By CHRIS BROOKS, wellsvillesports.com
CUBA — Aside from a torrid undefeated start by the Class D State Champions up north in Fillmore, the Rebels of Cuba-Rushford are in the process of establishing an incredible mark of their own to start their campaign. After going 0-2-1 in their first three games, the pieces of the puzzle began falling into place, one after another.
Since that third game, the Rebels have now galloped towards five consecutive wins. Amongst the victorious matches, three of them have gone into extra time against Bolivar-Richburg and Andover/Whitesville at the Brock Young Tournament in Scio, and after that a 3-2 win over Wellsville the following week.
With Canisteo-Greenwood in town for a visit on a misty Monday night in Cuba, they knew they were going to have their hands full with yet another competitive battle.
After 80 full minutes of play, overtime was required for the Rebels for a fourth time in the last six games to determine the final outcome. With the Chargers following in their footsteps every step of the way, it would come down to the game’s waning minutes with a 1-1 tie displayed on the board past the east end zone.
With under two minutes remaining, Jake Elliott sprinted his way free and made the run of the night.
While Cuba-Rushford worked the ball up field, it would eventually land on the foot of Braeden Wight at midfield, who then shifted a perfectly-positioned ball straight towards the Canisteo-Greenwood cage where his fellow senior teammate began to roar in on goal. With the Chargers coming out to make a play on the ball, Elliott beat him just in time to knock a wide-open ball to the far side post to end the game, sending the Rebels into hysterics and towards their sixth straight victory, 2-1 in double overtime.
“I think we really struggled tonight with the pace of play and adjusting to Canisteo-Greenwood’s physicality,” said Rebels coach Rob Wight. “We didn’t do the best job at maintaining possession or finishing our chances throughout the course of the game. That always makes wins like this a little sweeter, when you have a poor 70-ish minutes and still find a way to pull out of this, especially against a team like them. Robert (Childs) continues to show up for us in big moments like this, and I was happy to see Jake finally get a goal for all the dirty work he does for us in the middle.”
The Rebels (6-2-1) found themselves down 1-0 to the Chargers for a vast majority of the contest, as the visitors broke the ice in the first 10 minutes of play with a score from Declan McAneney, who beat Alex Baron to the ball in front of the Cuba-Rushford cage to knock it home after a longball from midfield helped set up the marker with 30:19 on the clock.
Both teams would then begin to dig in across the midfield with a battle that would stretch across for much of the second half. But the Rebels would find an opening in the Chargers defense to create some late game magic, as Robert Childs gathered the ball off a long pass from Jake Elliott at center. Childs would finesse his way around the opposition just enough to launch a rocket straight on goal, hitting the near post and across to the far post and in with 7:52 left to play, creating a 1-1 deadlock to force overtime.
With no more opportunities to break through in the opening 10 minute stanza of extra time, Cuba-Rushford would then find a way to complete their rally from behind with 1:45 left in double overtime, as Braeden Wight’s deep ball to a streaking Elliott in on the Canisteo-Greenwood net officially closed out the night for the hosts on the strongest of notes, as they secured their sixth straight victory in thrilling and dramatic fashion.
Wight says after the start to their season, it was only a matter of time before his team began to flip a switch.
“I think the start of the season was a big adjustment to some of the new faces and a new playstyle that we’ve instilled,” he said. “It took some ironing out, but the boys have answered the call and done a great job of taking everything one game at a time, and executing our game plans day in and day out.”
Both teams came together to record 20 shots on goal, with Cuba-Rushford claiming a 12-7 advantage. Alex Baron claimed the victorious honor by recording 10 saves, while Korbyn Osterwald made 10 saves for the Chargers.
The Rebels are right back to it tonight, as they look to extend their hot streak to seven straight games with a 5 p.m. visit to Campbell-Savona.
Hammondsport 7, Friendship/Scio 3
SCIO — Hammondsport saw Orion Davis provide a slew of helpers to aid in setting an early tone over the road against Friendship/Scio on Monday, as they used the second half to build even further onto their first half foundation to score what ultimately became a 7-3 road win in Scio.
In between a trio of Lakers goals in the opening half, Friendship/Scio (1-10) saw Jerome Harmon reach the board first to cut their deficit in half with 10:14 left to go. With a 3-1 lead in hand going into the break, Hammondsport went on to score three times in a five-minute span down the homestretch to branch out their lead.
Charlie Taylor and Aiden Golden also recorded a goal each in the second half, with Lawson Ector and Cooper Greenman each handing out assists on the markers. The three goals came on nine total shots against the Lakers, while Deacon Brown set aside 10 shots out of 17 faced in between the posts for the hosts in black and gold.
