FILLMORE, NY — Hope Russell has well and truly written herself into the storied history of the Fillmore girls soccer.
After a mindblowing season in which she was able to find the back of the net 71 times — a new season record for Fillmore — she moved into second on the Eagles’ all-time goalscorers list all while she helped her team reach its first ever state final appearance. These achievements make it clear why Russell was named this year’s Big 30 Girls Soccer Player of the Year, the Mary Neilon Award.
While admittedly it was a great feeling hearing her name announced as Player of the Year, especially after her final year in Fillmore colors, she was quick to turn it around and credit her teammates.
“(It feels) really great, especially because it’s my senior year,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without my team.”
One of those teammates that played a big role in Hope’s success was her twin sister Grace. The duo combined for just shy of 100 goals on the season while Grace filled the stats sheet with assists. The two have been playing soccer together since they were homeschooled at a young age. Hope pointed out that she may not have had the numbers she did on the year if it were not for the hard work she had put in, but also if it were not for the person who’s been there since day one.
“All the hard work over the years and training with my sister,” Hope said. “We’ve been able to play off each other really well and like, all my goals were from her assists. So yeah, I’d say my sister.”
While they may have bickered growing up — as siblings do — it was all still about soccer. However, as they got older, those arguments took a more positive turn with the realization that they were strong as individuals, but even stronger together.
“We used to fight, you know, whoever scored more goals in this game. But I think we just had to get to a point where we had to be happy for each other. Because we couldn’t do it without each other.”
Hope, Grace and the rest of the Eagles completed what no other Fillmore girls soccer team had done before as they reached the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D Championship after a semifinal win over Lisbon Central. For Hope, it truly felt as though all the work that she had the team had put in finally paid off. While they did not win the state title game, she takes solace in the fact that the team made it as far as any team could — playing in the very last game of the year.
“In our history, no one’s ever won the first game at states,” Hope said. “I think that was really big … I think we were all so excited because we had worked so hard for that and winning that game meant that we made it as far as possible. The next thing you could do would just be winning the state finals, which didn’t happen, but that’s okay.”
The Eagles had the support of the entire Fillmore community as they traveled to Homer High School, just south of Syracuse, for the state semifinal. She recalled the amount of people who traveled to see them play, including the members of the boys soccer team who were eliminated earlier in the postseason. It was a great sight as they made history for the program.
Since Fillmore fell in the state semifinal in 2021, the hunger has been in the team to make it back for redemption. And as they lost in the Section 5 final last year, it only built onto the team’s desire to make this year one to remember, which was a success.
“It was one of the best years,” Hope said. “We really wanted to come back from last year and we did exactly what we wanted to do as we made it as far as possible, to the state finals.”
On an individual level, Hope had her eyes on the all-time goals ladder from the jump this season. As she climbed the rankings, she became all the more motivated with every step taken towards the all-time career record set by Cassandra Mills in 2000 with 178 goals. A record that even Fillmore’s coach Jon Beardsley believed to be impossible. While she ended up just short of the mark of Mills’ record, Hope did manage to break her single season goals record in the process.
“That was really nice, because Jon (Beardsley) always said that no one would ever come close to Cassandra Mills’ record, and I was only four away, which is disappointing,” she said. “But it was cool.”
Now, her attention turns toward playing in the next stage of her career. She and her sister will continue to terrorize opposing defenses together as they both are headed to Indiana Wesleyan. Hope said they’re ready for the challenge.
“I think it’s really going to challenge me and Grace to become better soccer players,” Hope Russell said. “Since we’re coming from a Class D school where competition isn’t too high, I think it’s a really good challenge.”
