Girls soccer: Avon Lake draws it up perfectly, ties Avon to claim third straight Southwestern Conference championship

AVON — When is a 0-0 tie the best feeling in the world? When it clinches the Southwestern Conference girls soccer title, that's when. Avon Lake did just that by holding rival Avon to a scoreless tie to sew up its third straight SWC crown Wednesday night. "We're back-to-back-to back champions," Avon Lake coach Doug Buczak said. "It's nothing these girls haven't seen in the past. It's great to get our ninth-graders some experience in it." Ninth-graders like Franki Persia, who helped anchor the back wall of the Shoregals defense. Avon peppered 31 shots, 21 on goal, during the match but couldn't get any past the staunch defense put up by Avon Lake. Seniors Brianna Weber and Tera Sansotta, junior Evelyn Ritt and sophomore Katherine Murray, along with Persia, were the main defenders outside of sophomore goalkeeper Catherin Fazio. "Our main goal is to defend, defend, defend," Persia said. "I think that's been a main goal the whole season. It was really stressful but we made it work." It may be the third straight title for Avon Lake (9-5-3, 5-0-2 SWC) but it's Buczak's first as head coach. He grew up in Parma and has been a physical education teacher at Avon Lake for six years. He was the boys assistant coach the past two years. "It's a huge moment for me," he said. "These girls deserve every single kudo. They are special players, special moment, special plays. Just an incredible group of girls. What a dynamic team. We always say defense wins championships and here we are." It's the 10th shutout for Avon Lake and the second 0-0 tie. Amherst had a chance to possibly tie for the league crown had the Shoremen stumbled, but with the shutout, the outright championship was clinched. "It's the staple of what we do," Buczak. "We make teams beat us. We don't let teams beat us, we make them beat us. Our goalkeeper has just improved significantly from the first game. What a way she has come and is as solid as our defense has grown. It's fun to be a part of this. They trust each other and that speaks volumes." Fazio and the Shoregals defense was under siege the entire game. Avon had one shot off the foot of senior Gianna Scott hit the upright but bounce harmlessly away. The Eagles had a few others go high, including shots by freshman Sydney Thomas and senior Izzy Fasco. "We just struggled to find a good shot," Avon coach Attila Csiszar said. "We can move the ball, move the ball in the attacking third but it kind of stalled out. We're taking shots 25, 30 yards out. We needed to get a little closer to goal, that's how the ball bounces in this game. "(Avon Lake) did a great job. They held us to a tie and that's what they needed to do to win conference. All they had to do was pack the back line. They did a great job. We just couldn't find the net." Fazio was able to smother 15 shots. "It was definitely stressful, especially with so much on the line," Fazio said. "We have such a solid back line, it makes it a lot easier to do the job. We just work together as a team. We mesh really well." "Catherine played so good," Persia said. "She carried us a lot. (The championship) is so awesome. I didn't know if we'd make it back this year but we came together as a team the whole season. It's really exciting to have it the third year in a row." "Avon's a great team," Buczak said. "They're one of the tops in Division II. Certainly we knew they were going to bring some offensive studs and some offensive concepts that would be challenging to us to even out. We did the job." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Avon Lake 0, Avon 0 SHOTS: Avon Lake 5, Avon 31SAVES: (AL) Catherine Fazio 15; (A) Sevilla Anderson 3CORNER KICKS: Avon Lake 1, Avon 1PENALTY KICKS: Avon Lake 3, Avon 1HALFTIME: 0-0