Friendship/Scio is back in action Thursday with a 5:30 p.m. first kick at Arkport/Canaseraga.
GIRLS SOCCER
Bath-Haverling 7, Wellsville 0
WELLSVILLE — Ella Yartum was going to shoot And score. The senior forward had just scored her 100th career goal earlier in the week.
She scored three quick goals, then Emma Luckenbach, who is heading to Division I Arkansas as a goalie, scored three more and had two assists. Ainsley Beaty scored another goal as well for Haverling.
The Lady Rams set the tone and never looked back in the rearview mirror on Monday to score a 7-0 road shutout in the Lion’s Den.
Wellsville statistics were not made available to wellsvillesports.com to report upon publication.
Wellsville (3-7-1) is back on their home turf Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. visit from Genesee Valley/Belfast.
Cuba-Rushford 3, Friendship/Scio 0
FRIENDSHIP — Two first half goals for the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford helped set up shop for what was their fourth win in the last six games, as they managed to record a regular season-series split with host Friendship/Scio with a 3-0 shutout, Monday night over the road in Friendship.
Sydney Howard and Aubrey Williams were the first two Lady Rebels (5-4) to get the scoring started on the offensive front, as both attackers found the back of the Friendship/Scio net to give them a 2-0 first half lead to carry forward into the break. To ensure their lead was solidified for good, Harlie Jones scored the last marker by connecting with Williams to finish off the victory.
“We played some decent soccer the last two games, but we just didn’t have enough in the second half,” Friendship/Scio coach Dillon McFall said. “There’s still a lot of games to go in the season for us to get better, and hopefully we can turn it around the next time we come out on the field.”
The three goals for the Lady Rebels were scored on 11 total shots against Friendship/Scio (5-4), as they outshot the hosts by an 11-4 count. In goal, Lilly Johnson-Clark made all four stops in between the posts for the visitors to record the shutout, while Grace Drumm made eight saves on the other end for the hosts, who now get set for a 6 p.m. first kick with Alfred-Almond over the hill in Scio on Thursday.
Cuba-Rushford returns to the pitch this weekend with another road trip in store, as they prepare for a 5 p.m. visit to the undefeated Lady Eagles of Fillmore, Saturday evening.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 5, Bolivar-Richburg 0
BOLIVAR — Genesee Valley/Belfast orchestrated yet another immaculate game of soccer to begin the week on a misty Monday night, as the offense attacked from all angles while the defense held host Bolivar-Richburg to just a single shot on goal, as they went on to tally their fourth marker in the last five games with a 5-0 shutout over the road at Dunsmore-Latimer Field.
The hammer was brought down in the last 20 minutes of first half play between both squads, with Whitney Young getting in on the goal scoring first at the 21 minute mark with a helper from Bayleigh Tallman. With a 1-0 lead now in hand, Genesee Valley/Belfast (9-2) would go on to score three goals in eight minutes down to the 11:17 mark, when Hannah Southwick-Powers added a goal of her own off a feed provided by Morgan Yackeren.
Tallman would go on to close out a strong first half for the visitors in white and black with back-to-back goals — totaling six in the last three games, across 1:49 in time, connecting with Danika Scott on her first marker before finishing the next all to herself to branch out their advantage to 4-0 at the break.
To ensure the victory remained intact, Southwick-Powers finished off the scoring for Genesee Valley/Belfast with her second of the game with nine minutes left to play, as she found the back of the Bolivar-Richburg (3-6) net off a helper by Haelyn Clark. The five goals were scored off 11 total shots applied against the Lady Wolverines, outshooting their opposition by an 11-1 count.
In goal, the win was credited to Kimme Ball, who posted a shutout by making one save. On the other end, Caitlyn Steiner made eight saves.
Both teams will return to action Wednesday night, with Genesee Valley/Belfast continuing their road trip with a 7 p.m. visit to Wellsville, while Bolivar-Richburg looks to turn it back around with a 5 p.m. visit from Andover/Whitesville.
A-P girls’ soccer improves to 7-3
Avoca-Prattsburgh defeated Hammondsport 6-2 on Sept. 20.
Olivia Kilmer scored four goals and Madison Fitzwater scored two goals. Emma Carlton, Ina Oien Kjernli, Izzy Button and Olivia all tallied assists.
Danica Dresser scored both goals for Hammondsport.
Olivia Kilmer reached 50 career goals in the win for A-P. A-P also had a big homecoming win over Addison.
