Gowanda Small Town Times

[photo] Ella Luther lines up on the ball for a dig during the Gowanda Volleyball home opener against Falconer.

With the Gowanda High School gym still taped off from the Summer resurfacing project, the first Gowanda home action of the 2023 Fall sports season was shifted to the middle School gym. The Gowanda Varsity Lady Panthers hosted a very strong group of Frewsburg Lady Golden Falcons on August 31.

Gowanda got off to a slow start in the opening game of the match. After gaining the first point of the game on a Falconer missed serve, Gowanda slid into a 1-3 hole. The game was tied at 5 and again at 8 before Gowanda took their first, and only, lead in the game. They managed to pull in front 12-8 before sliding back into a tie at 13. From there Falconer moved in front 24-17 and held on for a 25-18 Game 1 win.

While Game 2 started out a bit tighter, Gowanda was behind until the score was again tied at 5-5 on the way to a brief lead at 6-5. Falconer surged back to take a 12-7 lead. From there the battle remained tight with Gowanda only able to close the gap to four points at 11-15. Falconer held on to take Game 2 by a score of 25-19.

Things looked bleak at first in Game 3 as Gowanda gave up the first seven points. The score was 3-9 when Gowanda went on a 6-point run, with Corrina John serving, to tie things at 9. Frewsburg again moved into a slim lead. The game was tied at 13 and 15 before Gowanda began to take control of the game. Though a series of long hard fought volleys the Lady Panther moved into a 21-18 lead. The gap would thin to 23-22 before Gowanda got their first game win of the year at 25-22. The final point of the game was scored on a Holland Browning ace.

Still down 2-1 in the match, the Lady Panthers found new life in Game 4. After dropping the first point, Gowanda surged into a 4-1 lead. Frewsburg answered tying the score at four as they moved into a short-lived 7-4 lead. The battle continued to be very competitive with frequent long volleys. Gowanda tied the game at 7. Falconer held on, with Gowanda holding a thin lead, to even things again at 11. While Frewsburg was unable to regain a lead, the scored was tied at 18, 19 and 20. Gowanda scored the next three points, including an Addison Kota ace, to take control 23-20. The Lady Panthers held on to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-21 win.

Gowanda sputtered as the final game started falling into a quick 1-5 hole. Despite being able to close the score to 8-10, Gowanda was not able to avoid a 10-15 loss in the game to fall short in the match 2-3.

Aubrie Heron led Gowanda with 12 kills, 2 points and a block. Other prominent players for Gowanda included Corrina John (10 kills, 12 blocks), Ella Luther (17 digs), Addison Kota (3 aces, 5 kills, 3 assists), Jillian Gernatt (35 assists), Ellizabeth Green (5 aces, 7 kills).

In other sports, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity girls soccer team continued to struggle. The team was at Westfield/Brocton taking a 0-2 loss. Continued issues with ball control resulted in Pine Valley/Gowanda Lady Panthers only managing six shots on goal while their goaltender, Destiny Lindquist, faced 15 shots stopping all but two of those.

The first game of the 2023 sports season took place on Tuesday, August 29. With the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team game at Dunkirk that day postponed, it was up the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity girls to start things out. The girls soccer team hosted Silver Creek/Forestville for the first game of the season. After being shutout 3-0 in the first half, the Pine Valley/Gowanda girls picked up the pace in the second half with both teams picking up a pair of goals. While taking a 5-2 loss, that second half effort left them something to build on going forward. As of this writing, no scoring stats were available.

8/31 Update: It has now been reported that both of the Pine Valley/Gowanda 2nd half goals were scored by Sarah Kruszka closing the gap to 2-3. Those goals were later answered by Silver Creek/Forestville taking the margin back to three goals. It has also been reported that Pine Valley/Gowanda goaltender, Destiny Lindquist, made 24 saves in the game keeping her team close. In contrast, Silver Creek/Forestville goaltender, Kimberly Bauer only faced a total of eight shots making two saves.

