Boys soccer: Avon beats North Ridgeville to maintain upper hand in SWC

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Avon and North Ridgeville entered Wednesday's clash of Southwestern Conference powers looking to make an early season statement, but it was the Eagles who left victorious after battering the Rangers 4-1 in an impressive road victory. "It felt really great," Avon senior Brock Harman said. "Last year we tied them and the year before we lost 1-0 and just couldn't finish chances, so it feels really nice to beat them this year." While Harman's two late goals clinched the win in the final 15 minutes, it was junior left back Vincent Palumbo who opened the scoring for Avon, coming off the bench and smashing a loose ball into the net after a scramble in the box with seven minutes to go in the first half. "When players like Vincent Palumbo, who didn't start the game, come in and make a difference, that's a really good feeling for the team," Avon coach Chris Dore said. "They're feeling good about themselves. It's not just one player, it's the entire team." Even though they were unable to find the net until Palumbo's goal, the Eagles dominated almost from the start, keeping the ball in the Rangers' defensive third and mounting more and more pressure on goalkeeper Micah Braun, who made a number of excellent saves in the first half. The second half, however, was a different story, as Avon upped the pressure and intensity, beginning with its play without the ball. "We started doing a better job of closing them down defensively and winning loose balls," Dore said. "Instead of being predictable when we were playing in their end, we were creating two-versus-one situations by picking up loose balls and working harder defensively." The pressure paid off, and with some slight tweaks to their attacking movements, Avon scored three times in the final 15 minutes before a late consolation goal for North Ridgeville. "Making delayed runs really helped me," Harman said. "I switched up my play style and just running through the defense and getting to the ball really worked for me." Harman wasn't the only one who changed it up in the second half as junior Mateo Muratore, who assisted one of Harman's goals and scored Avon's fourth, also stepped his game up after the break. "We were moving the ball much faster in the second half," Muratore said. "We were just moving a lot more, which made us more successful." For North Ridgeville, the loss proved that replacing the pieces from last year's final four team will be no easy task and that it will have a tough road to another SWC championship. "We are young, and we have a lot to learn," North Ridgeville coach George Panagiotou said. "There's a lot of things that we still have to do collectively and tighten up on to be able to compete." While the result was a tough one for the Rangers to swallow, Panagiotou knows that games like Wednesday's are the only way for his young team to learn those much-needed lessons. "I think that experience helps a lot," Panagiotou said. "I think that there are a lot of nerves with some of our younger guys, and getting the opportunity to play high level competition like Avon is always a great experience for these guys to learn from. The more exposure they get to these high level opportunities, the better they will play." Contact William Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Avon 4, North Ridgeville 0 GOALS: (A) Vincent Palumbo (33rd minute), Brock Harman (66th minute, 69th minute), Mateo Muratore (79th minute); (NR) Josh Rothaker (80th minute) ASSISTS: (A) Cole Veverka, Connor Britt, Mateo Muratore, Mark Dushaj; (NR) Mason Oliva SAVES: (A) Oliver Dobrovic 1; (NR) Micah Braun 7 SHOTS ON GOAL: Avon 10; North Ridgeville 2 FOULS: Avon 9; North Ridgeville 8 CORNER KICKS: Avon 4, North Ridgeville 1 OFFSIDE: Avon 1 YELLOW CARDS: (NR) Lucas Augustin HALFTIME: Avon, 1-0