Its longtime head coach, Dale MacArthur, has more than 500 career wins.

So to say Jamestown’s 2-0 victory over the Gators on Tuesday was a big one would be an understatement.

Karryne Mims scored both goals, Ella Propheter had two assists and Morgan Maloney was credited with 17 saves in net as the Red Raiders moved into sole possession of first place in Division 1 West at Strider Field.

“Allegany is definitely one of the top teams in the league and one of our hardest games of the year,” said Jamestown head coach Kelsey Liuzzo, whose Red Raiders lost to the Gators 3-0 on Sept. 15. “Last game, Allegany beat us as far as possession and everything. Today, everything just clicked for us.”

Jamestown’s Quinn Johnson (22) attempts to get away from Allegany-Limestone’s Maddie Callen (2) during the first half of Tuesday’s game. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Jamestown improved to 9-2-0 overall and 6-2-0 in the league with the win.

Allegany-Limestone, which fell to 6-5-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the league, will travel to Dunkirk on Thursday and Southwestern on Saturday. After a nonleague game against Pioneer on Monday, the Gators will wrap up their regular season against Fredonia at SUNY Fredonia next Thursday.

Allegany-Limestone did a fairly good job of connecting passes early in Tuesday’s contest, but as has been the case all season, the Gators struggled to find the net. Allegany-Limestone has scored zero or one goal in eight of its 12 games thus far.

The better opportunities of the first 20 minutes went to Allegany-Limestone, but the Red Raiders broke through in the 24th minute when Mims and Propheter worked a give-and-go to the left of the Gators’ goal. The ball eventually ended up on the foot of Mims, whose shot beat Allegany-Limestone keeper Chloe Baker to the far post for a 1-0 Jamestown lead.

“She’s got a leg, which works in our favor a lot of the times,” Liuzzo said of Mims. “We have a couple who can shoot from outside. That is helpful, especially when we can crash the net and capitalize on those second-ball opportunities.”

Jamestown’s Madison Burgess (7) attempts to take the ball away from Allegany-Limestone’s Jordan Buffamante during Tuesday’s CCAA Division 1 West game at Strider Field. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

A shot from Propheter just cleared the crossbar three minutes later and with just over four minutes remaining in the first half, the Red Raiders’ Madison Burgess nearly set teammate Julia Smith up for a goal, but Baker made a sprawling effort to make the save.

“We can’t really use our speed against Allegany because they have just as much as speed as we do. We had to work on our passing,” Liuzzo said. “We’ve been working on the connection and the passing a lot in practice.”

Maloney made her best save of the night with just over two minutes left in the opening half when she dove to her left to snag a long shot from the Gators’ Olivia Paterniti.

“Mo came out again and saved our butts a couple of times,” Liuzzo said.

Jamestown finally added onto its lead with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game. Mims sent a ball high in the air near the top of the 18-yard box that was settled by Propheter right onto the foot of Mims. The senior sent her right-footed shot high into the goal above a leaping Baker for her team-leading 18th tally of the year.

Jamestown’s Kaylee Leeper keeps the ball in along the sideline during Tuesday’s CCAA Division 1 West game against Allegany-Limestone at Strider Field. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“Ella is great for us up top,” Liuzzo said of Propheter. “She has an awareness of where she is on the field and the ability to put it in the back of the net.”

Maloney preserved the clean sheet with a sprawling deflection on Paterniti in the 74th minute and Mims cleared the ball to safety.

Each time it looked like Allegany-Limestone would be building something offensively, Jamestown’s defense, led by eighth-grader Marcia McIntyre, was there.

“Marcia is all over the place. She’s been a great addition to the team this year,” Liuzzo said. “She is one of our little Energizer bunnies out there. She comes out and pushes it to the limit every single game.”

The Red Raiders, who have now won six straight games, will host Southwestern on Thursday evening and travel to Sinclairville for a Saturday afternoon matchup with Falconer/Cassadaga Valley. On Monday afternoon, they’ll host Dunkirk in a rescheduled game before hosting Olean next Tuesday to wrap up their regular season.

“I’ve been saying it since the beginning of the season: this seems like one of the best teams we’ve had here since I started coaching,” said Liuzzo, in her sixth year as head coach. “We have a great group of girls who are willing to put in the work, the time and the energy. They have proceeded to get better and better throughout the year.”