Below are the schedules for Gowanda, Gowanda/Pine Valley (football) and Pine Valley/Gowanda (soccer) teams for Fall 2023. This list is a composite of information currently posted on Section 6, Gowanda and Pine Valley school websites. There are a few minor conflicts between these sources and the information below is the best currently available.

Fall Sports Season open August 21

Football (Gowanda/Pine Valley)

Friday, September 1 at Silver Creek
Thursday, September 7 vs. Catt/Little Valley (at Pine Valley)
Friday, September 15 vs. Franklinville/Ellicottville
Saturday, September 23 at Cardinal O’Hara (non-league)
Friday, September 29 vs. Wilson - Homecoming game -
Friday, October 6 vs. St. Mary’s
Saturday, October 14 at CSP (Panama)
Friday, October 20 vs. Randolph

Girls Volleyball

Wednesday, August 30 vs.Springville
Thursday, August 31 vs.Falconer
Tuesday, September 5 at North Collins
Friday, September 8 vs.Pine Valley
Saturday, September 9 at Falconer (non-league)
Thursday, September 14 vs.Silver Creek [moved to 9/25?]
Tuesday, September 19 at Randolph
Thursday, September 21 vs.Catt.-Little Valley
Friday, September 22 at Clymer/Sherman
Saturday, September 23 vs.Ellicottville
Monday, September 25 vs.Silver Creek
Tuesday, September 26 at Salamanca
Wednesday, September 27 vs.North Collins
Tuesday, October 3 at Pine Valley
Thursday, October 5 at Ellicottville
Friday, October 6 at Lake Shore
Tuesday, October 10 at Silver Creek
Wednesday, October 11 at Eden
Thursday, October 12 vs.Randolph
Tuesday, October 17 at Catt.-Little Valley
Thursday, October 19 vs. Salamanca

Cross Country

Tuesday, September 12 vs. Jamestown
Tuesday, September 19 at Allegany-Limestone
Tuesday, September 26 at Salamanca
Tuesday, October 10 at Southwestern
Monday, October 23 at Silver Creek [boys]
Friday, November 3 at Middle early College

Boys Soccer (Pine Valley/Gowanda)
Tuesday, August 29 at Dunkirk (non-league)
Tuesday, September 5 vs Westfield-Brocton (non-league)
Thursday, September 7 at Silver Creek (non-league)
Saturday, September 9 at Westfield-Brocton (non-league)
Tuesday, September 12 vs. Cass. Valley-Falconer
Thursday, September 14 at Salamanca (non-league)
Saturday, September 16 vs. Silver Creek (non-league)
Tuesday, September 19 vs. Portville
Thursday, September 21 at Ellicottville
Saturday, September 23 vs. Dunkirk (non-league)
Tuesday, September 26 vs. Randolph
Thursday, September 28 at Cass. Valley-Falconer
Tuesday, October 3 vs. Salamanca
Thursday, October 5 at Portville
Tuesday, October 10 vs. Ellicottville
Thursday, October 12 at Randolph

Girls Soccer (Pine Valley/Gowanda)
Tuesday, August 29 vs. Silver Creek/Forestville
Thursday, August 31 at Westfield
Tuesday, September 5 at North Collins
Friday, September 8 vs. Ellicottville
Monday, September 11 at Randolph (non-league)
Wednesday, September 13 at Catt.-Little Valley
Friday, September 15 vs. Westfield/Brocton
Monday, September 18 at Franklinville
Wednesday, September 20 vs. Salamanca
Friday, September 22 vs. Portville
Monday, September 25 at Ellicottville
Wednesday, September 27 vs. Randolph
Friday, September 29 vs. Catt.-Little Valley
Wednesday, October 4 vs. Franklinville
Friday, October 6 at Salamanca
Wednesday, October 11 at Portville (non-league)
Friday, October 13 at Silver Creek

Photo courtesy of GCS Athletics Dept. The Gowanda Varsity softball team got together for a group photo after winning the 2023 NY State Championship in Moriches, NY.

On Saturday, June 10, the Gowanda Varsity played in the NYSPHYAA Class C Championship game against S. S. Seward Institute. The game was played on Long Island at Moriches, NY. For the second time in two days of finals competition Gowanda was designated as the home team.

