By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — Over the course of its 2025 regular season, the Allegany-Limestone girls soccer team had lost and tied Fredonia, scoring just two goals in the process.
But, on the third time of asking, the No. 5 seed Gators made a statement, putting together a compelling 5-1 victory over the No. 9 Hillbillies.
“I couldn’t be happier,” head coach Dale MacArthur said. “This has been one of the tougher years we’ve ever had, and for them to come out and do that against a team that beat us once and tied us up once … it says so much for how much work these guys have put in and how much they’ve listened to what we’re trying to do.”
Allegany-Limestone entered the game on the back of two shutout wins in the Section 6 Class B Playoffs. MacArthur was, of course, happy with those results, but the last thing he wanted to see from his team was complacency. Fortunately for him, they delivered.
“I told them yesterday, ‘you guys have now played 120 minutes of really good soccer, we want to make it 200,’” MacArthur said. “Okay, well it was 199 and a half. But they just put together a complete game, two games in a row at the time when it counts the most.”
There were few moments in the game that were not completely controlled by A-L. It opened the scoring after just three minutes behind Cait Conroy, who powered home after a great cross from Kennedy Honeck. Jeanine Hover gave the team a brace just five minutes later.
Fredonia did pull one back in the 13th minute, but the response was swift from the Gators as Logan Potter tapped home from close range after some confusion in the Hillbilly penalty area.
After the break, Fredonia held off A-L for 20 minutes until the dam broke once again as Kai Wojewoda-Ko fired a low shot into the bottom corner on the back of Honeck’s second assist of the game. And it was Honeck that officially put the game on ice with the team’s fifth goal of the game in the 70th minute.
Allegany-Limestone’s Cait Conroy (2) looks to cut inside after driving down the wing against Fredonia. Conroy scored the Gators’ first goal against the Hillbillies. (Spencer Bates)
The Gators had scored just two goals on the Hillbillies all season, both coming in their 2-2 tie on Sept. 15 and both being scored by Madison Honeck, who has since been out of the team due to a season-ending injury. But according to MacArthur, the team’s response to one of its star midfielders going down has been nothing short of admirable and is still driving the team now.
“When she went down, there was this collective gasp, and a ‘what do we do now?” MacArthur said. “But for the rest of that Portville game, they put it together, and they realized everybody’s got to do a little bit more. … It’s just a matter of all of them finding their place, getting their confidence, and realizing that once they’ve worked at it, they’re not too bad a team.”
MacArthur knows that postseason success comes down to whichever team is playing its best at the time. His Gators could not embody that more as they started the season 1-6-2 and are now just one win away from the section title and trip to the State Tournament.
“That’s certainly the best we’ve played all year,” MacArthur said.
Allegany-Limestone will play for the Class B title on Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Williamsville North against Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove.
