The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Shoremen down Demons
A fall-like chill was in the air for a clash between two Southwestern Conference foes.
The Avon Lake Shoremen (22, 2-1) and Westlake Demons (22, 2-1) squared off Aug. 28 in Westlake, both looking to improve their record in conference play.
Avon Lake scored a pair of goals, one in the first half and
one in the second half, to down Westlake 2-0.
“We’ve been working on our formation with some new guys in it and they listened tonight and it worked well,” Avon Lake head coach Pete Klepek said. “It’s a growth. We are building this team, we had nine seniors last year and have a lot of new guys this season. We started 0-2
last year and went on a nice run, hopefully we keep it going this way.”
The contest was a one-sided affair on the offensive end from the start. The Shoremen dominated the possession battle throughout the match and had ample chances to score.
“The one thing about this team is that we have soccer players that can play and like to possess the ball,” Klepek said. “Sometimes I’d like them to play a little bit more forward to get more goals but they like to possess the ball. The boys work well together and a lot of them have been playing together for years.”
Avon Lake put three shots just wide of the net in the first 20 minutes of the contest. They also had four corner kicks broken up in front of the net in the first half.
Persistence pays off and it showed for the Shoremen in the 34th minute when midfielder Danny Lambert ripped a ball into the upper right corner of the net to give Avon Lake a 1-0 lead just before the half.
“I got played a perfect ball from Drew Del Giudice and I know I have some speed, so I was able to beat their center back and hit it in the corner,” Lambert said. “I was proud of it.”
In the second half, the Shoremen kept their foot on the gas pedal and kept firing.
In the 50th minute, Avon Lake sailed a shot just wide of the goal and had a near-miss on a corner kick when the ball was kicked around several times in front of the net.
The Shoremen extended their lead to 2-0 in the 62nd minute when defender Cullen Reutter scored on a header off of a
corner kick.
“It was a great ball in, I had a free header and I put it right over the goalie and it went in,” Reutter said.
Westlake’s defense played tough throughout the contest, thwarting multiple Avon Lake scoring opportunities. Demons goalie Levi Swisher saved five shots on goal and was very active as the Shoremen spent a lot of time on Westlake’s side of the field.
“We made a crucial mistake in the first half and it ended up costing us,” Westlake head coach Mike Besu said. “You can’t make that kind of mistake and it ended up being the game changer. We’re young, that’s the bottom line. We have been making mistakes. At this point, if we play some of the stronger teams, I don’t know if we’re good enough to overcome those mistakes. However, it’s only the fourth game of the season so we’re going to keep trying.”
Up next, the Demons host North Royalton on Aug. 31 and the Shoremen host North Ridgeville on Sept. 4.