The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Avon girls soccer loses to Strongsville
Eagles lose regional semifinal in 74th minute to end thrilling season
Just as they had done in their past tournament victories, Avon was living on the edge in its Division I regional semifinal against Strongsville on Oct. 31. In the 74th minute it finally caught up to them.
Strongsville senior Vanessa Di Nardo took a beautiful pass
from Lauren Rakytiak, and then proceeded to boot it 25 yards down the middle of the field. The ball took a hop right past diving Avon goalkeeper Maggie Beatty, rolling into the back of the net.
With Beatty having grabbed seven saves on the night, it was
the one that got away.
“Well. first off, that goal would not have happened without my teammates and Lauren and my defense. We all fought as a team and I was just at the right place at the right time and I just took my chance and finished,” Di Nardo said.
Having been on the other end of thrilling close calls the past couple of games, It was a heartbreaking way for the Eagles (161-3) to end their season.
“I thought we played great,” Eagles coach Attila Csizar said. “It took one play, but at the end of the day, both teams played fantastic soccer.”
The Mustangs (15-1-4) came into the matchup ranked No. 3
in Division I, and showed why they will likely be one of the toughest outs in the state.
Led by Di Nardo, the Mustangs applied pressure all game, especially in the first half as they controlled possession, accumulating a handful of shots-on-goal, while holding the Eagles offense to a limited number of chances.
Having stymied Avon’s offense, Mustangs coach Todd Church felt his girls were going to have to go wide in order to crack the Avon defense.
“They had so much congestion in the midfield. They did a good job of that,” Church said. “We needed to try and get it wide first and I think, if I remember right, that is kind of where that goal game from because we got it wide and were able to find Vanessa.”
Csizar revealed clogging the middle was part of Avon’s strategy.
“We wanted to tighten up the middle. We knew if we gave them room and time to turn, then they were going attack the space. So, we tightened it up and I think the girls did a pretty good job of having them drop the ball back,” Csizar said.
Avon suffered a setback midway through the first half as Karissa Kraszewski came down with a knee injury. With their leading goal scorer sidelined, the Eagles were forced to improvise.
After a scoreless first 40 minutes, Avon came out much more aggressive in the second half, notching a couple more shots-ongoal and keeping nervous Mustang fans on the edge of their seats, having seen what they’ve done in their past few games.
Avon’s Abby Delprincipe could sense the team came out with a sense of urgency in the second half.
“I think we were just fighting way harder and we just really wanted a goal. We were putting everything up to the offensive half, and we were just getting more opportunities,” Delprincipe said. “I think we just put ourselves in position to try and get a goal.”
Csizar was not surprised when his team cranked up their play.
“Pretty much, they just wanted to leave a legacy. They wanted to win this more than anything,” Csizar said. “When you got kids that believe in the system and believe in the coaches, they can do anything. I think that’s where we are at with these kids.”
Csizar believes the Mustangs could be one of the best teams in not just the state, but the country. The fact that Avon was able to hold them scoreless for 73 minutes shows just how great Avon can become.
“Avon is going to be a community that can compete. Compete at a high level, and compete against anyone in the state,” Csizar said.
Avon was held to just four-shots-on goal by the stingy Mustang defense led by goalkeeper Nora Potter, who tallied three saves. But Delprincipe, a Cincinnati commit, thought the Eagles showed great poise in their return to regionals.
“I thought we were both just tough teams and we fought hard until the very last minute. … I think we gave them a hard 80 minutes. We gave them a great game. I’m proud of my team. I think we did great,” Delprincipe said.
The trip back to regionals caps another memorable season that Delprincipe and the Eagles will never forget.
“It was great making it to regionals again. I think we all grew really close and we are a big family. They’re all my best friends. It was really fun,” Delprincipe said.