Wednesday Soccer: Hyperactive start, led by McKenzie’s 2-goal night, powers GV/Belfast towards 4-1 win over Houghton; And/Whi scores comeback win, Lady Lions rout Letchworth at Way-Co

BELFAST — Once the first domino falls, the rest follow suit right behind it.

For Genesee Valley/Belfast, an electric first half of soccer propelled their ascension towards win number one on the young campaign Wednesday night at the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast, as Ian McKenzie, Evan Turybury and Wyatt Weaver were all involved in a strong 4-1 home win over Houghton Academy.

“I thought the first half, we did some great things to get that lead, scoring a couple of really nice goals,” said GV/Belfast coach Mark Sullivan. “Our goalie made some great saves against Houghton that kept us in position in front. Second half, we tried some new guys in new spots. Houghton is really tough on the front line, and they tested our defense quite a bit all game. Overall, it’s a great win to start the year off. We have great things to build on, things to fix, just like everyone else when it comes to the first game of the season.”

Genesee Valley/Belfast (1-0) jumped the gun after an early abundance of pressure helped set the tone against Houghton Academy, feeding off of it with the game’s first goal off the foot of Evan Turybury. Following a handball penalty issued to the Panthers, the goal was set up by an indirect kick from Jordan White just outside the 18. With it, Turybury was able to navigate his way to the ball to handle and control it before putting it away himself a short time later.

From within the same 10-minute timespan in the early stages of battle, the hosts doubled their lead quickly, keeping their foot down on the gas with assistance from Ian McKenzie’s first of two scores in the contest, as he tucked away a shot provided off a throw-in from Wyatt Weaver on the near sideline. The full head of steam on offense progressed towards their third goal of the first half right at the halfway point, with Weaver connecting on a score himself off a picture-perfect cross to the opposite side of the Panthers (0-1) net from Turybury.

The lead for the hosts remained intact before adding their fourth and final goal in the second half from McKenzie, tucking away his score off a pass provided along by Sal Gambino. Later on in the half, the shutout would reach its conclusion, as David Jetta provided Houghton Academy’s first marker of the season.

Each team recorded 10 shots on goal to propel their offense, with Zach Thomas making nine saves to garner the victory for Genesee Valley/Belfast. On the opposite end, Huy Ho made six saves for the Panthers, who head home to host the Eagles of Fillmore on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

As for Genesee Valley/Belfast, they now get set to battle the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines right back at the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast on Friday, with first kick occuring at 7 p.m.

Andover/Whitesville 3, Hammondsport 2

HAMMONDSPORT — It’s not exactly how you start, but more about how you finish. To start the season on the pitch Wednesday night, Andover/Whitesville put that lifelong motto to good use over the road in Hammondsport.

Entrenched in an early first half deficit to the host Lakers, Andover/Whitesville had to find a way to respond any way they could. What better way to do that, than flipping the game on its head right in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. With all the momentum now shifted in their favor, the visitors were in the cat bird’s seat in controlling their destiny.

Brody Vance punched a one-way ticket to victory, as he put matters into his hands with Andover/Whitesville’s game-winning goal down the stretch of the final half of play, taking what was a 2-0 Hammondsport lead and turning it into a come-from-behind 3-2 road win for Andover/Whitesville to start their 2024 season on the pitch strong.

“We came out a little flat tonight and we gave up those two early ones in the first half. We settled down a bit at halftime and had a quick goal coming out of it,” said Andover/Whitesville coach Cody Borden. “Colton (Calladine) buried some big shots and Brody came up huge for us down the stretch from the corner. The boys played a very solid second half and I’m proud of the way we were able to fight back. Credit to Hammondsport for their hard work and determination. They had it all game, they’re coached extremely well and they’re a quality team.

Before the comeback victory was set in stone for Andover/Whitesville (1-0), they had to dig and claw their way out from an early 2-0 deficit courtesy of the Lakers, led by Orion Davis, who had both of the team’s scores just past the midway mark of the opening half, scoring his first off a strong connection dished along by Alex Brown with 16:52 remaining before putting his second away in solo fashion just mere minutes later.

The lead would hold for the visitors donning black and purple, but not for long, as Andover/Whitesville rapidly issued a massive response of their own in the second stanza’s opening minute, doing the honor of carving the deficit straight in half with the first of two Colton Calladine markers, which was aided by Brody Vance’s helper from the corner.

The momentum shift then took its full tilt into the visitors side of the field completely with the game-tying marker from Calladine once again, capitalizing on a direct kick at the 30:58 mark to create a brand new playing surface.

With a 2-2 tie on the board, something had to give down the stretch. After plenty of battling up and down the field for possession, Andover/Whitesville struck gold one more time with 16:10 remaining off Vance’s go-ahead score, as his corner kick sailed straight on goal and went in on an errant redirection supplied by the Lakers. The score, permanently cementing the first win of the campaign.

The three goals for Andover/Whitesville were notarized by a 15-shot display of offense, as they outshot Hammondsport by a 15-6 count. On defense, the win in goal belonged to Skyler Orpet, who made four saves.

Andover/Whitesville will look to keep their winning ways rolling into Friday night for a 7 p.m. visit to Fillmore.

GIRLS SOCCER

Craig Lawrence Tourney at Way-Co

Wellsville 6, Letchworth 0

COHOCTON — The Lady Lions of Wellsville caught ablaze from all angles on the pitch, Wednesday night. At the Cohocton Sports Complex, they unleashed their fury with six goals from six different scorers to set the tone against Letchworth, earning a spot in this weekend’s Championship round of the Craig Lawrence Memorial Tournament with a 6-0 shutout.

Ayla Faulkner, Raegan Vogel, Lexi Aftuck, Talia O’Connor, Lizzy Seely and Alexa Hennessy all produced the scores for the Lady Lions (1-0), scoring three in each half of play to set up shop. From within the six goals, Wellsville saw four of them come with assists to help round off a 33-shot barrage against Letchworth.

In goal, Lydia Kaye recorded the shutout for the Lady Lions with 11 saves.

Wellsville will now face Alfred-Almond for the Craig Lawrence Tournament title back at the Cohocton Sports Complex on Friday at 7 p.m.