Stories and photos by CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
CUBA — Bragging rights were hanging in the balance.
On the final day of Tri-County Cup Tournament action on Saturday, one team took aim at a potential repeat as champions, while the other looked to play spoiler following a dominant first round victory back on Thursday.
The stage was set for Canisteo-Greenwood to defend their crown up against the host Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford in what was a hard-fought battle that saw a little bit of everything from start to finish. From midfield battles to physical play, to even a second half momentum swing.
The Lady Chargers had control of their own destiny across the majority of the first half. But later on, that was erased completely. The Lady Rebels had other plans in store.
There was no better time to flip the script than in the last 40 minute stanza the tournament would offer, as the Lady Rebels authored such a story to become Tri-County Cup Champions for the first time. Cloey Larabee had a hand in helping make that happen, as she received MVP honors behind two enormous plays on the field to help set up both Cuba-Rushford goals to propel ahead of the Lady Chargers with an eventual 2-1 title-clinching win.
“It’s great to start the year 2-0 and to win our own tournament. I thought defensively, we played very well after giving up the early goal, said Lady Rebels assistant coach Pat Wight. “They man-marked Cloey and she did a great job finding open people and taking on defenders, creating opportunities all evening. Lily Tompkins scoring right before halftime to get us even was a big momentum boost in our eyes. We had some girls step up after an early second half injury. Jen Tuttle was one of them, and she knocked in the game-winner while struggling with a leg injury. That was great for her. Canisteo-Greenwood is a solid team, and they were a great early season test. Collin (Button) always has them ready to go.”
The war for possession was given the green light, as the Lady Chargers and Lady Rebels (2-0) went straight to work up and down the field while warding off Mother Nature’s weather conditions in the process. Cuba-Rushford was nearly awarded with an ice-breaking moment to jump out front first, receiving a golden opportunity from Larabee off a direct kick outside the 18, sailing her shot straight on goal before ricocheting square off the crossbar and away from further danger.
The battle raged on up until the midway mark of the half when Canisteo-Greenwood found the opening in the Cuba-Rushford defense they desired to strike first, as Mya Rexford carved her way through towards the net after receiving a cross from the near sideline, finishing it off moments later to make it 1-0.
Nothing more would develop from either side following the marker, with the Lady Chargers continuing to hold the burst of momentum in their favor leading up to the final 10 minutes of the opening half.
But with under a minute remaining to play, the Lady Rebels manufactured an enormous shift behind a showcase of unbelievable speed from Larabee to keep the ball in play on the far sideline.
She finessed around the Lady Chargers defense in the process to deliver an absolutely beautiful pass to a wide-open Lily Tompkins in front of the net, firing it home without hesitation to tie the game at one with 43 seconds left to play.
Some more chances would come in the second half, including a near game-tying sequence headed by Rexford for Canisteo-Greenwood in the early stages of the frame. Off a ball won by Kadyn Piliero on the near sideline, a cross was delivered to the front of the Cuba-Rushford net where Rexford met it immediately with her head.
But her shot ultimately squibbed just wide and away from further danger.
Despite another fine chance to do more damage, the Lady Rebels worked to keep the momentum propelled in their favor, as the offense took right to the Lady Chargers defense by pinning them deep in their zone behind some strong possession play. That big burst wound up boiling over, allowing them to jump in front with the assistance of Larabee once again, who started the original sequence on the rush before shifting a pass up the field to Mireya Rutkowski.
A short time later, one more pass was dished out to Jen Tuttle in the middle of the field directly in front of the Lady Chargers net. With it, she received a wide open look and sailed it straight to the top shelf with 20 minutes left to go, giving the Lady Rebels a monstrous 2-1 lead — an advantage that would continue to hold in place, as Cuba-Rushford’s defense staved off Canisteo-Greenwood for the remainder of time to clinch their first tournament crown of their home tournament.
Between both teams, 33 shots combined were taken on goal, with Canisteo-Greenwood coming away with a very narrow 17-16 edge. But in goal, the victory for the hosts in blue belonged to Annaleece Melton, who made 15 saves.
On the opposite end, McKenna Ferris also made 15 saves for the Lady Chargers.
Cuba-Rushford will get set to potentially seek a third straight win to open the season on Wednesday, hosting Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 5 p.m. contest.
More stories after photo slideshow of the C-R girls vs. Canisteo-Greenwood and C-R boys vs. Arkport-Canaseraga:
BOYS SOCCER
Cuba-Rushford 3, Arkport-Canaseraga 3
CUBA — Arkport-Canaseraga and Cuba-Rushford are two schools coming off a historic year to remember for their respective communities. For the Wolves, that happened just a few months ago when the baseball team travelled to Binghamton and won everything New York State had to offer for the very first time.
Another first happened last Fall, this for the Rebels, following the defeat of Geneseo in the Class C2 Championship to become first-time Section V titleholders. Both the Wolves and Rebels have travelled at maximum overdrive on the superhighway since then, going into the new school year.
The glory, now piecing together a clash like no other on a collision course in Cuba upon the pitch, Saturday afternoon.
There was simply no doubt that when their paths intersect, the two teams would put on a fireworks show from start to finish.
