TULLY –– The Tully boys soccer team continues to pick up signature wins early in the season, this time beating Marathon 1-0 Monday at Tully High School. Tully is now 4-1 with four quality wins and Marathon falls to 3-1-1 after a busy last week.
Ryan Rauber put away the game’s only goal 7:17 in. He was playing on the left wing and beat Marathon’s Nash Coleman to the edge and cut it in, slotting a ball off goalkeeper Daniel Merihew’s hands and into the net.
Rauber played outside for the first bit of the game and was a problem for the Olympians. He used his state-title-winning speed to get into the box and play balls toward the goal or across the middle. He was also without running mate Julian Shay, who has now missed two games with a hamstring injury.
“We realized that, with me in the middle, it gives us limited options because usually Julian makes the perfect run and I can get him the ball,” Rauber said. “Definitely outside is where I play naturally and it’s where I can get the most opportunities on goal.”
Coleman stepped up shortly after the goal and started to shut off Rauber. That stalled Tully’s offense a bit and forced them to work the other side of the field.
“Nash, I told him he played absolutely fantastic,” Marathon head coach Aubrey Brown said. “He made some adjustments from the first 15 or 20 minutes of the game when Ryan was taking it to him and he did awesome. No complaints from me.”
Rauber was moved to the middle of the field in the latter stages of the first half. Tully head coach Bill Donald wanted to make sure his guys were able to maintain possession in the middle and control the game as much as possible.
“We needed to win the middle of the field,” Donald said. “It’s nice having Ryan on the outside because he can create, but we needed him in the middle to make it solid.”
Tully got a few more good looks at net, but the Marathon defense and Merihew stepped up to keep the Black Knights scoreless. The Olympians started to even out play by halftime and had the better opportunities after the break.
“We kind of played like we wanted to,” Aubrey Brown said. “In the first half we were just booting the ball around and we started started to find feet, and that allowed us defensively to do a little bit more.”
Colton Oram took a free kick with about 25 minutes left in the game from about 25 yards away that was cleared by Tully, Black Knights goalkeeper Oscar Breitzka made a bad touch on a ball that Marathon couldn’t capitalize on with 14:45 left, Aydan Brown had a shot go just wide of the frame with 13:16 remaining and Camdyn Kashuba had a free kick saved by Breitzka with 8:55 to go.
Aydan Brown also had a shot at the top of the box on a breakaway with 17 seconds left, but the shot went just wide of the net as Andy Polak closed in at the last second to disrupt the shot.
Despite sporting a high-powered offense all season, Tully had to rely on its defense in the second half. Polak, Danny Byrne, Wes Chambala and Logan Sherriff all had big games in front of Breitzka, who made four saves.
“Anytime Oscar gets a shutout with his defense in front of him is huge with the way we play aggressive and away from the goal a lot,” Donald said. “Incredible play by Danny and Andy today. They played so strong in the middle of the field. Wes played one of his best games and Logan is coming around every day.”
Tully’s schedule has forced it to be ready to play every game, whether it is short-handed or tired. Rauber and Donald feel the guys have been stepping up to the challenge and playing better and better.
“I think we’ve been playing better, actually,” Rauber said. “The guys are learning really fast and I think playing better teams sets us up for sectionals and gives us the right mentality for sectionals.”
“I think the younger kids have really settled in and are starting to learn,” Donald said. “The seniors have done a great job leading the younger kids to get better. It was a really tough match in terms of going at it and a lot of guys stepped up that haven’t stepped up.”
Marathon was also a big banged up after playing rival Southern Cayuga to a scoreless draw Thursday. Aubrey Brown didn’t want to make fatigue an excuse after three road games last week, but he felt it was a factor in a big game.
“It’s freaking tough because last week we had three games in four days and you can tell it on the boys’ legs that it’s wearing on them,” Aubrey Brown said. “These are the games that we work in the offseason for and these are the type of games they want to be in. Anytime a good school wants to play us, we’re always trying to push ourselves.”
The Olympians have now not scored in two straight games after putting away 27 goals in their first three games. Aubrey Brown knows the goals will eventually come against top teams, they just need to execute a bit better when the chances come.
“It’s having the right person at the right time in that moment,” Aubrey Brown said. “That’s all it comes down to in any of the big games. The competition and skill level is the same, it’s just about who executes. We had some fantastic balls and just didn’t execute because that guy was five yards back when he should’ve been five yards ahead and that was the difference between the goals.”
