Fredonia’s Callie Draggett loads up for a shot just before time expires in the first half of Thursday’s CCAA Division 1 West game against Jamestown at Strider Field. OBSERVER Photo by Jason Bower

JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown girls soccer team was working with a 2-1 lead against defending Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West league champion Fredonia heading toward halftime.

Fredonia had the majority of the chances and possession in the first half, but Jamestown made sure to cash in on its opportunities for a narrow lead.

Just before halftime, it looked like that lead would vanish when the ball found the foot of Fredonia’s Callie Draggett with five seconds left. Draggett settled the ball just outside the box and with the little time remaining sent a perfectly placed ball destined for the top right corner, but there was one issue, Morgan Maloney was in net for the Red Raiders. Maloney tracked the ball perfectly and timed a diving leap to punch away the shot in the nick of time.

The huge save preserved the Jamestown lead at the half and sent the Red Raiders into a frenzy which they arose in the second half to pull off an eventual 5-1 victory at Strider Field.

“Mo comes out and kills it every game,” Jamestown head coach Kelsey Liuzzo said Maloney’s big save. “That was a huge save. Our girls were pumped up at halftime and we came out just as amped up as we were for the first half. So it was a good way to end the first half.”

It looked like the field was tilted toward the Jamestown goal in the first half, but despite all its chances, Fredonia could only muster up the one goal when Annie Gondek poked home a loose ball amid the chaos after a corner kick. The Gondek goal brought Fredonia level at 1-1 and it looked like it was only a matter of time before the Hillbillies would pull in front.

“We didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had,” Fredonia head coach Daniel Tomaszewski said. “We made too many mistakes and the ball ends up in the back of your own net.”

Instead it was Jamestown that scored next, once again using its speed on the counterattack.

The first tally came just six minutes into the game when the Red Raiders moved quickly off a turnover down the right side and Karryne Mims crossed a beautiful ball into the box that found the foot of Julia Smith for a quick strike and the 1-0 lead.

Then, in the 29th minute with Fredonia really pressing, Mims made quick work of a turnover and sent a lob pass over the Fredonia defense and Ella Propheter used her speed to burst in on a breakaway which she slotted into the bottom of the net to regain the lead at 2-1.

“Fortunately we have great speed on our team,” Liuzzo added. “We do use it to our advantage against most teams. We’ve got speed up top, in the mid and even on defense, so it’s a triple threat of speed as far as that’s concerned.”

If the last-second save by Maloney didn’t take the wind out of Fredonia’s sails at halftime, the Hillbillies quickly into the second half lost any momentum after an unfortunate blunder led to the third Jamestown goal. In the 46th minute, an innocent pass was made by the Fredonia defense back to its goalkeeper, and in an uncharacteristic circumstance, the goalkeeper misplayed the ball and it snuck by her for an own goal.

Once Jamestown went up 3-1 it looked like the game would be out of reach, especially with the stellar play from Maloney in net as she would finish with 13 saves.

In an effort to get back into the game, Fredonia needed to up its pressure and that is a high risk against a speedy team like Jamestown. The Red Raiders used their speed on the attack to get another goal from Propheter where she was able to pick her spot from a bad angle to go up 4-1.

Then, after setting up the first two goals, Mims scored a goal off a corner kick from Madison Burgess that gave Burgess her second assist of the game to go up 5-1.

“It’s risk-reward,” Tomaszewski said about playing more aggressive. “When you’re down multiple goals it’s what you’ve got to do. You have to pull one from the back to gain the extra attack and it’s a roll of the dice. They’re a fast team and good at scoring on the break in transition.”

The victory puts Jamestown (8-2-0, 5-2-0) right behind Allegany-Limestone (6-3-1, 5-1-1) in the division and Fredonia (5-4-0, 3-3-0) now falls into fifth place behind Olean and Falconer/Cassadaga Valley.