This Saturday at Karl Hoeppner Athletic Field in Dunkirk it looked like the two rivals would once again need an overtime to determine the sectional champion. But, Ellicottville’s Layla Kerns and Audrey Hurlburt had other plans.

With 50 seconds in the game Ellicottville’s Brooke Butler moved the ball into open space for one last counterattack led by Hurlburt down the right wing. Hurlburt crossed a ball into the box that found the foot of Kerns who tapped in the game’s only goal, stunning North Collins and delivered Ellicottville its second consecutive Class D title.

“It was super exciting,” Ellicottville head coach Tammy Eddy said about the finish. “Brooke did a super job bringing the ball up getting it to Audrey, Audrey made the decision to pass it over to Layla — it was perfect.”

If not for the stellar play of North Collins goalkeeper Hailey Jasinski, Ellicottville could have won by a greater margin than 1-0. Just like she had done since taking over in net, Jasinski bailed out North Collins several times to keep it in the game, but she wasn’t able to receive the offensive support this time.

P-J photo by Christian Storms

“She’s the leader back there,” North Collins head coach Vince Fininzio said about his goalkeeper. “She puts us in the right positions defensively, keeps us in games and gives us a chance to win games and that was the same thing today. She kept us in the game today, taking away shots and opportunities on balls that would come through. We’re here because she got us here.”

The North Collins offense didn’t test Ellicottville goalkeeper Abby Chudy too often, but when it did, Chudy rose to the occasion to make five saves in the clean sheet bid.

The best chance for North Collins came on a late second half corner kick that found its way into the box and was lost in the frenzy of players. The ball came near to crossing the line and could have changed the game if it did, but just before disaster, an Ellicottville foot launched the ball out of the box to keep the game scoreless.

Both team’s relied a lot on the counterattack in their semifinal matchups, but both sides did their homework as the transition chances did not come easily. Hurlburt managed several breakaways in the semifinal, but North Collins kept her from breaking through the back line and having to play more of a possession game.

“I thought we did a fantastic job,” Fininzio said about his defense. “Taking away the angles and when they did get opportunities there, we’d close the space down. For two ninth graders to sit back there at center back and outside right back they did outstanding.”

Even without the breakaways, Ellicottville still did manage to get off some high quality chances in transition. In the 58th minute, Ellicottville was in the same situation as it was when it won the game, but instead of Hurlburt making the pass she took the shot and Jasinski made the diving stop. However, the rebound went directly to Kerns backdoor, but the ball bounced just past her hip to keep the score 0-0.

In the end Ellicottville did get the right bounce and it finds itself headed back to another Far West Regional against the eventual Section V champion. Last year, Ellicottville fell to Fillmore 2-0 and this year it will either play Class D2 champion Northstar Christian Academy or D1 finalists Keshequa and Genesee Valley-Belfast.

“Just to increase communication,” Eddy said she wants to see out of her team at Far West Regionals. “Teams win, individual superstars don’t. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”