By Chris Metcalf
LCAA’S FINEST
DANSVILLE – Dansville and Penn Yan girl’s soccer will be meeting a second time this season.
But this one will be a little different, with much more on the line, as No. 4 seeded Dansville hosts No. 5 Penn Yan on Saturday at 6 p.m. in a Section V Class B quarterfinal.
The two teams met back in August in a pre-season scrimmage.
“What I do remember was that (Penn Yan) was tough and physical,” Dansville coach Arin Belden said. “They have speed at the forward and midfield positions too.”
Dansville advanced with a 5-1 victory over Waterloo while Penn Yan defeated Wellsville 3-1.
Dansville, who enters the game 11-3-3, has outscored their opponents 52-14 on the season.
The Lady Mustangs will be led offensively by junior Baylee Hayes, who has scored 12 goals with two assists this fall.
Junior Megan Tyler has added nine goals with five assists while senior Kali Meyer has chipped in with seven goals and six assists while classmate Eleni Mountzouros also has 3 goals and several assists for Dansville.
There is a lot of scoring balance on this Dansville team including eighth-grader Mya Hayes who has six goals and one assist and senior Chelsie Tyler with five goals and six helpers.
Senior Aynsley Belcher, who plays on the defensive end, has added four goals with three assists while classmate Emma Allen, who also plays defense, has added three goals with four assists.
While the Dansville offense has been exciting to watch this season, their defense has been outstanding as well, anchored by the excellent play of senior keeper Emma Butters, who has posted 10 clean sheets on the season including four straight shutouts to open the season.
“Emma has had a fantastic season and she has improved so much from last year in several areas including skills and work ethic, she has been a huge part of our success,” coach Belden said. “Her improvements have been noticeable from the first game right up until the last one Tuesday.”
Protecting Butters has been a fivesome this season including Belcher and Allen, along with seniors Callie Little and Treva Wadsworth and sophomore Taylor Hamsher.
“Four of the five are seniors so they have some veteran experience and leadership in the back that has really helped us this season,” coach Belden said. “Callie moved to defense this year and she has been a really good fit and has really improved.”
Coach Belden, also Dansville’s basketball coach, says she expects her team to be ready to go Saturday night in the quarterfinals.
“We are battle-tested playing in a very tough league so we’ll be ready to go,” she said. “Everyone looks forward to this time of the year.”
The winner will take on No. 1 Bath-Haverling and No. 8 Le Roy.
