Corning freshman Ashlee Volpe scores her second goal of the game on a direct kick in a 2-0 win over Horseheads on Sept. 5, 2019 in Corning. Andrew Legare, alegare@stargazette.com | @SGAndrewLegare
There's little doubt the coaches of Corning's powerhouse track and cross country teams would love to have Ashlee Volpe competing for them. Some defenders around the Southern Tier Athletic Conference would be fine with that as well.
Volpe is good where she is though. Better than good. She continued a brilliant start to her freshman season for the Hawks' girls soccer team with two goals Thursday night in a 2-0 victory over Horseheads at Corning Memorial Stadium.
Through three games this season, the speedy Volpe has six goals. More significantly, she has helped the Hawks to an unbeaten start, with a tie against Ithaca on Tuesday sandwiched around victories over Binghamton and Horseheads.
"She's special," Corning head coach Julie Pierce said. "She's not only special in the way you see her play here, she practices that hard too. That's what makes her special. She's humble and she's really a delightful human."
Volpe scored the first goal Thursday off a rebound of a Katie Grottenthaler shot with 31 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half. Pierce said it was something of a gift goal given how the ball bounced, though Volpe being in the right place at the right time played a role as well.
The second goal came from 33 yards away on a direct kick with 7:44 to go. Volpe buried the kick into the upper portion of the net, just over the hands of the Horseheads goalie. Pierce said she has been in Volpe's ear about making sure such kicks end up on frame.
First-year Horseheads coach Lee Spencer also had high praise for Volpe, who last season as an eighth-grader was a key contributor to Corning's varsity. Volpe is also a standout in lacrosse and basketball.
"She’s very tough," Spencer said. "She’s got such great ball control for a young player. She’s impressive. … You have to know where she is everywhere on the field and they move her around, which is great coaching by their coach."
Volpe had three goals in a 7-0 win over Binghamton to start the season, then had the lone Corning score in the 1-1 tie against defending Section 4 Class AA champion Ithaca.
"I think we did good," Volpe said of Thursday's effort. "We worked good together as a team. We're young, so we have way more potential coming our way. ... I think we were kind of slow in the beginning (of the season). Now during practice we work harder and harder every day. Tonight it showed."
She is focused on doing her part to help the Hawks succeed.
"I think just picking my head up and my teammates finding me through the middle, and finishing," she said of her scoring contributions.
Volpe's running ability – both in terms of speed and elusiveness – is paired with skill. She delivered some well-placed long passes Thursday that set up scoring chances.
"I think I just have to push (the ball) by them and run and find my teammates across the goal and place it there for them," she said.
Pierce said there's no jealousy from Volpe's teammates, in large part because of her attitude and approach to the game.
"I tell her and I tell them that Ashlee only gets to be Ashlee if every one of you shows up to do your job," Pierce said. "Because if she's doing your job, she doesn't get to be Ashlee. I think because she's such a humble kid and because she works so hard, they buy into that."
Some other takeaways from the evening:
Hawks' defense in charge
The best Horseheads chances came from mid-distance shots. The Blue Raiders' opportunities were limited in the second half and Spencer said he thought his team had a little bit of a letdown after surrendering the first goal.
Sophomore goalie Taylor Hurd earned the shutout. Pierce spoke highly of the play on the back end from seniors Abby Dejneka and Charlotte Nevins, along with junior Megan Coon.
Dejneka is coming off a torn ACL last season and Nevins is a future Division I lacrosse player competing at a new position in soccer. Those two provide senior leadership to a team that has underclassmen at most starting positions.
The right mix so far
Pierce said her team has been very good to each other, with that chemistry combining with determination to pay off in early results.
"They rally each other. They very seldom get down on each other," Pierce said. "I think if they can take that with them into the rest of the season – win, lose or draw – they're going to do some nice things."
Blue Raiders competitive
Horseheads (1-2) was even against seven-time defending STAC West champion Elmira before losing by a 2-1 score in last week's opener. Following an 8-0 win over Owego, the Blue Raiders were in the thick of things with Corning before Volpe's second goal.
"I’ve seen a team that wants to battle," Spencer said. "I think we’re not going to give up. A couple of bounces either way I think either game could have gone to either team. Corning played very well."
With senior Miranda Novitsky leading the attack, Horseheads had some chances that just missed.
"We didn’t finish when we had the opportunity," Spencer said. "We missed a couple of nice shots. If we put them on frame, I thought we had a chance on a rebound. But they played very well. They played that deep sweeper, that deep defense, stopped us coming through the middle. We couldn’t get the ball outside."
Experienced rookie coach
Spencer is in his first season as a varsity head coach, but he brings experience to the table, having coached the junior varsity before taking over for Henry Ferguson.
"I coached JV girls for a couple years, I coached JV boys for five under Curt Grottenthaler when he was at Horseheads," Spencer said. "Then I helped (current Horseheads boys varsity coach) Mark Mucci for a few years.
"You see your ups and downs. You’ve got to get the kids back and refocusing after a loss like that. It’s kind of tough to do, but we’ll get back to practice tomorrow and get back to working on what we need to for Saturday."
Up next
Horseheads plays at Hornell at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Corning hosts Maine-Endwell at 7 p.m. Sept. 10.
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2019-09-06 03:00:00Z
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