Looking ahead at what to expect this fall in girls Soccer this fall
By Bill Collmer
Hornell Sun Senior Sports Writer
HORNELL-With August coming to an end, it means summer is almost over which is always hard to believe. However, the one bright spot with Fall quickly approaching is High School girls Soccer is back, Soccer and other Fall sports practices began on August 24.
We’re very lucky to live in the Southern Tier as we always seem to have contenders in Girl’s soccer with teams from Steuben, Allegany and Livingston County competing at high level and capturing sectional championships each fall.
Let’s take a look at what we can expect the next few months in Girls Soccer;
Hornell will be one of the top local teams again this season. All-Greater Rochester Second Team All-Star Reagan Evingham is back for her senior season and Freshman Brynna Wilkinson is also back after earning third team All-State Honors last season.
“Like every season, our goal is to work ourselves into the best position possible to be playing our best soccer of the season in time for Sectionals. We’ve managed to put together a difficult non-league schedule with Honeoye Falls-Lima, Penn Yan, Defending B2 champion Gananda/Marion, Palmyra-Macedon, on top of the LCAA Division D1 portion of our schedule,” Hornell Coach Mike Wilkinson said.
LCAA League rival Livonia defeated Hornell in the Sectional Semifinals 2-0 last season on their way to the Class B State Championship game where they fell to Marcellus 2-0.
“Livonia is who everyone will be chasing. They set the standard last year and it’s up to the rest of us to figure out a way to consistently get to that level,” Wilkinson said.
Hornell had a busy off-season and have been putting the work in to stay competitive
“The girls have been committed throughout the spring and summer. They competed in the Southern Tier Spring League. They had a terrific week of team camp in Pennsylvania, where they got to compete against some of the top large public and private school teams from Ohio. They’ve also been together for offseason workouts several times a week through the summer. It is definitely a group that cares about improving,” Wilkinson added.
Keshequa returns Senior Braelyn Isaman who was a first team All-Greater Rochester selection and third-Team All-State in Class C last season.
Bath-Haverling returns Junior Zoey Winfield who was named fourth team All-State in Class B last season, Winfield plays Midfield and was a starting defender on Bath’s State Championship team as an 8th grader.
“We are definitely struggling for numbers this year with just 13 athletes on varsity. While we are low on numbers, we have had good participation this summer with our core 7 or 8 returning athletes that will have a strong presence on the field. Our true battle will be remaining healthy, and as always, the very strong Livingston County league, Bath Coach Braedyn Northrup said
Makayla Smith is returning in goal for her senior year, and she is one of the top keepers in all section five. Riley Beaty will be a force up top along with senior Sierra Haight. Northrup will look for Sophomore Aleah Binkowski to hold down the center of the field as well.
“Looking at our league and section, there are some very strong teams returning. We will certainly have our work cut out for us. I’m looking forward to seeing what this squad can accomplish!” Northrup added.
Canisteo-Greenwood finished 15-4 last season and returns several key players from a Sectional Finalist team; The Lady Chargers fell 2-1 in the Sectional Championship game versus Holley. The Stingy C-G defense only allowed 12 goals all last season. C-G will move from Class C to Class B this season.
Key returners include 8th Grader Adriana Beers (14 goals, 2 assists); Freshman Mia Owlett (6 goals, 6 assists); Senior Kora Button (6 goals, 5 assists); And Senior Goalie Brystol Butler (59 saves, 10 goals allowed, 0.56 GAA).
“I am excited to get started with the soccer season. We are coming off one of our most successful seasons since Canisteo and Greenwood joined forces in 2004,” Canisteo-Greenwood Coach Collin Button said.
“We have a large number of athletes returning that will give 100% and compete at a pretty high level. I am curious to see how class B2 shakes out, as I am not 100 percent familiar with who is in this bracket. The section Five website has changed a lot, so finding results from last year has been a struggle so far. I wish I knew who the top teams in our bracket would be, but I do not know until I find out who is officially playing in B2,” Button said.
C-G lost three players from last year’s team due to graduation, two defenders and one midfielder. They will be very difficult to replace, Button is a big proponent for a stingy defense that can always keep you in a game, and he’s confident they have the girls to do just that. C-G will have a very deep group with 21 girls signed up for varsity as of now, and they return some very talented players.
“In the offseason we had a large number of girls play indoor soccer and, in the spring, we had a G12 and G9 team. At the end of August, we took 18 girls to Penn State Erie for team camp and competed against some very solid competition. The camp was excellent and it brought our girls closer. I expect us to be very competitive this upcoming season, and our goal is still the same. Try to win a sectional championship for our community and school,” Button concluded.
High School girls’ soccer is back and there’s plenty of reason to belief these local teams will be competing for sectional Championships in October.