It was everything you would expect a State Finals game to be, a low-scoring contest where every mistake would be significant. In the early going the pitchers were in full control of things keeping the game scoreless up to the bottom of the 2nd inning. Gowanda opened their half of the inning with a Jada Geiger double and an Ella Luther single before the first out was registered. Both runners came home on a Hailey Christopher single just over he pitcher’s head into centerfield. That gave Gowanda an early 2-0 lead. Two more scoreless innings followed before Seward made its big move. The 5th inning saw a defensive slump by Gowanda that allowed a Seward rally. Two walks and four singles set up Seward to pull in front 3-2. They would move that to 4-2 before Gowanda rallied back in the 6th inning. Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens led off with a single. She advanced on a sacrifice fly before Geiger blasted a shot into centerfield for a single. A walk put Luther on 1st loading the bases with one out. A Holland Browning resulted in a failed attempt to catch the runner going home followed by an overthrow of 2nd base. That allowed two Gowanda runs to score. Browning later scored on a Kailyn Farner single. That brought the score to 6-4 with Gowanda in the lead heading into the 7th inning. The Gowanda defense got two of the final three outs quickly before a last gasp effort for Seward. A walk and single put the potential tying runs on base. That was shut down quickly with a hit to Lily Bobseine at 1st base for an easy final out.

Leading the Gowanda ofense were Jada Geiger (2 runs, 3 hits including a double), Ella Luther (2 runs, 1 hit), Holland Browning (1 run, 1 hit, 2 RBI) and Hailey Christopher (1 hit, 2 RBI). Also figuring prominently were Kailyn Farner (1 hit, 1 RBI) and Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens (1 run). Pitching for Gowanda, Addison Kota gave up 6 hits and 6 walks while securing 7 strikeouts.

Photo: Screen capture from the NFHS Network stream of the June 9 NYSPHSAA Class C Semi-Final softball game. Addison Kota slides into home base to put Gowanda up to stay 3-2.

The Gowanda Varsity softball team was on Long Island in Moriches, NY for a New York State semi-final game in Class C. They faced Thomas A. Edison high school in the game. Since Randolph knocked the team out of a 1st Place divisional title in the regular season, Gowanda has been on a tear in the playoffs. The team grabbed Gowanda’s first ever Section 6 softball title and have continued to roll on from there. On this night, it would be “lights out” for Edison in a very close contest.

In the 1st inning, Gowanda retired the first three Edison batters in order. While they managed to get runners to both 3rd and 4th base in the bottom of the inning, Gowanda came away empty leaving the game scoreless after one inning. In the 2nd inning, Edison grabbed a 1-0 lead with a walk and a misplayed single into left field. That lead held into the 4th inning.

Gowanda shut down Edison in the top of the 4th inning before making their biggest offensive surge of the game in the bottom of the inning. Gowanda’s 1st two batters, Jada Geiger and Ella Luther, both singled to start things out. Then a Holland Browning double scored Geiger tying the game at 1-1. Bases were loaded with no outs as Hailey Christopher was walked. Luther scored when a hit by Lani Farner was initially bobbled by the Edison pitcher for an RBI single. With Gowanda in the lead 2-1 the game moved into the 5th inning.

A hit misplayed by Gowanda turned a single into a triple. That runner scored on a sacrifice fly. The game was tied at two going to the bottom of the inning. Gowanda pitcher, Addison Kota led off with a single into left field. Two outs would be registered before a Holland Browning double deep into center field scored Kota. Gowanda was up 3-2 heading to the 6th inning. The 6th inning went scoreless as both teams tightened up on defense. That led to a final inning where Edison batters were retired in order giving Gowanda the 3-2 sending them to the state Class C Championship game.

In a unique experience for the Gowanda community, the Hollywood Theater held a watch party for the game. A very vocal outpouring of the Gowanda community was on hand at the theater watching the play-by-play as the game progressed. Midway through the game, the announcer on the stream gave a shout out to the crowd at the Hollywood Theater prompting a huge reaction from the spectators.