Frontier League girls soccer: Callahan's late goal enables Cyclones to beat Red Raiders

Sep. 24—LOWVILLE — Watertown sophomore Delaney Callahan only needed one moment to break a tie game between Frontier League girls soccer unbeaten teams.

The Cyclones forward scored with 9 minutes, 33 seconds left in regulation as Watertown held off Lowville, 2-1, in a battle of division leaders. Willa Overton generated a goal and goalie tandem of Ava Virga (two saves) and Ava Beebe (five saves) was solid for the Cyclones (7-1, 5-0), who won for the first time in over a decade at Lowville.

"We haven't beaten Lowville at their home field in years," Overton said.

Callahan had been dealing the Red Raiders' tight marking that often saw two or three defenders converge on the talented scorer. The FL's top scorer finally got free with under 10 minutes left in the second half before her shot found the lower left corner of the net.

"I was just trying to push through as hard as I can," Callahan said. "I didn't know that shot was going to go in."

Jenna Freeman scored the goal for Lowville (6-1, 4-0) 30 seconds after Overton opened the scoring, and Jerika Myers made six saves for the Red Raiders.

Watertown's victory is a strong one after a 3-0 loss to Class B power Westhill on Thursday. Overton said the loss to the Warriors was a great wake-up call for the rest of the season.

"We were playing easier teams before that game and it was great to take a beating from Westhill because we bounced back and beat a great Lowville team," Overton said.

The Cyclones took the lead in the 26th minute on Overton's free kick that snuck under the crossbar. The junior midfielder's penchant for scoring off direct kicks is just one of her many talents.

"She does really well with direct kicks," Watertown first-year coach Mariah Borden said. "Usually anything within 50 yards, she'll (Overton) will take those."

Watertown's lead was short-lived as Freeman fired a shot from 30 yards out that was also slotted in just under the crossbar to tie the game at 1-1. Lowville long-time coach Leo Sammon liked the response his team made with the quick goal.

"This group of kids doesn't get down," Sammon said. "They're very tight, very close and they pull together."

Both teams had opportunities to take the lead, but both goalies played strong, with Lowville forward Taci Smith hitting the crossbar in the 57th minute. Beebe played the second half for Watertown — after Virga had started — and made some critical saves. Borden, a former goalie at Beaver River, enjoys having two goalies that can keep her team in games.

"It's good to have two good goalies just in case," Borden said.

Myers did her part in net for Lowville and kept the high-powered Watertown offense off the board. The junior keeper started playing with more confidence as the game wore on.

"She (Myers) did a great job coming out and taking command of her (18-yard) box," Sammon said. "There was a lot of great talk that was very helpful."

Watertown finally found the winning goal after senior defender Natalie Wesseldine's pass found the feet of Callahan, who scored the eventual winner. Callahan made the most of one of her few chances she got against the stingy Lowville defense.

"That wasn't a lucky goal," Borden said. "She worked hard to get that one goal."

The Red Raiders threw players forward, but wasn't able to get the tying goal. The two teams will play each other again in one week's time with Watertown hosting an 11 a.m. match next Saturday.

"That's going to be a big game and we're going to have to work even harder because they'll be coming at us," Callahan said.