MIX OF YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE AS GAFFER CITY F.C. OPENS SEASON WITH WIN (24 PHOTOS) (2025-05-26)
By Brian FeesSouthern Tier Sports ReportELMIRA — With a mix of younger and older players on the roster, the Gaffer City F.C. opened the season with a 3-1 win over NFC 2 on Sunday at Elmira College.
“It was really good,” Elmira graduate Emily Hanrahan said. “I loved getting to know all the girls and finally seeing it on the field was great.”
It was a slow start to the game as NFC 2 scored first, but once Gaffer City F.C. settled in they took a 2-1 lead into the half.
“It was definitely a building game,” Corning graduate Josie Loeber said. “The first half you could tell was a little rough. The second we started to get our formation, started to get to know each other more.”
Falling behind could have caused the team to quit, instead they quickly answered with a goal of their own to get right back into the game.
“It definitely eased some of the tensions,” Loeber said of the team coming back and getting their first goal. “If you get down early it can kind of set the tone negatively at first, and everyone is tired, and everyone is adjusting. Then we score and get that second wind and everyone keeps working and we have more of that trust in each other. Because we realize we can do this.”
There was plenty of motivation to keep fighting back and start the season on a positive note.
“We want to get the win, we want to come back and we know we can,” Hanrahan said.
Hanrahan, who started at Division I St. Joseph’s University the past two years, scored one of the goals, while the other goal scorer is still in junior high.
Brynna Wilkinson is just an eighth-grader at Hornell and she scored the other two goals in the game and was named the Player of the Match.
“It was a really nice opportunity to play with everyone,” Wilkinson said. “And, like Josie said starting from the beginning we haven’t played with each other a bunch, but once we got settled in it was good.”
Getting the two goals helped ease the nerves for Wilkinson in the game.
“It kind of settles everything, but I still want to keep pushing,” Wilkinson said.
The Gaffer City F.C. roster has a number of players new to the roster this year, including a lot of current high school seniors.
Among the seniors on the team this year are Horseheads standout Emma Kamas and Notre Dame’s Makenna Keough.
“I think it’s definitely good for us to play with that high competition,” Kamas said. “We have a young team too. WE have a bunch of seniors in high school. We have middle schoolers on the team. The fact that we all come out here and compete with each other, and not just compete, but we push each other. WE don’t put each other down. No one shies away from the challenge, we just rise to it and keep pushing.”
Getting the chance to play with college level players is something fun for all the younger girls.
“It’s definitely a good experience being able to play with people who are better than you and playing at the next level, so it definitely pushes you to be better,” Keough said. “We can learn from the older girls too.”
And, those players like Hanrahan and Loeber, who played on the team in the past, took on leadership roles with the team.
“A little bit more (pressure to take on leadership roles),” Hanrahan said. “We have kind of already had this experience before. It’s nothing new to us, so we are kind of leading it a little bit more.”
“We were just helping to kind of keep the foundation, keeping the calm,” Loeber said. “When you first step into a higher level and are playing older girls it can be a little intimidating. So, it’s good to have people you can trust and grind with. Trust the ball on your feet.”
The younger girls on the team looked up to players like Hanrahan and Loeber to help lead the way.
“It’s really calming on the field when they are helping you through it, because they know the game a little better and have more experience playing at a higher level,” Keough said.
For someone like Kamas, who will be playing at Houghton next year, playing this level of competition just helps prepare her for the future.
“I think the competition for sure pushes us, and gets us ready for that next step,” Kamas said. “It’s not just a Division 3, 2, 1, JUCO or NAIA, it’s everyone is good to their own ability and it keeps us pushing. We have found kids, but they don’t play like that. The fact we get to play all these different levels and learn from them is something that definitely prepares you for the next level.”
Having junior high kids, like Wilkinson and Elmira seventh grader Madison Doran, on the team, and holding their own, is special for everyone to see.
“I think it’s quite insane,” Hanrahan said. “Just looking back on my experiences, I have also experienced that and having to play with older girls and trying to hold my own. It’s great to see someone else do it.”
Just having the conference to play at that kind of level at that age is pretty unique.
“Having the confidence, that’s great coming into it,” Loeber said. “Just because you are younger, that shouldn’t stop you.”
That’s this year’s Gaffer City F.C. team. They have some of the current best players in the area, and they also have the next generation of soccer stars.
“I think it shows the next generation of what the sport is going to be,” Kamas said. “You have these younger kids. I can tell you right now in seventh grade I was not that good. They are not backing down. You see these names in a paper and you see these names in this league. And you have seventh graders going against Emily Hanrahan who you knew throughout high school. They want to beat someone better than them and there is that stepping stool to keep going in the future.”
The team also features a number of other local athletes, including Notre Dame's Ella Chicone; Edison's Hannah Lasko; Corning's Lilia Mack; Corning's Noelle Sonsire and Edison's Peyton Gibbs.
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:
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