Gowanda Small Town Times

[photo] Screenshot from the Franklinville live stream of the September 18 girls soccer game with Pine Valley/Gowanda (in white).

The Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity girls soccer team got a huge win at Franklinville on September. They picked up their first win of the year in a shutout.

While the ball control issues haven’t been solved, Pine Valley/Gowanda was able to keep the ball in the Franklinville end of the field for a majority of the game. That translated into more shots on goal and more points scored. It was a sluggish 1st half with the ball going up and down the field without many shot opportunities for either team. Just over 28 minutes into the game and with 11:56 on the clock, Pine Valley got the break they needed. The Franklinville goalkeeper moved way out to the front of the goal area trying to grab the ball only to have it kicked off to the side. That gave Pine Valley nearly an open goal to shoot at. Ashley Irwin took the shot. The Franklinville goalkeeper rushed back making a diving attempt at a save only to have the ball land in the net. Lauren Hostetter was credited with an assist. Pine Valley/Gowanda was up 1-0. The score remained unchanged into halftime.

Just 2:03 into the 2nd half, a corner kick set up a Pine Valley score by Samantha Collins with assist from Alexa Harvey. Less than a minute later Sarah Kruszka made the score 3-0 with an assist from Katie King. That score would stand until there was just 9:28 left in the game. Lauren Hostetter launched the ball over the Franklinville goalkeeper’s head and into the net. The 4-0 score held up as the final.

It was a relatively easy day for Pine Valley goal keeper, Destiny Lindquist. Instead of facing the usual 20+ shots during a game, Franklinville only managed 9 shots on goal. In contrast Pine Valley/Gowanda targeted the goal 13 times to get 4 scores.

At this point in the season, the team point leaders include representation from both Pine Valley and Gowanda. Pine Valley’s Sarah Kruszka has 13 points on 5 goals and 2 assists. Not far behind, Gowanda’s Samantha Collins has 7 points with 3 goals and 1 assist.