Wednesday Soccer: Cook scores two goals in 10 minutes to set pace for And/Whi in 2-0 shutout of Houghton

Written By Chris Brooks

ANDOVER — A quick start was witnessed on the soggy grounds of Andover, Wednesday night when the host Panthers welcomed in another team of Panthers hailing from Houghton Academy. Just how quick was the start? Try 28 seconds.


A penalty was called inside the Houghton Academy box against the visitors, which set up a penalty kick for Spencer Cook. Cook would bury that goal along with one more later on in the first half, as the defense held the visiting team of Panthers still in the final 40 minutes of play to secure the 2-0 shutout.

“Chris Walker was in goal for the first time tonight, and he did a fine job back there for us,” said Andover/Whitesville coach Tony Cook. “He stepped up and did a great job, and I’ll probably keep him in there. Our defense did a great job against Houghton. We’re starting to hopefully come together here with the homestretch coming along. I just hope we’re ready for it.”

Cook’s goal comes after he was tripped up by the Houghton Academy defense on his way in toward the goal, where moments later, he was able to connect on the penalty kick with the shot that was able to slither past Chris Habecker in goal to break the ice for Andover/Whitesville (3-4-1).

The goal gave them a burst of momentum, as they continued to deliver multiple scoring chances in the offensive zone. As a result, Cook was able to push in another goal after picking up the ball from center, dribbling his way inside and splitting the Houghton Academy (3-3) defense on his way in to knock the goal in far side for the two-goal advantage as the first half time wound down.

Before the half, Houghton Academy was able to catch the Andover/Whitesville defense off guard for their first solid chance on goal, grabbing a big breakaway opportunity from Simon Sardina after he dug the ball loose on his way inside, but the shot was just off target and wide. In the second half, the Andover/Whitesville defense was able to hold shop down to prevent Houghton Academy from finding the back of the net, as they secured Chris Walker’s first shutout of the season in his first start in goal.

Walker finished with all eight saves on net for the host Panthers, while the Andover/Whitesville offense in the opposite direction, came up with a whopping 22 shots on the Houghton Academy cage. Habecker would make 15 saves for the visiting Panthers.

Both teams are back in action over the road Friday night, as Andover/Whitesville heads out for a 5 p.m. contest against Hinsdale, while Houghton Academy heads back towards home with a pit stop in Belfast for a 7 p.m. slugfest with their Division II rival Bulldogs.

Wellsville 1, Bolivar-Richburg 0

BOLIVAR — It had been well over a week since the Wellsville Lions were last in action. But when Wednesday came around, they were ready to get back out onto the field to continue their hot streak over the road against Bolivar-Richburg.

Both teams had to battle their way through a scoreless first half of play, but it wasn’t until the early-going of the second half that a goal found the back of the net. That goal belonged to Wellsville, as they were able to grab the score that ultimately decided the game when the final horn sounded on what came to be a 1-0 shutout over the host Wolverines to win their fifth game in the last seven.

Nearly three minutes into the second half, the Lions (5-1-1) struck fast with Dominic Sawyer grabbing the only goal that found the back of the net all game, scoring with no assist needed to help Wellsville spring ahead for good. The goal was one of 10 total shots the visitors applied on goal, as they outshot Bolivar-Richburg (3-4-2) by a narrow 10-6 margin.

Liam McKinley saw action in between the pipes for the first time this season, and was able to grab his first shutout by making five saves for the Lions. Wayne Karnuth stopped nine shots in all for the Wolverines in goal.

Both teams will hit the road Friday night to end the week, as Wellsville will look to grab their sixth win in the last eight games by visiting the Scio Tigers for a 7 p.m. contest. Bolivar-Richburg on the other hand, will travel to visit Genesee Valley for a 7 p.m. contest of their own, as they look to rebound against the Jaguars.

Friendship 1, Hinsdale 0

FRIENDSHIP — All it took was just over three minutes to set the tone Wednesday night in Friendship. The Golden Eagles provided that big goal, as their returning senior Dekota Stewart made it all happen with his first goal of the season, as he helped deliver the team’s first victory of the season on Senior Night, shutting out visiting Hinsdale with a 1-0 victory.

“I’m on Cloud 9 right now. They played us 11-on-9 the whole game, and I know that we didn’t have many shots, but we had great control of the ball,” Golden Eagles coach Brad Gertis said. “We had great chances to extend on that lead, and it was the same way in the second half. Those young guys, both Devon (Ross) and Cameron (Blouvet) really stepped up and came into their own. They all came together and played the game that I’ve been waiting for all year. No mistakes, they communicated. It was really awesome to see it come together, especially with it being Senior Night. Huge kudos to these guys.”

Stewart’s goal came at the 36:17 mark of the opening half, gaining possession of the ball and then crashing the Hinsdale goal to knock it in to give the Golden Eagles (1-6) the lead, ultimately for good, as they looked to their defense to hold the Bobcats steady from that point forward. The tally was just one of four shots Friendship recorded in the contest, as they were outshot by a 13-4 total count.

Atlin Moore was credited with the shutout, as he and Stewart combined to make all 13 stops for Friendship. Ethan Cashimere set aside three shots for Hinsdale (1-4-2) on the opposite end.

The Golden Eagles will look to carry the momentum with them over the road tonight, as they hit the field for a 6 p.m. contest with the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford. As for the Bobcats, they will look to rebound back home with Andover/Whitesville in town for a 5 p.m. contest on Friday.

Fillmore 7, Scio 3

FILLMORE — The Fillmore Eagles have put together a dominant season thus far on the soccer field, scoring five shutouts and giving up no more than one goal in the other three contests. Although they gave up that same amount to the Scio Tigers during their home contest on Wednesday, the Eagles still remained dominant.

Led by the goal-scoring firepower possessed by sophomore Mitch Ward, who scored three more goals to set the pace for the Fillmore offense, the Eagles propelled their way to a ninth consecutive victory after taking a 5-1 lead at the half and never looking back, rolling toward a 7-3 win over the visiting Tigers.

After Carter Sisson got the scoring started for Fillmore (9-0) just over three minutes into the game off one of two Ward assists, Ward scored six minutes later to extend their lead out to a pair. Ward picked up a Noah Strickland pass from center to score his second goal of the half as time approached the halfway mark. The lead grew increasingly larger toward the tail end of the half, as Sisson added his second of the game off a pass from Ward 49 seconds after his tally.

But just three minutes removed from making it a 4-0 lead, Scio (2-5-2) ended the shutout with the first of two goals from Cam Loucks, as he scored from range off a direct kick. But the Eagles were able to get their four-goal lead back again right before the end of the first half, as Ward completed his first half hat trick with six minutes remaining, dribbling from midfield in toward the Tigers goal to ultimately knock it to the back of the netting to regain traction of a 5-1 lead.

Alex Ellsworth made it five on his goal seven minutes into the final set of time with his second of the season. The score would remain 6-1 up until Loucks added his second and final goal of the game past the halfway mark off another direct kick. In an eight minute span from the 25 minute mark to the end, Fillmore’s Isaiah Voss and Scio’s Jordan White closed out the scoring with a goal each, with Brent Zubikowski scoring an assist on Voss’ goal.

In the end, Fillmore outshot Scio by a 23-7 count, with Dylan Valentine earning the victory in goal with five saves. Cory Bolzan made 14 stops for the Tigers on the opposite end.

Both teams are back on their home fields Friday night for their next game on the docket, as Fillmore will go for win number 10 by welcoming Cuba-Rushford into town for a 6 p.m. matchup, while Scio heads back home to face Wellsville in a 7 p.m. contest under the lights.

Chris Brooks
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