Monday Roundup: Portville controls possession, score 2 1st half goals in 4 minutes to set tone in 3-1 win over Lady Lions; Fillmore, B-R, GV/Belfast girls soccer all score wins
WELLSVILLE — The Lady Lions of Wellsville are riding a satisfiable season-opening high after their tenure in the Craig Lawrence Memorial Tournament at Wayland-Cohocton, coming away with gigantic wins over both Letchworth and Alfred-Almond to capture the crown and a perfect 2-0 weekend for their journey back home.
Monday arrived quickly, but it was time for them to build off the mountainous momentum burst.
The next task at hand was not a light one either, as the Lady Lions returned home and took their brand new turf in the Lion’s Den by storm for the first time, along with the feeling of fall in the air, to take on Section VI power Portville. Wellsville was immediately tested out of the gate, but for a good portion of time through the first half, they withstood the pressure.
But as more and more time passed, the more momentum the Lady Panthers continued to gain. Then, the goals came.
Just past 15 minutes remaining, the Section VI stalwarts let the offense take care of business behind their stabilized possession play, as the dominoes fell shortly after with the collection of two goals in just over a four-minute span in the waning stages of the second half to keep the momentum tilted in their favor going forward. As a result, Portville came to town and exited with a 3-1 victory over the Lady Lions to spoil their home opener.
Through the first 10 minutes, Portville expressed some extremely precise ball movement across the field to keep the Lady Lions (2-1) on their feet early, helping mount pressure against them in the process. Portville was able to grab a couple of opportunities to strike along the way, but no damage was provided.
Continuing to control the offensive zone at their own pace, Portville garnered a prime opportunity to make their hard work worthwhile, earning a free kick after a Wellsville foul inside the box. With Grace Gariepy’s election of the kick, she proceeded to fire her shot home to the near post to break the game open with a 1-0 lead.
With the first domino falling, the next would come just four minutes later again from Gariepy. After the ball was sent in from the far corner, an amassment of Lady Lions surrounded the front of the cage to try and clear the ball from harm’s way. Instead, Gariepy picked up possession, used a bounty of finesse to work her way around the defense and airmailed her second goal of the game straight over the head of Lydia Kaye and into the net.
The Lady Panthers kept the balance in their favor with a quick second half strike, scoring in the first five minutes off a misplay in front of the Wellsville net, which saw the ball squirt free for Gianna Aloi to tuck it straight to the top shelf for a big 3-0 lead out of the gate. The scoring would then cease until the Lady Lions found a way to end the shutout with a penalty kick of their own.
Following a direct kick down the field and towards the far corner, it was given chase by Talia O’Connor before she was tripped up just inside the Portville box to set up a penalty kick with 10:15 left to play. With Caelyn Stevens electing to take the kick for the Lady Lions, she wasted no time putting the score away to the near post to cut the deficit to a pair of goals.
But with time of the essence, the Lady Panthers were able to right the ship one more time to hold onto their lead until the end, securing the victory.
Lydia Kaye went on to make 14 saves out of 17 total shots faced for the Lady Lions, as Portville went on to outshoot Wellsville by a 17-14 count.
Wellsville returns to the field on Wednesday looking to rebound back into the win column, as they host Port Allegany at 6 p.m.
Fillmore 3, Holland 1
HOLLAND — The night was brought to an early end in Holland due to Mother Nature’s wrath once again on Monday, but it was a victorious one for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, as they tucked in a pair of goals in the first 15 minutes of play to set up shop for what came to be their second win of the season and a 3-1 win over the Lady Dutch on the road.
“Holland had a beautiful complex, and we played with good energy for the half we got in,” Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley said. “We gave up a goal with 30 seconds left in the half. We created a lot of chances and need to finish a bit better, but that’s just being greedy. I’m proud of this new group and how they are playing like they are right now. We still have a lot of room to grow.”
