Gowanda Small Town Times

The last full week in March saw the Spring sports season begin in Gowanda. The first scheduled action was a Varsity softball scrimmage at home against JFK on March 21. No information was available from that meeting. A scheduled, March 24, home scrimmage with Sherman was cancelled.

The Gowanda Varsity boys lacrosse team also started the week with a pair of scheduled games. They were at Williamsville South on March 23. While no official results were posted from that game, Gowanda sources reported a 6-16 Gowanda loss.

The home opener for Gowanda came the next day, March 24, hosting Tonawanda. The visitors struggled throughout the game with controlling the ball. Passes that were off target, and occasionally intercepted, gave Gowanda many extra opportunities. Gowanda showed a very aggressive, physical offense that saw the 1st half of the game stopped frequently by penalties. At the same time, Gowanda piled up goals quickly on the way to a blowout win.

Two players to watch this year are Winter Rivera and Nakotah Jackson. Just past four minutes into the game, the Tonawanda goalie lost track of the ball on the ground in the goal crease. Rivera and Jackson were both right there to push it in to put Gowanda on the scoreboard. Just over a minute later, Jessup Stevens sent the ball along the ground into the goal. Gowanda was up 2-0. Jackson and Rivera teamed up taking turns each assisting on the other’s goals and the Gowanda lead was 6-0 with 0:50 left in the quarter. Then, with just 13 seconds left in the period, Landon Jimerson sent another ground shot into the net.

The second quarter was much like the first. Tonawanda did open the scoring 20 seconds into the 2nd quarter. It would prove to be their only goal in the game. Turnovers continued to hamper Tonawanda. The score was 8-1, with 6:44 to play in the half, when Rivera intercepted a clearing pass in front of the goal. That led directly to a quick goal. By halftime, it was 13-1 and Gowanda was completely in control of the game.

In the 2nd half, the big Gowanda lead saw the starters sit out the rest of the game. The result was almost no penalties along with a scoring drought. There was only 1:18 left in the quarter when Seneka Jackson scored Gowanda’s only goal of the period. The 4th quarter also saw just a single Gowanda score. That was registered by Nate warrior with 6:56 showing on the clock. The final score was 15-1 as Gowanda got their first win of he season. Rivera and Jackson combined for seven goals. Six other Gowanda players contributed to the scoring.