No. 14 Dansville knocks out No. 3 Hornell in double OT

Just how long had it been since Dansville’s last sectional win?

Trevor White wasn’t born the last time Dansville walked off the field a winner in postseason play.

White changed all that Wednesday night. The junior scored both Dansville goals, including the game-winner with 4:10 left in the second overtime period, as No. 14 Dansville upset No. 3 Hornell for a 2-1 victory in the Section V, Class B opening round at Maple City Park.

“It’s our first sectional win in 20 years,” White said after the game. “It’s great to be a part of that.” 

White netted the game-winner after a quick flip of the field. Andy Graves advanced the ball to Connor Dixon, who dribbled down along the sidelines before crossing to White in front of the goal.

White’s first shot attempt was stuffed by Hornell goalie Jimmy Dagon, but White was right there to bury the deflection and kick-start the celebration for the Mustangs and a healthy turnout of Dansville fans.

“Dansville has never won a sectional game for a long time, so we’ve broken the curse,” said Mustangs head coach Steve French. “This is a pretty special night.

“It was a pretty even game,” French added. “Jim Tobin always coaches a class team. Their kids play hard. We knew that coming down here. I kept subbing during the game, and I think that he didn’t have as many subs of the same caliber, and we kind of wore them down. We had a quick counter-attack, and that’s what put it in for us.”

“I thought both overtimes we had a good amount of the possession,” said Hornell head coach Jim Tobin. “They have a fast transition game. They got the ball, went down and just beat us. It was a good hustle play on their part. They fought hard tonight. I told our boys I’m proud of their effort. We maybe didn’t play as well as we could have, but I credit a lot of that to Dansville. They’re in your face, and when you have a team in your face it’s tough.”

Hornell took a 1-0 lead with 1:11 left in the first half when Sam Dagon capitalized on the other side of the net after a long Hornell throw-in.

White answered with a wild goal 14 minutes into the second half. White charged a Hornell defender who was alone in open space. The defender’s kick ricocheted off White’s knee and rocketed on a straight line 30 yards towards the Hornell goal. The ball was just out of the reach of a leaping Dagon.

“The goal that tied it, that doesn’t happen one in a billion times,” said Tobin. “You can credit their kids for hustling down there and creating things though.”

“The defender was actually kicking it,” White described. “I ran through it and it hit my knee. It just shot over the goalie’s head.”

Both squads had multiple looks at the goal until White’s game-winner, as Jimmy Dagon and Dansville’s Jason Putney traded saves through the rest of regulation and into the overtime periods.

“It could have gone either way,” French said. “There was a lot of good chances. It just ended up going in our favor. All year long it’s been going in the other team’s favor. We’d get a scrum in front of the net and they’d score. Tonight it went in our favor, which is the way you want it right now.”

“We had some chances right towards the end,” Tobin said. “Nils (Kirschstein) just missed one. Richard Brooks had some opportunities. It was back and forth. I think both coaches would probably say we’d rather have the game settled on the field, rather than in penalty kicks. To their credit, they got one. They’ll be a handful for their next opponent. They’re just playing good soccer right now.”

The Red Raiders posted 6-0 and 2-1 wins over the Mustangs in their two regular season meetings, but the third time was the charm for Dansville, who benefited from opening up the playoffs against a very familiar opponent in its Livingston County Division I league-mate.

“It was definitely an advantage,” French said. “We knew who to mark. Richard Brooks is a heck of a player. He worked really hard tonight, but we had a good game plan and kept him from scoring. Matt Kays is a great player too.”

“With 17 teams in your bracket you’re always hoping to play somebody new,” Tobin said. “There shouldn’t be a heck of a lot more excitement because it’s a sectional game but when you play somebody brand new I think it brings a little bit more to the table. It probably worked out nicely for Dansville. They knew us well, and we knew them. We knew who their star players were. We had our way with them the first time. The second time was a real battle. We knew going in it was going to be a tough game.”

Hornell closes the year 10-4-2 and will lose seniors Christian Acor, Nick Burdett, Jimmy Dagon, Mark Freas, William Ives, David Kimball, Jason Pierce and Kirschstein.

“We had a good core of seniors,” Tobin said. “When we went into this season a lot of people thought this was going to be about a .500 type team. With some good leadership out of those guys we did much better than that. They’ll be sadly missed. I hope they enjoyed the sport. Hopefully it’s something they’ll have good memories of. Right now obviously not, but I’m sure they’ll look back and say they enjoyed being a part of this.”

“You don’t want to think about next year, but these kids know that to be able to play with the teams in our league the kids have just got to play a lot of soccer,” Tobin said. “The kids will put a lot of time in, and we’ll be back. We’ll be better and stronger next season.”

Dansville, meanwhile, will look to continue its cinderella run against No. 6 Newark.

“I’m looking forward to it,” French said. “I’m going to soak it up and enjoy this one first, for sure.”