Chautauqua Lake’s Ava Zarpentine, left, marks Frewsburg’s Taytum Jimerson during Tuesday’s CCAA Division 3 girls soccer game in Mayville.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
MAYVILLE — The last time Frewsburg and Chautauqua Lake met within the division the Eagles ended the Bears multi-year unbeaten streak in league play.
Coming into Tuesday’s Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 contest in Mayville, Frewsburg was out to show it still runs the show.
The Bears did exactly that as they poured the shots on Chautauqua Lake, storming to a dominant 9-0 victory.
“Today was a big game, we knew it was for first place in the division,” Frewsburg head coach Scott Stone said. “They were 4-0 and we were 3-0. The last time we played them in the league they beat us, so we came to play and we knew they were going to come to play.”
Frewsburg swarmed the Eagles early and often, which earned them several corner kicks throughout the contest. That proved troublesome for Chautauqua Lake as Audrey Eckwahl and Kaylee Cappa were both on the money all game with balls into the box from the set piece.
Chautauqua Lake’s Lucy Gates eyes a save during Tuesday’s CCAA Division 3 girls soccer game against Frewsburg in Mayville.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
“Audrey and Kaylee have both been phenomenal when it comes to taking corners,” Stone said. “The last three games every time they step over a corner it seems like it has a chance to go in and they both curled one in today. It’s just been huge for us, we struggled early in the season to finish off corners and that hasn’t been the case of late. We’ve got two we curled in today, two off headers and we’re feeling real good every time we get a set piece on a corner.”
Frewsburg scored four of its nine goals off of corners, and both Eckwahl and Cappa managed to curl the set piece into the back of the net on their own once apiece. Jaden Jimerson also headed in a corner from Cappa, while Eckwahl finished a Cappa cross from the corner for the final goal.
Not only was Frewsburg cashing in on the set pieces, but it found success scoring in close and shots made their way in from long range. Section VI’s top scorer, Ava Jimerson, fought for another two goals, shouldering off defenders in her typical fashion, while sisters Taytum and Jaden buried shots from beyond the box.
“We want to be able to score in all different ways,” Stone added. “Every game is different, every team is different. Today was a little colder, it was harder to move the ball, the wind was blowing real hard so we took advantage of the set pieces, pushing balls to corners and the girls did a good job of finishing chances when we got them.”
Chautauqua Lake was overwhelmed with pressure from everyone on the pitch for Frewsburg, but that didn’t mean 2023 OBSERVER/Post-Journal Player of the Year Jada Cole would not get her opportunities. In the 76th minute, Cole saw her opportunity on the counterattack and danced her way past defenders before getting a look at Elysse Gruber in net, but her shot would not make it past the freshman netminder.
“Jada is a great player,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Cole Gleason said. “She’s just one of those players that lives, breathes soccer. But one of our mottos as our team is that we just don’t give up. Whether it’s 10-0 us or them we’re going hard every moment.”
Gruber finished with five saves for the clean sheet, but it was a whole team effort to record the shutout.
“We always want to keep a clean sheet,” Stone said about his team. “Elysse never wants to let a goal hit the back of the net. We subbed a bunch of different players in. Everybody got to see time on the field today, so to keep that clean sheet it is a total team effort and we take pride in those.”
Chautauqua Lake had its hands full trying to stop a very potent Frewsburg offense, but a lot of lessons were learned playing against strong competition. The final scoring leaders were Eckwahl with a hat trick and two assists, Cappa had a goal and two assists, Ava and Jaden Jimerson both scored twice, Taytum Jimerson scored once, and both Londyn Pigman and Brionna Dumaine collected assists.
“Where they’re really dangerous is their corners or set pieces,” Gleason said about the Bears. “Our defense was really tailored to making sure Ava wasn’t getting out into the open by herself, trying to shut down as much as we can. We transitioned well, but we kind of got tired at the end and that’s what kind of ran us out.”
With the victory Frewsburg (8-1, 4-0) stands alone atop Division 3 and Chautauqua Lake (4-4, 4-1) takes its first loss within the league schedule.