along to Hannah Southwick-Powers, before Southwick-Powers garnered two more assists herself on connections with Bayleigh Tallman each time to further extend the team’s lead to four, where it was rest for good until the final horn sounded to close out the battle.

Including their four goals against Andover/Whitesville, Genesee Valley/Belfast accumulated 22 total shots against their opposition on offense, as they held a 22-4 advantage. In goal, Kimme Ball delivered a four-save shutout for the hosts.

On the other end of the pitch, Olivia Waters provided 18 saves for the visitors in white, who concluded their season with a record of 3-12 overall. The team will graduate six seniors altogether, bidding farewell to Ava Grice, Makaila Brewster, Lexy Palmatier, Adreanna Buchholz, Grace Fry and Destiny Workman at the end of the school year.

As for Genesee Valley/Belfast, their ride through the Class D playoffs rolls on to Saturday night right back at Judy Bliven Field in Belmont with a 6 p.m. Quarterfinal battle against No. 6 Friendship/Scio.