The decibel level on the field rose after each passing minute, taking what was a 1-0 halftime lead and turning it into a five-goal bonanza across the second half that ultimately forced overtime. The Wolves and Rebels fought tooth and nail across it all, but in the end, after 100 hard-fought minutes, the two foes would conclude with a 3-3 tie on the scoreboard — Arkport-Canaseraga’s second in as many days, following a penalty kick session with Olean the night before.
“My guys showed a lot of heart and pride today, and I couldn’t be happier with their effort,” Rebels coach Rob Wight said. “To come from behind twice, especially in the end when we had gone from up 2-1 to 3-2 down, that takes some real resiliency to fight back. Chase Haas stepped up with a goal in his first Varsity minutes and obviously with a player like Robert Childs, you always feel like you are in the game. Brock (Stadler) was also immense tonight, holding down our backline and dealing with constant pressure while also picking out Robert to have a hand in all three goals. He had a really great game.”
A scoreless battle developed across a vast majority of the first half between the two foes before the game’s first marker was found with 2:40 remaining, as Jacob Bacon helped paint a beautiful picture in front of the Rebels (0-0-1) cage off a corner kick, floating directly to the top of his head and into the net to carry the momentum into the break.
The second half was a completely different story however, as both teams converged to record five more goals — all of which being scored in back-and-forth fashion, beginning with a strong response out of the gate from Brock Stadler and his kick down the field to a streaking Robert Childs on the run away from the Wolves defense. In the midst of their odd-man rush into the offensive zone, Childs navigated the ball over to Chase Haas, who fired it straight home for his first Varsity tally and an early 1-1 tie.
Stadler helped set up Cuba-Rushford’s go-ahead goal later on in the half, following a foul against the Wolves deep in their offensive zone. Upon the election to take a direct kick, Stadler delivered yet another perfectly-placed ball with the right velocity and the right altitude right to the lap of Childs on the breakaway. With no one but the Arkport-Canaseraga keeper to beat, Childs found his opening with ease for his first of two scores in the game.
Then it was Arkport-Canaseraga’s turn to respond. Following a lengthy battle across the field, the Wolves worked against the clock and pushed the pace against the Rebels. With 11:53 left to play, the ball navigated just outside the 18 where Eli Merry met it with an absolute airmail that sailed straight into the opposing cage to tie the game once again, at two.
If the shot succeeded in tying the game, it would work once again in taking their first lead since the end of the first half. Just three minutes later, the Wolves did exactly that, as the ball landed in nearly the same exact position in front of the Cuba-Rushford goal as before, this time with Bacon providing the go-ahead airmailing into the net for a 3-2 lead.
The Rebels went from having control to falling behind the eight ball with less than 10 minutes left in regulation. But that was absolutely no problem with 2:16 to go, as Childs picked up his second score following a challenge from the Wolves keeper, winning the battle by firing his shot straight into the empty net ahead of him for a 3-3 tie going into overtime.
Overtime would see plenty of opportunities for each side, including perhaps the best chance from either party to end the game coming on a rush led by Carter Brown for the Rebels, carrying the ball down the near sideline before delivering a strike to the middle of the Wolves box for Anderson Seigel.
The ball was met by a trap from Seigel with the Wolves keeper down and out, but somehow and some way, the defense was able to clear the ball away from any more danger.
In the end, both teams would wind up finishing deadlocked in a 3-3 tie to close up the day.
The offenses combined to record 35 total shots on goal, with the Wolves taking the 23-12 advantage over the Rebels.
Cuba-Rushford will play host to Genesee Valley/Belfast coming up next on Tuesday, beginning at 5 p.m.
Craig Lawrence Tourney Consolation
Wellsville at Wayland-Cohocton – No report.
Jasper-Troupsburg 3, Friendship/Scio 2
SCIO — There was level playing ground across the first half between Jasper-Troupsburg and Friendship/Scio on a Saturday afternoon for some soccer in Scio.
With a tie going into halftime, something had to give way for the last 40 minutes of play. That, being Landon Zver for the Wildcats, as he gave them all the room possible to work with two gigantic goals against Friendship/Scio to help pick up an advantage that was threatened at times, but ultimately never lost, securing what was a 3-2 road win.
The Wildcats were the first to reach the board during the opening half of action, with Nolan VanGorden doing the honors of breaking the ice. Later on, Friendship/Scio (0-2) responded with a game-tying score to close out the half, as Daniel Lamberson shifted off a pass for Charlie Taylor to finish off to the back of the Jasper-Troupsburg net.
Landon Zver would then take matters into his own hands with the next two Wildcats goals — one of them off a direct kick, in the second half to give them a 3-1 lead they never looked back from, despite Friendship/Scio closing the gap one more time late with a score from Cooper Greenman off a direct kick.
14 total shots were collected between both teams, with Jasper-Troupsburg garnering the 9-5 advantage. In goal, Zac Hyman made three saves to earn the win, while Deacon Brown stopped six shots for the hosts.
Friendship/Scio is back on the field Tuesday night with a 5 p.m. home contest against Bolivar-Richburg in Friendship.