Kallie Pastorius shelled out some quick aid for the Lady Eagles (2-0) to get their game off on the right foot, as she scored the team’s first pair of goals beginning just nine minutes in off a pass from Julia Beardsley. Just five minutes later to conclude the rapid succession, Pastorius then found the Holland cage one more time off a pass dished along by Mylee Miller for a 2-0 lead.
The advantage would remain frozen in place up until the last five minutes of the half, when Grace Walton chipped in with a goal of her own to push the Fillmore lead to a trio. But with 30 seconds remaining until the break, the Lady Dutch avoided the shutout when the game was called a short time later, with their lone score.
Shots on offense favored the Lady Eagles by a 17-2 count, with Grace Clark making one save to earn the win in between the posts.
Fillmore hops back on the bus and heads for the Rich Sullivan Complex in Belfast to meet with Genesee Valley/Belfast on Friday at 7 p.m.
Bolivar-Richburg 1, Friendship/Scio 0
FRIENDSHIP — After coming up empty-handed during the Tri-County Cup this past weekend, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg were poised to find the win column for the first time in the young campaign on Monday. With a trip to visit Friendship/Scio, they would have to find the back of the net only once, doing just that in the waning stages of the first half to secure what was a 1-0 victory in Friendship.
It was an even battle across the board between both teams in the 80 minutes of action played, with Bolivar-Richburg (1-2) coming away with a narrow 9-8 shot advantage against Friendship/Scio on offense. Of those shots, the game’s lone goal off the foot of Sydney Faulkner, who gave the Lady Wolverines the 1-0 lead with 7:34 remaining until the half.
The Lady Wolverines would go on to keep their lead intact behind some strong defense, led by Rylee Whiting, who made all eight saves to secure the shutout. On the opposite end of the pitch, Avery Lamberson made eight saves for Friendship/Scio (0-2).
“It was a pretty evenly played game tonight,” said Friendship/Scio coach Dillon McFall. “Bolivar-Richburg had the one chance that finished, and the difference for us was we had three or four chances to score ourselves, but we couldn’t find the back of the net with it. On the bright side of things, I give the girls a lot of props. We were a different team compared to the first game against GV/Belfast, so this is a big step in the right direction.”
Bolivar-Richburg heads home to welcome in Andover/Whitesville for a 5 p.m. visit on Friday, while Friendship/Scio looks to bounce back with a 6 p.m. visit to Hammondsport in store for Wednesday night.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 8, Andover/Whitesville 1
ANDOVER — The red hot start for Genesee Valley/Belfast rolled on Monday night, as they put eight scores in the back of the net against host Andover/Whitesville to record what was an 8-1 victory in Andover.
Complete statistics were not made available to report upon publication.
Both teams are back on the pitch at 5 p.m. on Wednesday night, as Genesee Valley/Belfast (2-0) prepares to visit Cuba-Rushford, while Andover/Whitesville (0-3) continues their road swing to Jasper-Troupsburg.
BOYS SOCCER
Andover/Whitesville 5, Mount Morris 1
MOUNT MORRIS — Andover/Whitesville came out swinging for the fences in the first half, Monday night in their latest road trip to Mount Morris. In the first 40 minutes, they pummeled the Blue Devils net with four massive goals — all posted by sophomore Brody Vance, allowing them to make some noise towards what was a 5-1 rout.
Sandwiched in between the Blue Devils and their lone goal in the early stages of the first half, Vance took over the Andover/Whitesville (2-0) offense right away, scoring the game’s first knock at the 35:15 mark, finding the net all by his lonesome off a perfectly-placed corner kick. Nearly three minutes later, Vance connected again, this time with some additional help from Gage Putnam and his pass to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
After the Blue Devils cut the deficit in half a very short time later, Andover/Whitesville buckled back down on offense and delivered with two more big strikes from Vance near the midway mark, using their defensive pressure to keep Mount Morris on their feet in the process, as Vance scored his hat trick-clincher off a pass from Isaiah Cole, and then his fourth just over a minute later at the 23:31 mark from Colton Calladine.
