The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Avon girls given No. 1 seed in Elyria District
On Oct. 8, the district tournament brackets were revealed, to no surprise, the Avon girls team earned the No. 1 seed in the Division I Elyria bracket.
The Eagles (10-0-3) are slated to face the winner of North Olmsted-St. Joseph Academy in a sectional final. It’s a tough district. The remaining top four seeds are Westlake (2), Amherst (3) and Magnificat (4).
Avon beat Westlake earlier in the year, and tied Amherst in a 1-1 draw last week. But for first-year coach Attila Csiszar, the expectations are what they should be for a one seed.
“Realistically, it gives our girls a little bit of confidence,” Csiszar said. “When you’re the No. 1 seed, everyone is looking to knock you off. I think it’s a good thing and our girls needed it. They’ve been playing tough this season.”
Avon is a possession-style team, and the middle line is what is going to pull them through. Centerback Ashley Svec, mid-center Megan Sikora, midfielder Abby Delprincipe, midfielder Kelsey Gannon and Karissa Kraszweski up top at forward have led the way.
“Our middle line is very calm and they play relaxed soccer,” Csiszar said. “They look to distribute the ball and our central mids and defenders are very smart players. It’s very hard to break the line against Svec and Anna (Brethauer).
“I think we’re there offensively. But we have to finish our chances. We might only have one chance in a match and we have to put that away.”
Avon has one of the top goalkeepers in the state in Maggie Beatty, and six shutouts this season.
“She’s taken a lot of kicks out of the back and she’s very strong in the air,” Csiszar said. “Hands down, out of all the teams we’ve played, I would put her up there with any goalkeeper. She’s fantastic.”
Csiszar was an assistant on the Avon boys team under Chris Dore, and also previously coached the Elyria Catholic boys. What led him to coach the Avon girls is simple: He knows what type of community it is.
“There’s a lot of technical players coming up through the ranks,” he said. “I know with the culture of Avon in the soccer community, this is where I want to be.
“I’m a very competitive coach. I want to be where the players are competing at the highest level. And Avon offers that.
“In my opinion, we’re going to be a dominant community that’s going to be ranked very high in years to come.”
A month from now, when the dust is settled, Csiszar wouldn’t say much about what exactly he would consider a successful postseason run
“I want the kids to play a possession-style game,” Csiszar said. “If we accomplish that, then we’ve done well. At the end of the day, it’s about teaching these kids how to play at a high level. I don’t want to put a cap on how far we should go. I’m more prone to say that if the girls come out and play a clean game, I would be very happy.”
Conference winners
The Olmsted Falls, Vermilion and Fairview boys teams clinched their conference titles this past week. The Bulldogs repeated as Southwestern Conference champions with a 3-0 win over Avon Lake. They are the No. 1 seed in the Division I Elyria district bracket and ranked No. 5 in the state. Vermilion clinched its conference title for the first time in several years and the first time as a member of the Sandusky Bay Conference. The Sailors went 10-0 with 64 goals, seven allowed and four shutouts in the SBC. The Sailors are the No. 1 seed in the D-II Clyde district. Fairview clinched the Patriot Athletic Conference (Stripes Division) with a 6-1 win over Keystone and is No. 5 in the D-II Elyria district.
Around the pitch
• Elyria Catholic honored senior goalkeeper Jakob Hwang on Oct. 7 against Wellington. Hwang has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Panthers wore lime green socks for lymphoma awareness and Hwang joined the team on the sidelines.
• Lake Ridge’s Madyson Rosado scored five goals and had three assists in a win over Lorain. She leads the area with 43 goals on the season.
Avon Lake’s Charlie Yungvirt had a two-goal game in a win over Mentor on Oct. 5. He has seven on the year and the Shoremen are 8-3-4.
• Fairview centerback Nick Donofrio has been a key cog to Fairview’s success defensively this season and led his team to wins over Cloverleaf, Keystone and West Geauga, which is ranked No. 7 in Greater Cleveland.