Gowanda Small Town Times

Photo: Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens scores on a free shot midway through the 2nd half of the April 14 home game against Grand Island. This was her second goal in the game.

The Gowanda Varsity girls lacrosse team saw their first home action of the season on April 14 hosting Grand Island. The game was dedicated to Morgan’s Message (https://www.morgansmessage.org/), an organization dedicated to helping athletes who have battles with mental issues. Morgan’s Message was founded in memory of Morgan Roger’s. Morgan played on the Duke University Women’s Lacrosse Team. Just prior to her Sophomore season, she suffered a major knee injury in January 2017. After battling with the injury for over a year, Morgan fell into a battle with depression. On July 11, 2019, that resulted in her taking her own life at the age of 22.

Before the Gowanda game, there was a moment of silence in Morgan’s memory. That was followed with the recognition of Alaina Kaczmarczyk and Layla Gamble, the Gowanda girls lacrosse team’s Morgan’s Message Ambassadors.

The Gowanda girls had a lot of trouble with ball control and would play 80% of the game in their own end of the field. That resulted in minimal opportunities for shots on goal. By the middle of the 1st half, they were down 6-0. With 9:57 left in the half. Gowanda finally got a shot on goal as 8th grader, Cadence Luther, scored the first goal of her Varsity career. Grand Island went on to build a 9-1 lead. With 1:10 showing on the clock, Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens charged in on goal. She took a stick to the head as she released a shot that found the back of the net. Unfortunately, the goal was disallowed as the play was called prior to the shot due to the penalty. Stevens was replaced for the Gowanda penalty shot, which proved to be unsuccessful.

Stevens was back in the game for the 2nd half. Grand Island padded their advantage to 12-1 before Gowanda scored again. After a missed Gowanda shot, it was Ke’ya Stevens who got a ground ball in front of the net and tossed it into the net with 16:41 left to play. A minute and a half Stevens scored again, this time on a free shot, making the score 3-12. Gowanda would not score again and the game ended in a 15-3 Grand Island win.

The Gowanda Varsity boys lacrosse team was at Depew on the 14th. They had an easy win piling up a 12-3 advantage by halftime. Gowanda cruised on to a 20-8 victory. In goal for Gowanda, Faolan Quinn had 3 saves and Alanson Stafford stopped 5 shots on goal. Leading the scoring for Gowanda were Ha’tsihgahdo:d “Bubbie” Stevens (7 goals) and Winter Rivera (6 goals and 8 assists). Also with multiple goals for Gowanda were Ethan Steep rock (3 goals and 3 assists) and Nakotah Jackson (2 goals). Three other Gowanda players scored single goals in the game. They were Cashis Montour, Nate Warrior and Seneca Mohawk.

The Gowanda Varsity baseball team was at Fredonia completing that home and away series. Gowanda came away with a 9-5 win to split the series. Pitching for Gowanda were Alex Pachucinski (3 Innings, 3 strikeouts and 6 walks) and Carter Capozzi (4 Innings, 5 strikeouts). Leading the Gowanda offense were Blake Herman (3 runs, a double, a triple and 2 RBIs), John Ondus ( 2 runs, a double and an RBI), Cole Herman (2 RBIs) and Tyler Smith (1 RBI).

Saturday, April 15, saw the Gowanda Varsity softball team host Westfield for a pair of 5-inning non-league evening games. Gowanda pulled out to an early 1-0 1st inning lead in the first game. With the exception of a 2-2 3rd inning, the rest of the game was scoreless. Gowanda pitcher threw all five innings giving up 4 hits while striking out 4. She also went 2-for-2 at bat with a home run, her second at this early point of the season. Jada Geiger and Emily Pound each had a single and an RBI for Gowanda and Aubrie Heron singled and scored a run.

Following the 3-2 win, game two followed a similar pattern, but with a different result. This time it was Westfield taking a 1st inning least, this time by a 2-0 margin. All the rest of the scoring came in a 4th inning where both teams accumulated four runs. That resulted in a 6-4 Westfield win. Lily Bobseine was on the mound for Gowanda in game 2. She gave up 7 hits while striking out 3. With singles for Gowanda were Kailyn Farner, Addison Kota, Jada Geiger, Aubrie Heron and Alhanna Gabel.