Tully is back in action at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Faith Heritage. Marathon has a few days to rest, with its next game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at home against Newfield.
BOYS SOCCER
FAITH HERITAGE 2, MCGRAW 0
Zach Kahle made eight saves for McGraw, but the Eagles allowed two goals in the first half and were unable to score themselves.
GIRLS SOCCER
MEXICO 7, CORTLAND 1
Mackenna Bulger scored Cortland’s lone goal in the first half, but the Purple Tigers trailed 5-1 at the break. Darah Peck was forced to make 10 saves for Cortland.
CINCINNATUS 8, MADISON 0
Cassia Schuyler went for two goals and two assists as Cincinnatus moved to 3-0 on the season. The Lions went up 7-0 in the first half.
Payton Landers also had two goals and an assist, Ava Larrabee recorded two goals, Jocelyn Turshman had a goal and an assist, Linette Custer scored once and Peyton Tefft and Maddy Pittsley both had an assist.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
PHOENIX 3, CORTLAND 1
Katie Harris notched 15 assists, eight digs, a kill and an ace as Cortland suffered a 25-23, 10-25, 16-25, 19-25 loss.
Sophia Testa contributed nine digs, two kills, two aces and an assist, Sophie Mayer had six kills and six digs and Nellie Lucas pitched in five kills, two blocks and a dig. Morgan Howard (five digs, one kill), Gia Perfetti (five digs, one assist), Reagan Whitney (four digs) and Zoey DeVito (three kills, one ace, three blocks, one dig) also contributed for the Purple Tigers.
GROTON 3, MORAVIA 0
Abby Haughnout went for four kills, three aces, five blocks and four service points to lead Groton to a sweep.
Jessa LaTray notched two kills, five aces and 10 service points, Joslyn Staton had two kills, two aces and four service points and Cami Parker pitched in four aces and five service points for the Red Hawks.
Kylee Cooper led Moravia with four kills and two aces, Makena Gruver had three kills and two aces, Annelise Kraan recorded three aces and Daisy Drake contributed two kills and an ace.
FIELD HOCKEY
PORT BYRON/UNION SPRINGS 4, HOMER 0
Taylor Seamans made 10 saves for Homer in its biggest loss of the season. The Trojans are now 1-2.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS SOCCER
Chittenango at Cortland, 7 p.m. today
Stockbridge Valley/Morrisville-Eaton at Cincinnatus, 4:30 p.m. today
Lansing at Dryden, 7 p.m. today
DeRuyter at Madison, 4:30 p.m. today at Stockbridge Valley Central School
Southern Cayuga at Moravia, 4:30 p.m. today
Greene at Homer, 5:15 p.m. Wednesday
Faith Heritage at Tully, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS SOCCER
Homer at Skaneateles, 6:30 p.m. today
Bishop Grimes at Tully, 4:30 p.m. today
Marathon at Groton, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Ross Field
Otselic Valley at McGraw, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday
DeRuyter at Cincinnatus, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday
Dryden at Lansing, 7:15 p.m. Wednesday
Southern Cayuga at Moravia, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Homer at Mexico, 6 p.m. today
Cortland at Cazenovia, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Dryden at Tioga, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Moravia at Newfield, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
FIELD HOCKEY
Cortland at Port Byron/Union Springs, 6 p.m. today
Homer at Cato-Meridian, 4:30 p.m. today
Newark Valley at Marathon, 4:30 p.m. today
Afton/Harpursville at Moravia, 4:30 p.m. today
CROSS COUNTRY
Marathon, Moravia at Groton, 5 p.m. today at Stonehedges Golf Course
Dryden at Watkins Glen, 5 p.m. today at Watkins Glen State Park
CBA, Jordan-Elbridge, Cazenovia at Cortland, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex
Homer at Marcellus, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Marcellus Park
BOYS GOLF
Chittenango at Cortland, 3:30 p.m. today at Willowbrook Golf Club
Marcellus at McGraw, 3:30 p.m. today at Knickerbocker Country Club
Hannibal at Tully, 3:30 p.m. today at Vesper Hills Golf Course
Phoenix at Tully, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Vesper Hills Golf Course
GIRLS TENNIS
Homer at CBA, 4:30 p.m. today
Marcellus at Homer, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING
Watkins Glen, Odessa-Montour at Dryden, 5 p.m. Wednesday