Fillmore 9, Andover/Whitesville 0
FILLMORE — Since knocking off one of their biggest tests of the season in Allegany-Limestone prior to the weekend, there is simply no slowing the undefeated Fillmore Lady Eagles down. On Monday, it would ring true once more after a visit from Andover/Whitesville, as Hope Russell’s scorching hot senior campaign continued with four more tallies, setting up shop for what was a 9-0 home win to reach 10 totals wins on the year.
Out of the nine scores that Fillmore (10-0) found the back of the net with, six were posted in the first 40 minutes of play, beginning with a pair 10 minutes after the opening kick as Grace and Hope Russell went back-to-back, with Delaney Hillman handing out a helper on the latter of the goals. The two continued to hit all strides across the next three goals, where Grace recorded her second before Hope finished off a first half hat trick off passes from Tenlee Miller and Amelia Rose near midway.
Grace Clark ended the first half scoring for the Lady Eagles with a marker of her own, connecting with Mattie McCumiskey on the play to branch the team’s lead out.
In between a pair of Mylee Miller scores from the foot of Tenlee Miller, Hope Russell would record her fourth goal of the game off a Grace Russell helper. The nine goals came courtesy of a 15-shot display on offense, while the defense allowed just one to reach Preslee Miller — saved to record the shutout win for the Lady Eagles.
Jaizelyn Marcello made six saves for Andover/Whitesville (1-7), who continues their road swing Wednesday night with a 5 p.m. visit to Bolivar-Richburg.
Fillmore is back under the lights this weekend with a 7 p.m. Homecoming battle slated against the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford, Saturday evening.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Fillmore 3, Hammondsport 0
HAMMONDSPORT — It was not easy all throughout the night by any means, but at the end of the night, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore battled host Hammondsport tough and they managed to leave town victorious with what was their fifth straight win in their back pocket, laying claim to a hard-fought straight-set sweep of the Lady Lakers by a 25-18, 25-19, 25-21 count on Monday.
The Lady Eagles (5-4) were paced by Jenna Austin on the attack, as she posted a team-leading three kills to go with two aces. Following up from the service line was Savannah Hosmer, who had two more aces to add along with one kill.
Up next, Fillmore will now try and take aim at a sixth straight victory since an 0-4 start to the season on Thursday, when they play host to the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford back inside The Rock at 7:30 p.m.
Keshequa 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 0
BELMONT — Visiting Keshequa came out firing on all cylinders to begin their new week of action on the volleyball court with the strongest of footnotes, Monday night, as they visited Genesee Valley/Belfast and left town with a straight-set sweep, taking the 25-9, 25-9, 25-17 victory back home.
Individual statistics for Genesee Valley/Belfast (2-6) were not made available to report upon publication.
Genesee Valley/Belfast will have a quick turnaround back on their home floor tonight, as they host Avoca/Prattsburgh at 7:30 p.m.
Houghton Academy at Avoca/Prattsburgh – No report.
GIRLS TENNIS
Wellsville 5, Addison 0
ADDISON — The Lady Lions of Wellsville had to beat out some impending rain in the forecast Monday night, but despite it, they were able to remain undefeated with yet another 5-0 shutout on the season, this time to the host Lady Knights of Addison to pick up their 11th straight victory.
Once more, the singles core of Samantha Bidzerkowny, Meagan Riley and Sarah Mattison all laid claim to victories in their respective matches to lead Wellsville (11-0) to victory, with Bidzerkown and Riley each posting 8-1 wins at first and second singles respectively, while Mattison triumphed in an 8-3 decision at third singles.
In the doubles department, the first doubles team of Caitlin Bittel and Hanna Miles kept the momentum rolling with an 8-2 win, while Kelsey Seely and McKenna Wonderling scored an 8-1 win at second doubles to complete the match sweep of Addison in its entirety.
On Wednesday, the road swing continues for the Lady Lions, as they now begin preparations for a 5 p.m. visit to Avoca/Prattsburgh.
Singles
1. Samantha Bidzerkowny (WLSV) def. Alex Boutelle (ADD), 8-1.
2. Meagan Riley (WLSV) def. Katherine Ames (ADD), 8-1.
3. Sarah Mattison (WLSV) def. Sadie Strauss (ADD), 8-3.
Doubles
1. Hanna Miles/Caitlin Bittel (WLSV) def. Katie McNeill/Jessi Balance (ADD), 8-2.
2. Kelsey Seely/McKenna Wonderling (WLSV) def. Kaylee Keech/Tayonna Tormey (ADD), 8-1.
