Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Genesee Valley stuns Honeoye in PKs

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Genesee Valley sophomore Adison Grusendorf pushes the ball past two Honeoye defenders.

By CARSON WERNER

HONEOYE, N.Y. — In the squad’s respective divisions, competition played out to several low-scoring affairs. Honeoye’s backfield conceded four tallies all season and managed to hold an 8-1-2 record using 17 goals scored. Over half of Genesee Valley’s wins came via shutout and 10-of-13 games were concluded with three goals or less. With neither side boasting a strong offensive output, a defensive battle was expected.

But, the use of all additional time was not anticipated by either side.

In soccer’s final resort to declare a winner, Genesee Valley buried two and held Honeoye scoreless in three-and-a-half rounds of penalty kicks. Sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Burrows turned away two shots while the others found post and grass wide of the net. In her first sectional game, Burrows was perfect when it meant the most.

“I was a little nervous for the shootout, but I just stayed confident enough in myself.”

Seniors Lizzy Bentley and Avery Grusendorf found the back of the net for Genesee Valley. 

From the sidelines, Jaguar head coach Lisa Scott-Schneider had been in this position before. 

“I used a different strategy in the shootout,” Schneider said. “I’ve been through two; one good, one bad. So I let them choose this time. I told them, ‘It all comes down to confidence.’”



Sierra Burrows snagged a 1-0 lead for GV in the seventh minute on a direct kick from just outside the far corner of the box.

“I had a lot of confidence when I came up to kick the ball. All I was thinking was ‘far corner, far corner’ and it was there.”

Answering with loads of offensive pressure and physicality, Honeoye knotted up the score before halftime on Leah Green’s impressive chip above the GV defense. 

Camouflaged by the number seven, Genesee Valley’s placement in this year’s tournament is rather deceiving. The Jaguars fell from second to seventh seed after losing its final game of the season to Wellsville, 2-1. Before that, GV had only lost to Bolivar-Richburg and undefeated powerhouse, Fillmore, twice.

Honeoye, however, entered the playoffs at a disadvantage. The Bulldogs had to play without three of their senior starters; team-scoring-leader Grace Hall, Tori “The Wall” Armstrong and midfielder/forward Macie Yale. With unexpected adjustments to be made at the season’s end, head coach Grace Wood had to reconstruct her roster in preparation for the game.

“We talked about being able to play in different positions and being utility players so we moved some players into different offensive positions as best we could.”

The game featured multiple scoring chances from both sides, but fell heavily in Honeoye’s favor. The Bulldogs maintained possession in enemy territory through a large chunk of regulation. It wasn’t until the final 20 minutes of overtime when GV began to take advantage of a tired Honeoye squad.

“It’s just how the game of soccer goes,” Wood said. “There are no decisions, like boxing, unfortunately. Some games you win when you shouldn’t. Sometimes you lose when you shouldn’t. It’s difficult. I tell them, ‘As long as you did everything you could, you can still feel good about that.’”

The Bulldog offense tasked Burrows with 12 shots on net. On the other end, Gabriella Trippi made three saves for Honeoye. 

Genesee Valley will move on to play the winner of Arkport/Canasarega and Alfred-Almond in the D1 semifinals. 

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