BAY VILLAGE — Despite getting off to a fast start, Avon Lake was unable to retain the Westshore Cup.
Bay scored six unanswered first-half goals and then connected on three 8-meter free positions to defeat the Shoregals 9-5 in the latest edition of their annual border rivalry.
Shoregals senior Alyssa Molina scored 96 seconds into the game and Emma Patton scored three minutes later off an Ella Manfred assist.
Then the Avon Lake offense went into a deep freeze, scoring just one goal in the next 36 minutes.
“We were really excited leading up to the game and really excited we went ahead 2-0 and then we started acting like we had it in the bag,” Molina said. “We really didn’t fire up the intensity again until the end.”
Bay junior Meredith Florez scored two goals in a span of 25 seconds to give the Rockets (3-0, 1-0 in the Northern Ohio Lacrosse League) their first lead at 3-2 with 16:54 remaining in the first half.
Bridget Brown scored back-to-back goals later in the half to give the Rockets a 6-2 lead.
“Our defense has grown a lot since last year,” Bay coach Victoria Budzyn said. “We’re only three games in but the defense is coming to together really well.
“We lost the Westshore Cup last season. It was a rough year for us. I think this is a good indication of what our season is going to look like.”
The Rockets scored all of their second-half goals on 8-meter free positions, two from sophomore Riley LaVogue — which gave her three goals in the game — and one from fellow sophomore Ella Boehringer.
“Coming back and getting the Cup this year was our goal and we got it,” LaVouge said. “We’ve been working all week in practice. Getting this win was one of our main goals. I am so proud of everyone on this team. It was a total team win.”
“Scoring off the 8-meters was really what won the game for us,” LaVouge said. “Those plays are hard and to score on three of them was just amazing.”
After scoring 16 goals in a season-opening win over Shaker Heights, Avon Lake (1-2, 0-1) has been held to 12 goals combined in its last two games, both losses.
“I think the dilemma is we just don’t know what each other is doing on the attacking end,” Avon Lake coach Darci Gervasie said. “We're struggling to set anything up and run it successfully in the attacking end. We kind of got it together as the game went on but it was too little, too late.”
Senior attack Ashley Hubert scored Avon Lake’s first goal of the second half with 9:15 remaining. Molina’s second goal came with 4:23 left to play on with the Shoregals on a two-player advantage after the Rockets had players sent off for dangerous propelling and a check to the head in a span of 11 seconds.
“I really think we’re off on the right foot,” Molina said. “We’re all really excited to be playing and we’re working on correcting our mistakes in practice. We’re going to keep getting better.”

Contact Todd Shapiro at 440-329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Bay 9, Avon Lake 5

Avon Lake  3  2  —  5
Bay      6  3  —  9

GOALS: (AL) Alyssa Molina 2, Mariana Melgoza, Emma Patton, Ashley Hubert; (B) Riley LaVouge 3, Bridget Brown 2, Meredith Florez 2, Aliza Stafford, Ella Boehringer
ASSISTS: (AL) Patton, Ella Manfred; (B) Brown, LaVouge, Stafford
SAVES: (AL) Jordan West 6; (B) Anna Saccany 8
SHOTS ON GOAL: Avon Lake 13, Bay 15
DRAWS: Avon Lake 4, Bay 12
POWER PLAYS: Avon Lake 1-for-1; Bay 0-for-1
YELLOW CARDS: Avon Lake 1, Bay 2