The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
A GREAT WAY TO MARK A BIRTHDAY
Calogeras leads Shoregals with five goals on special day
Well that is one way to celebrate your special day.
On her 18th birthday, senior Isabel Calogeras led Avon Lake with five goals as the Shoregals topped Brecksville-Broadview Heights, 13-7, in a lacrosse matchup at chilly Avon Lake Memorial Stadium on April 7.
The night seemed destined for Calogeras to shine from the start as she scored off the opening faceoff just seconds into the game. But she wasn’t done there. Calogeras followed that up with a hat trick 10 minutes into the game, putting her Shoregals (8-1) up 5-0.
The special start couldn’t have been more fitting for Calogeras as her teammates continued to attack alongside her.
“It really helps winning the draw and our solid passes down the field just really helped, along with our movement, our picks and our screens. It all helped us to score those goals,” Calogeras said.
Avon Lake was in full control
early on as they built up their lead to 6-0 with nifty passes and quick slashing scores from Mariana Wilson and Sarah Lucas. The offense was humming, but on the other side of the field, junior goalkeeper Cameron Stepka was making some impressive plays of her own. Stepka was a menace for the visiting Bees (2-4), racking up 11 saves as she kept the opposing offense in check.
Shoregals coach Darci Gervasie said her goalkeeper had another solid outing.
“Cam has been playing really well for us and she had a lot of saves yesterday, too,” Gervasie said. “She has stepped up big time this year and really come a long way.”
The fast start for the Shoregals is something they are growing accustomed to but Gervasie has seen some cracks in their play as of late.
“Right, we kind of have played this year where we tend to go hard right from the beginning and then we hold off unless necessary,” Gervasie said. “t just kind of depends on the game.
“We are having some issues with the defense right now and I don’t know, they’re struggling at the moment.”
Right on cue, the Shoregals’ defensive woes reared their ugly head as the Bees went on a 4-0 run, led by goals from Peyton Schneider, Danielle Camperchioli, Elyse Castro and Carli LaPierre. Brecksville-Broadview Heights also switched its defense into a zone, which seemed to trouble the Shoregals.
Sensing her team was losing momentum, Calogeras came through late in the first half with a vicious shot into the back of the net, followed by a liner from the side, which stopped the bleeding and seemed to restore the offensive flow for Avon Lake as they took a 9-4 lead into halftime.
The Shoregals came out firing in the second half, notching two quick goals, including a beauty from Taylor Wilson, who found teammate Marina Wilson from way behind the net as Wilson hammered in it just feet away from Bees goalkeeper Alaina Feather.
Avon Lake’s Wilson finished with two goals and two assists.
The Bees’ Feather tallied six saves on a tough night on the road.
Avon Lake padded its lead to 13-4 but a couple of goals from Brecksville-Broadview Heights’ Samantha Volken and a nice shot from Camperchioli allowed the Bees to creep closer in the waning minutes of play.
The win was nice one, but the lapses on defense at times are something that could come back to bite Avon Lake if they don’t get it shored up quickly.
“My feel is that we still have some things to work on but, overall, if we can kind of overcome what I feel are minor situations that are currently occurring, then we should be pretty well off for the rest of the season,” Gervasie said.