The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Shoremen start hot, stay hot to win
THE SCORE
AVON LAKE 5, OLMSTED FALLS 4
The Avon Lake Shoremen came out firing on all cylinders.
Thanks to a hot start, Avon Lake was able to outpace the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs and earn themselves a hard fought, 5-4, victory. With the win, the Shoremen advance to the Southwestern Conference tournament championship game Jan. 19 against Amherst at the North Olmsted Recreation Center.
The Shoremen are seeking their first SWC tournament championship since 2006 and are making their first appearance in the championship game since 2007.
“It (came down to) the first period,” Avon Lake coach Steve Burns said. “If we come out strong, we do well. We have to play with a lead against them. That’s the bottom line.”
Avon Lake did just that as they took a 2-0 lead early in the contest. Murphy Mohar got the scoring started and Konner Nilson added a goal of his own on a power play to give Avon Lake a 2-0 lead.
Olmsted Falls answered with a goal from Zak Henley, which pulled the Bulldogs within one goal at 2-1 heading into the second period. Henley put on a strong performance as he recorded a hat trick in the contest.
The opening minute of the second period turned out to be the deciding factor in the game.
Avon Lake scored a pair of goals less than a minute into the period.
The goals from Thomas Kacmarcik and Nick Ospelt gave the Shoremen a 4-1 lead.
Despite being down three goals, Olmsted Falls wasn’t out of it with essentially two periods left to play. Bulldogs coach Carl Wagner called a timeout to give his team a chance to regroup.
“We called a timeout to calm things down,” Wagner said. “Our effort picked up but Avon Lake really came hard and they were the better team today. We had way too many turnovers, and you can’t give up two goals in a minute at the beginning of the second period in a one goal game.”
The timeout helped Olmsted
Falls as it responded with a pair of goals by Henley to cut Avon Lake’s lead to 4-3 heading into the final period.
With 11:51 left in the third, Isaac Young put the Shoremen up 5-3. Once again, Olmsted Falls responded as Colin Wilson scored with 10:27 remaining in the period.
The Bulldogs had opportunities to score in the third period as they tallied 12 shots on goal in the third period alone. They also had a pair of power plays, however, they
weren’t able to capitalize. Avon Lake goalie Dillon Aslaksen stood strong as he turned away numerous Bulldog shots.
Another key moment in the game came when Olmsted Falls was on a power play with around two minutes to go. The Bulldogs emptied their net and had a six to four advantage on Avon Lake. The Shoremen defense didn’t get rattled as they sealed the victory.
“We were up one with not much time to go, so we were (focusing) on wasting as much time as possible while keeping it safe,” Avon Lake’s Isaac Young said.
Five different players scored for Avon Lake in the victory.
“I’m proud of the effort from the guys but effort doesn’t get us the win,” Wagner said. “Their goalie played well, made some really big saves at the end there and it could have been anyone’s game.”