OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove’s Sydnee Snow heads the ball toward the Royalton-Hartland goal during a Section VI Class B semifinal Wednesday at Bill Race Field in Falconer.
FALCONER — Last year, the Golden Cougars made it to the Section VI Class B1 girls soccer semifinals, but were unable to find the back of the net and found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss.
Making it back to the Class B semifinals Wednesday at Bill Race Field, No. 2 Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove was a part of another 1-0 soccer game, but this time instead of tears it was cheers as the Golden Cougars got past No. 3 Royalton-Hartland.
“That’s kind of been on our minds all season,” Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove head coach Brett Johnson stated. “That 1-0 overtime loss to Fredonia last year stings, so we’ve been using that as kind of motivation. It’s everybody’s goal to get to the section championship, so hats off to the girls, they’ve played great all season and they deserve it.”
In a game in which Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove dominated possession, it was fitting that the Golden Cougars’ main reason for controlling the game was the player to score the game’s only goal. After receiving a pass from Giada Schauman in the 24th minute, sophomore captain Julianna Roth took a few dribbles in from the 20-yard line and then lined up an absolute laser of a shot that did not slow down until it was stopped by the netting of the top left corner.
“She’s the rock of the team, the glue of the team, hard worker,” Johnson said about Roth. “I couldn’t be happier for her. She deserves that goal. We love having her in the middle, she’s just solid.”
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
The Golden Cougars’ Julianna Roth shoots the eventual game-winning goal.
Not only did Roth leave her mark on the game by scoring the only goal, but the box-to-box midfielder had the tall task of dropping back defensively to shadow Royalton-Hartland senior Kaitlin Mettler, the No. 2 scorer in Section VI.
“Pressure was our word coming into the day,” Johnson said about the defensive game plan on the Rams and, more specifically, Mettler. “We watched film on them, they’re a great pressure team and we wanted to kind of beat them to the punch. Our defense did a great job not losing her. The midfield did a great job not letting her turn, because she’s one of those players she’s all over the field. We just wanted to make sure she didn’t have a chance to beat us.”
However, the best defense is a really good offense that does not let the other team even possess the ball. For most of the game, even after its goal, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove controlled the ball and continued pressing for more goals.
“We always tell them if we can control the possession and keep the ball off the other team’s foot we’ve got a pretty good chance to win,” Johnson said about his team’s mentality. “We just try and get them to slow down and play our game and make it easy for ourselves that way.”
Even when Royalton-Hartland did manage to gain possession and send a shot toward goal, Ellyson Baglia was there to deny as she finished with five saves in the clean-sheet effort. Baglia’s biggest save came in the 53rd minute when she dove across the goal line to stop a shot just inside the box. She then made two more crucial saves in the final 10 minutes to keep the Rams off the board.
“Ellyson has been awesome for us this year,” Johnson stated. “She works hard in practice, great mindset so she really deserves all these clean sheets that she’s been getting lately. She keeps grinding back there, love to have her.”
When Royalton-Hartland was desperate to gain control of the ball through its midfield, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove had no problem moving the ball to the outside for its wingers to drive the ball deep into the offensive end.
“We have so much confidence in our wings to make plays when we need them,” Johnson added. “Sometimes it’s tough to fit the ball through the middle of the field, so we really rely on those wings and, again, they’ve played great all season. They continue to impress us.”
After staving off Royalton-Hartland’s final offensive push, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove kept immediately sending the ball out of danger when needed and secured its spot in the final.
While there was a little bit of unfamiliarity with Royalton-Hartland (13-3-2), the Golden Cougars (16-3-0) will face a familiar foe in the Class B final Saturday at Hamburg when they play Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 champion and top-seed Allegany-Limestone (18-1-0).
“It’s always nice going into a game when you kind of know what the other team brings,” Johnson said. “It’s tough with a team like Roy-Hart. You haven’t seen them before and you never kind of know. With Southwestern and Allegany we know what they bring to the table, so we know what we have to do. They’re both great teams and I’m kind of excited to see who wins, but we’re confident in our team with whoever we go up against.”
This marks the second-straight season that Royalton-Hartland has lost in the semifinals to a CCAA school 1-0. It fell to eventual champions Southwestern in 2023, courtesy of a Mallory Atwater goal.