Upset-minded Rangers turned back by Eagles

After it seemed like the two teams might be destined for a draw, Avon’s boys soccer team used a pair of goals to defeat upset-minded North Ridgeville, 3-2, in a Southwestern Conference matchup at Joe Firment Chevrolet Stadium on Sept. 27.

The Eagles (7-1-3, 4-2-1 SWC), known for their defense, stymied North Ridgeville through the first half, holding them to one goal. North Ridgeville became more

aggressive in the second half, pressuring Avon’s offense to make something happen.

“We just came out slow and we dug ourselves in a hole. We are the kind of team to know when we have to pick it up. In the second half, we just started getting our crosses in. I mean, we just play for each other. We don’t care who gets the ball or who gets the goal,” senior Sean Hesketh said.

Hesketh nailed the goahead goal in the 43rd minute off an assist from fellow senior Owen Lacko, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead

Avon added another goal in the 67th minute when junior Tyler Muir booted it into the net, upping the lead to 3-1.

One minute later, the Rangers (6-3-2, 3-3-1 SWC) took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity, as senior Zach Smith quickly struck back, cutting the lead to 3-2.

The goal seemed to fuel frustration as tempers flared toward the end of the match between multiple players. Avon coach Chris Dore, who had a few words with the referee in the final minutes, was visibly frustrated with his players’ performance at home and declined to talk after the game.

Eagles assistant coach Tyler Pearis talked about the frustrating night.

“It was just a rough game overall. Some of our players may not have been in the right mindset,” Pearis said. “But we did pick up it up like you said. It got pretty physical, as you can see. But in the end, a win is a win.”

While Avon’s Dore was delivering a fiery postgame speech to his players, the Rangers’ George Panagiotou was praising his players for their gutsy effort against one of the best defenses in the area.

“Avon is always a fantastic team and I know that Chris is a great coach and he prepares his guys. They are smart players, so I take nothing away from them. But yeah, definitely extremely proud of how these guys played. Especially because we battled injuries all season long and a good majority of my guys played the entire 80 minutes,” Panagiotou said.

North Ridgeville was neck-and-neck with Avon in the first couple of minutes as both defenses limited any kind of penetration near the net, snatching back the ball in the midfield and beyond. That changed in the 20th minute when North Ridgeville senior Duke Crawford took advantage of an early jump by Avon goalkeeper Dylan Morris, kicking it over a diving Morris into the back of the net.

“He played it back. I knew he was going to play it back to the goalie. Luckily it was a bad pass on him and we were able to get that first goal,” Crawford said. “It boosted our confidence times a million and it kept us going throughout the game.”

While their offense was up against a tough task, Rangers junior goalkeeper Joe Grau found himself diving all around the net, nabbing eight saves. Grau made a handful of spectacular saves, much to the dismay of the Avon fans.

Despite coming up short, Grau felt it was an allaround team effort.

“It was a really good fight. It was a great team effort. Everybody played their hearts out. We were all pressing them. We just tried as hard as we could until the very end. We never gave up,” Grau said.

While Avon’s win wasn’t the prettiest, Pearis believes the lack of effort and play was just a bump in the road.

“It was just a little blemish here at home. Better now than at the end of the season,” Pearis said.