By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
FILLMORE — Through the first 40 minutes of play on Monday, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore would come out swinging for the fences, laying the lumber down on six goals to establish a lead that they would never lose against visiting Friendship, as they became the first team to 10 wins this season by reaching that marker consecutively after a 9-0 shutout win.
Hope Russell had an enormous night for the Lady Eagles (10-0), piling on five goals, including a first half hat trick, and handing out one helper to Malory DeRock on the game’s opening goal right in the first minute of play. DeRock would finish with two goals herself, with her last coming with 10 minutes remaining in the stanza off a Grace Russell assist — one of five total she would have.
Russell would also score a goal along with Madi Geertman, while CeCe Schmidt, Amelia Rose and Oakley Frazier all handed out assists to power up a 21-shot offense for Fillmore. The Lady Eagles in turn, would hold Friendship/Scio (3-5-2) to just three shots, as Preslee Miller and Rachel Hatch combined to make all three stops for the shutout.
Grace Drumm would make 12 saves in between the posts for Friendship/Scio.
Bolivar-Richburg 4, Cuba-Rushford 1
BOLIVAR — It has been the case all season for the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg. The Harris twins — McKinlee and Madigan, are the main driving forces of their success. They are the spark plug that helps make the team’s automobile drive.
It was no different on a gloomy Monday fall evening at Dunsmore-Latimer Field against visiting Cuba-Rushford. Although both teams were able to connect with a goal in the beginning stages of each half, resiliency started to show.
That being the case for the Harris siblings, with Madigan starting it off with Bolivar-Richburg’s go-ahead goal which would start a huge string of them soon after from McKinlee, who went on to complete a hat trick-netting performance to assist in garnering a 4-1 home victory to split their season series with the Lady Rebels.
“The overall team effort tonight was excellent. It’s nice to see things clicking as we approach the end of the season,” said Lady Wolverines coach Brooke Lovell. “Offensively, we have worked hard to improve possessing the ball and capitalize on scoring opportunities. Tonight, we were able to do that. McKinlee and Madigan are an integral part of our offense, so it was really nice to see them have some success.”
Right from the get-go, Bolivar-Richburg (6-5) was the first team to get on the board after the opening kick, with McKinlee Harris netting the first of three goals off a pass from Madigan near the top of the Cuba-Rushford 18, one that would slither right up the middle for a shot to find the far left post netting that saw them garner the 1-0 lead just two minutes in.
It would remain as such all the way to the end of the first half, but the Lady Rebels (4-5) were able to build a momentous spark on defense to carry into the second half. It would blossom into a game-tying goal from Sofia Riquelme on the way back out, as she connected with Riley Keller and her initial shot in towards the Lady Wolverines goal, redirecting it next to the post and in.
Not even two minutes removed from the deadlock that was provided, it was cut immediately by Madigan Harris and her go-ahead goal from McKinlee, who exchanged a plethora of passes into the offensive zone before Madigan was able to fire off a clutch shot to the top right corner of the cage to take the lead.
From that point on, it was Bolivar-Richburg’s game to control, as they added two more pieces of insurance from McKinlee to seal up the victory, and the hat trick performance with goals from two more assists by Madigan at the 23:39 and 10:20 marks of the second half.
The four goals were part of an eight-shot effort on the attack for the Lady Wolverines, as they outshot Cuba-Rushford by an 8-4 count. In between the pipes, Kyla Gayton made three saves for the win, while Tara Duvall had four for the Lady Rebels.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 2, Andover/Whitesville 0
BELMONT — It was as strong of a night that Genesee Valley/Belfast has had numerous times this season, on Monday. Despite the inclement conditions, the United team, led by a spectacular display of defense, navigated their way towards a seventh win in their first nine games by shutting out visiting Andover/Whitesville at Judy Bliven Field with a 2-0 victory in The Jungle.
“We dominated most of the half, and we could not connect with more than one great opportunity. These young ladies are doing some really nice exchanges and just can’t get the exclamation point on it,” said GV/Belfast co-coach Lisa Scott-Schneider. “I know we will only get better at that, and hopefully we will click on all cylinders before Sectionals. We’re taking things one game at a time like we have all season. This is our sixth shutout this year, which just speaks volumes about the defense.”
Genesee Valley/Belfast (7-2) garnered a goal in each half of play to set up shop against Andover/Whitesville, taking a 1-0 lead into the break after their first came near midway from Hannah Southwick-Powers, who scored both of the team’s goals, beginning at the 24:01 marker after connecting with Lauren Haggstrom on a rush into the offensive zone.
The lead would hold until both teams battled all across the midfield through much of the second half. With the defense continuing to keep the fort held down, the offense would create one final opening they would puncture with 4:34 left in the game, as Southwick-Powers fired home her second blast off a pass provided along by Harley Proctor to finish off the win.
In all — a 14-0 outshooting on offense for Genesee Valley/Belfast over Andover/Whitesville (0-8-2), with Ashley Burrows being credited with the shutout in goal, her sixth of the season.
On the other end, Olivia Waters made 12 saves for the visitors.
Houghton boys win fifth straight
ANDOVER — Since their defeat to the hands of Northstar a mere two weeks ago, the Panthers of Houghton Academy have been on an absolute roll. In the midst of their four-game tear, they have outscored their opponent by a 16-3 margin against Friendship/Scio, Cuba-Rushford, Alfred-Almond and Hinsdale.
On a brutal Monday night that saw on-and-off rain, wind and the temperature taking a big dip, it could create some less than ideal conditions. But that would not steer the Panthers away from keeping their blaze aflame, as they kept it lit in Andover with a first half lead that was constructed even further in the back half of the game with three more goals to secure their fifth straight win by a 5-1 count over host Andover/Whitesville.
“We’ve been tweaking things around on the field, and I think we’ve finally settled ourselves into the roles and positions that we really want to have,” said Panthers coach Jeff Prentice. “It’s been exciting for the last couple of weeks to see these guys complement one another, and to help each other out. It’s been the biggest difference, and seeing guys like Brian (Patipewe) and Lucas (Matias) set up and do really well for us all year, they’re doing an even better job of finding each other.”
Brian Patipewe and Lucas Matias have been two big pistons that have made Houghton Academy’s (7-2) engine roar for the last couple of weeks, each continuing it with two more goals to ignite the offense in another successful showing on the field, despite the less-than-ideal conditions.
Both Panthers would score a goal in each half, with Patipewe kicking off right out of the gate in the first 10 minutes with his to give them the early lead. It was held until Andover/Whitesville (1-9) found a way to respond by tying the game at one with 8:08 left to go, with CJ Estep finding his way through the Houghton Academy defense to knock in the lone goal to create even playing ground.
But it would not last long. Nearly three minutes removed, Matias would find the board himself to give the visitors in white and blue the lead going into the break, connecting with Shams Zia with 5:19 left to play to pick up a 2-1 halftime lead.
In the last 40 minutes, the firing of cylinders would commence for the Panthers — three second half goals to distance a 2-1 lead even farther away from Andover/Whitesville, with Matias, Zia and Patipewe all scoring to secure the team’s lead for good in what was a stellar 27-shot performance for the offense.
Marco Zanini would see just four shots from Andover/Whitesville, stopping three of them to earn the win for Houghton Academy, while Landon Ordway made 22 saves for the hosts.