With a 4-1 lead at the break, Andover/Whitesville never looked back in the rearview mirror again, as they added one more goal in the second half from Trey Kent for good measure off a corner kick supplied by Calladine.
Andover/Whitesville outshot Mount Morris by a 17-5 count on the attack, with Skylar Orpet garnering the victory in between the posts by putting a stop to four shots.
Up next, Andover/Whitesville will seek a third straight win to open the season on Thursday, as they visit Bolivar-Richburg at 5 p.m.
Portville 3, Bolivar-Richburg 1
BOLIVAR — It was that time for the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines to take the field for the very first time this Fall season, Monday night. Under the lights at Dunsmore-Latimer Field, they were tasked with going one-on-one with their crosstown rival Portville to get their motor running.
For much of the first half, it morphed into a competitive battle across all phases. As the heat continued to rise between both teams and their fight for possession, so did the pressure, as three of the four goals posted on the scoreboard were all recorded in the last 15 minutes and change left in the first half.
The Wolverines received the honors of opening the scoring, but the Panthers in turn, had the quickest of responses. That allowed them to set up a 1-2 first half punch against Bolivar-Richburg to keep their lead intact until one more piece to the victorious puzzle was added with a minute left to play, as the Panthers solidified their advantage and left town with a 3-1 victory.
After a lengthy battle occupying all angles of the field through the opening half, the scoring would commence immediately past the 16-minute mark left on the clock, as Landon Barkley gave the Wolverines (0-1) their very first score of the season off a direct kick from the 12-yard line, nailing it straight to the far post while leaving no doubt, to break the ice.
Following the kick at midfield controlled by the Panthers, their response was rapid, as the ball works its way back down into the Bolivar-Richburg zone where a cross from the near sideline worked its way out to the front, meeting the top of Riley Horsley’s head on the empty side of the net, deadlocking the game at one at the drop of a hat.
The Wolverines nearly halted Portville’s newly established momentum with another phenomenal rush into the offensive zone. Led by the guidance of Brayden Zilker, he used his awareness and finesse to shimmy around the Panthers defense, setting up a foul just outside the box for Barkley to take a direct kick. His shot sailed straight over a man-made barricade in front of the cage, where an initial save was made by the keeper, enough to create a follow-up chance for the Wolverines, who hit it just wide.
But the momentum would wind up remaining on Portville’s side, ultimately for the remainder of the game, as they doubled their lead on Bolivar-Richburg off Braedon Carter’s marker straight to the top shelf with less than four minutes left until the break.
The score would remain identical to the one entering halftime all the way until the game’s final two minutes, when the Panthers added one more piece of insurance from Brady German to close the night out. Portville wound up outshooting the Wolverines by a 15-8 final count, with Aydin Music making 10 stops for the hosts in black and red.
The Wolverines will look to rebound on the road for the first time tonight, visiting Friendship/Scio in a 5 p.m. first kick in Friendship.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Fillmore 3, Hammondsport 1
HAMMONDSPORT — After a dynamic five-set thriller with Warsaw to open their campaign, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore were aiming to build off a potential momentum boost on the road for the first time on Monday. With a visit to the Hammondsport Lady Lakers on the docket, another tough and furious battle on the volleyball court was in store for the evening.
The first set was evidence of that, as both teams went beyond the distance to settle the score. Despite dropping it to the hosts, Fillmore would not allow it to faze them any further, as they bounced back in the most gigantic of ways by sweeping the next three sets, claiming the 24-26, 25-12, 25-18, 25-14 decision.
Leading the way for the Lady Eagles (1-1) was a strong night of service from Michaela Lewis, who had a team-high nine aces to go with a kill on the attack. Following up was Mya Keeler, who had six more aces and five team-leading kills, while Eleanor Reitnour handed out 16 assists to go with four additional aces from the back line.
Fillmore heads back home to The Rock for their third contest in four days, as they prepare to welcome in Cuba-Rushford for a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
