OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s Kylie Kress shoots between a pair of Allegany-Limestone defenders for the game-winning goal during Saturday’s Section VI Class B championship game at Hamburg High School’s Howe Field.
HAMBURG — Falconer hadn’t won a sectional title in girls soccer since 2014.
Maple Grove’s drought had reached six years.
Cassadaga Valley had never won a championship.
On Saturday, girls from all three schools combined to accomplish the feat at Hamburg High School.
Kylie Kress scored the game-winning goal in the 70th minute as Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove won the Section VI Class B title with a 2-1 victory over Allegany-Limestone.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s Kylie Kress, right, celebrates her game-winning goal with teammate Sydnee Snow during Saturday’s Section VI Class B championship game against Allegany-Limestone at Hamburg High School’s Howe Field.
“Once we found out that we were merging and we started seeing the first week of practice what kind of talent we’d have, and what we were capable of,” Golden Cougars head coach Brett Johnson said, “this thought was always in the back of our heads.”
The teams played a 1-1 first half, but the second-seeded Golden Cougars began to get more of the offensive touches as the game wore on.
Finally, with just over 10 minutes remaining, Julianna Roth found some room to work. The sophomore made the most of it, sending a ball into the 18-yard box that Kress took possession of. After one touch, the Maple Grove sophomore beat Gators senior keeper Chloe Baker with the shot to make it 2-1.
“They pressed pretty quickly, but I knew I had to capitalize on any opportunity that I got. I saw the opportunity and I took it,” said Roth, who plays in the offseason with Kress on the WNY Flash club team. “She’s a good player. We have good chemistry. Being on the same team really helped us this season.”
“I saw some defenders coming at me,” Kress added, “and I just hit it bottom right.”
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s Mary Lundmark, right, celebrates with teammates Gracie Chimera (14), Kylie Kress and Sydnee Snow after Lundmark’s first-half goal Saturday in the Section VI Class B championship game against Allegany-Limestone at Hamburg High School’s Howe Field.
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s back line of Natalie Dossey, Madilyn Seastrum, Giada Schauman and Khloe Livengood made sure the lead held up, keeping Allegany-Limestone’s senior leading scorer Cait Kellogg in their sights for the final 10 minutes as time ran out.
“They have a lot of speed up top and they are very physical,” Dossey said. “We all made sure to stay connected to stop them.”
The top-seeded Gators, whose only two losses on the season were to the Golden Cougars, struck first on a cool Saturday morning at Howe Field.
Less than five minutes into the game, Kellogg took a long pass from Kennedy Honeck and got free behind Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s back line before scoring to Golden Cougars keeper Ellyson Baglia’s left for a 1-0 lead.
“We were prepared to keep our heads up regardless of what happened,” Dossey said. “We knew they were a tough team and they’d probably come out and score, but we kept our heads up and we kept going.”
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s Mary Lundmark, left, and Alex Caldwell, right, collide with Allegany-Limestone’s Mackenzie Rhodes during Saturday’s Section VI Class B championship game at Hamburg High School’s Howe Field.
Less than 10 minutes later, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove answered when a shot by Kress in the box found the diving foot of Mary Lundmark, who punched it into the goal to tie the game.
“Mary has one speed and it’s fast,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter how the ball goes in, it doesn’t have to be pretty, just put the ball in the net. She’s one of the best at that.”
Not long after, Allegany-Limestone won three corner kicks in a row, but was unsuccessful getting one by Baglia.
“Seeing their record and knowing we were that one loss gave us that confidence,” Johnson said. “We still had to have a fear that they were an 18-1 team and they were going to play like it.”
Later in the first half, Kress hit the bottom of the crossbar and somehow the ball did not clear the goal line as the score remained 1-1 after 40 minutes.
OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove poses with the Section VI championship banner and trophy after winning the Class B title against Allegany-Limestone on Saturday at Hamburg High School’s Howe Field.
Midway through the second half, Kellogg got loose for her second breakaway of the day, but Baglia made a diving attempt to deflect the ball wide of the far post.
“Those saves are literally what win you and lose you the game. Her decision making has been awesome the last few weeks,” Johnson said of Baglia. “She’s just been continuing to grow as a goalkeeper.”
That save proved to be the key late when Kress buried what turned out to be the winner.
“You give a player like Jules that little space to make a pass, and it was a perfect pass,” Johnson said. “Luckily, we had Kylie up there to finish it.”
Next up for the Golden Cougars is a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Far West Regional date with Section V champion Hornell at 7:45 p.m. Friday at Williamsville North High School. The Red Raiders topped Bath-Haverling 2-1 in the Rochester area’s championship game Friday night.
“We’re going to work on some things in practice, watch some film and see if we can adjust to them,” Johnson said.