By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
TROUPSBURG — Emily McCaig was at the top of her game for the Lady Wildcats of Jasper-Troupsburg on Tuesday, as she rang in her Senior Night in style with a seven-point night — a hat trick and an assist on the team’s fourth goal to Kahley Stuart in what was a hectic opening sequence in the second half, en route towards a 5-0 shutout of Friendship/Scio.
The Lady Wildcats would provide two explosive starts to the game, beginning with McCaig’s first goal off a Katelynn Staats feed on the way into the Friendship/Scio (3-9-2) zone to find the back of the net for the early lead, just four minutes in. The lead would grow after a midfield battle settled in for much the remaining time, as Kaylie Petteys branched the advantage out to a pair with six minutes remaining to take a 2-0 lead at the break.
But then the lead that Jasper-Troupsburg had held onto, grew rapidly and insurmountably with an incredible opening sequence in the second half, as the Lady Wildcats scored three goals in the first four minutes. All the goals saw McCaig have a hand in them, recording two herself while handing a pass out to Kahley Stuart in between to push out the lead from a pair to five, for good.
Aubrianna Bradley would garner an assist herself on the team’s final goal of the game, four minutes removed from the break.
GIRLS SOCCER
Andover/Whitesville 1, Alfred-Almond 1
WHITESVILLE — Overtime has become an all too familiar circumstance for Andover/Whitesville this season, as Tuesday night marked the fifth time that they were forced into extra time. On this occasion, they locked horns with the Alfred-Almond Lady Eagles in Whitesville.
A tight battle across the board would develop through the first half, and into the next. But then the offense began to settle in coming down the final stretch before the end of regulation. As a result, each team found the back of the net once with Alfred-Almond ultimately forcing overtime, and then an eventual game-ending deadlock — the third for Andover/Whitesville this season in what was a 1-1 draw between both clubs.
With no answers being found on offense across a defensive midfield battle in the first half, Andover/Whitesville (1-9-3) was the first to strike with under 20 minutes remaining in the game, as Kennedy Bledsoe connected with Ava Grice on the scoring play that would give them a 1-0 lead to work with.
Leaning on their defense to hold down the fort, Alfred-Almond would see their opening come 10 minutes later after they were fouled inside the goalkeeper’s box deep in the Andover/Whitesville zone, which would set up perhaps the biggest opportunity of the night — a free kick.
Electing to take the chance was Ali Hurd, who did not hesitate to fire it into the net, slipping through the grasp of Olivia Waters in between the posts on the way in with 7:39 left to play to tie the game at one, ultimately until the end, as both teams wound up settling on the draw after 100 complete minutes.
Both Alfred-Almond and Andover/Whitesville recorded seven shots on their respective nets, with Waters and Gracen Dusinberre both making six saves.
BOYS SOCCER
Bolivar-Richburg 3, Canisteo-Greenwood 1
BOLIVAR — Chances were had, a midfield battle was waged. It was your typical back-and-forth duel through the early stages of the opening half.
But then coming down the homestretch, the temperature began to rise with the offenses coming to life. Three goals were scored in the last 10 minutes of the half. Two of them belonged to Reiss Gaines in back-to-back fashion to earn the Wolverines a 2-0 lead over the Redskins. Despite their deficit being cut in half, the lead would remain glued together until some late insurance was had in the last 10 minutes of the second half, as they scored a 3-1 home win.
After a slow and steady pace settled in for the early stages of the contest, Bolivar-Richburg (11-1-1) kicked into gear with an explosive offensive stand in the last 10 minutes of play with Gaines and his pair of goals. At the 10:09 mark, they reached the board first off a play set up by Aydin Sisson deep in the Canisteo-Greenwood zone. Just feet away from the net, a close give-and-go sequence between he and Gaines would break out, with Gaines finishing off the final pass on Sisson’s right side for the icebreaker.
Not even two minutes later, the momentum stayed with Gaines and the Wolverines, as he recorded his second of the game on a play stemming from an Ian Unfus corner kick. The ball would initially travel straight through Noah Warriner’s hands on his attempt to save the kick, landing straight on top of the head of Gaines, popping it into the net for a 2-0 lead at the 8:26 mark.
Canisteo-Greenwood would make things interesting right before the book closed, with Gavin Bob cutting their deficit in half going into the break, racing side-by-side with Aiden Stewart on his way into the Bolivar-Richburg zone. With possession, Stewart left off an accidental pass into the arsenal of Bob, and then fired from the top of the 18 straight past David Abdo in between the posts and in with 4:37 left to go.
With the Redskins continuing to ride the Wolverines coattails ever so closely throughout the second half, some breathing room was garnered with under 10 minutes left to play from an enormous piece of insurance — Gaines handing out a helper on the way into the offensive zone for David Baldwin, who connected with the back of the net himself with 8:53 remaining to give the Wolverines the room they needed to hang on and ward off the late push by their visiting opposition.
The three goals by Bolivar-Richburg were scored off 11 total shots, as they outshot Canisteo-Greenwood by an 11-6 count. Abdo would get the win behind five saves, while Warriner made eight for the Redskins.
Girls Volleyball
Fillmore 3, Canisteo-Greenwood 1
FILLMORE — The task at hand for the Fillmore Lady Eagles back home on Tuesday was perhaps the tallest they have had all season. Inside the Rock, Class C2’s top team — Canisteo-Greenwood entered the building undefeated and looking for more momentum to build for Sectionals coming up in a couple of week’s time.
Both teams fought tooth and nail through the first two sets of action, each splitting one to tie the match up. But in the next two, a big boost was gathered by the Lady Eagles, after pushing the Lady Redskins to the brink entering what turned out to be a fourth set for the ages.
With the visitors beginning to close in on potentially sending the match into a fifth and final set, Fillmore had other plans. They would find their way around the eight-ball after the visitors built a 17-9 lead, the Lady Eagles saw Emma Beardsley rise to the occasion in one of the biggest ways possible — by scoring 10 straight service points from the back line to rip the lead out of Canisteo-Greenwood’s hands, and into theirs the rest of the way, as they took down the Class C2 giants by handing them their first loss in four sets (25-21, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18).
