Boys Soccer: Avon blanks Avon Lake, clinches at least a share of SWC title

AVON — Coming out on top in the Avon-Avon Lake rivalry is usually a reward in itself, but Wednesday the stakes were even higher. A share of the Southwestern Conference title was on the line. After nearly an hour of hard-fought scoreless soccer, Avon finally found the key to unleash its potent offense as junior forward Mateo Muratore scored off a pass from London Carnie to propel the Eagles to a 2-0 win and at least a share of the SWC title for the first time since 2021. "We were coming off a counterattack and I made a run," Muratore said. "I always expect (London) to cross it in and he always plays a great ball and this time it was perfect. It came right past my defender and I got it with my left foot and put it perfectly to the bottom right corner." Avon (9-2-3, 6-0 SWC) added a goal from Finn Petzinger in the 73rd minute to provide the final margin. Neither team was able to produce many scoring chances in the first half, but that changed after intermission as Avon Lake (11-1-2, 5-1 SWC) started to put more pressure on the Eagles defense. Although the Shoremen had six second-half shots on goal, Avon goalkeeper Oliver Dobrovic and the rest of the defense was up to the challenge each time. "Going into this game we knew every chance they got they were going to try to get it in the box," Dobrovic said. "We were able to dominate the box today we were able to get the clean sheet through sheer hard work." Dobrovic said he got his energy from the crowd that provided a playoff-like atmosphere for the match. "It's surreal hearing the crowd cheer after a big save or a big stop for our defense," Dobrovic said. "It really helped us finish the game." It was a physical affair with a total of 32 fouls and four yellow cards, but neither side was able to take advantage of numerous free kick in its attacking third. "I honestly don't feel like we played our best in the first half. This is one of the highest-scoring teams in school history, I knew it was there, we just had to uncover it," Avon coach Chris Dore said. "It's the sign of a pretty good team when you can not play your best and still get the results." There's a good chance Wednesday will not be the last meeting between these teams, as they are both expected to make deep runs in the Division II tournament that begins Oct. 13. "The first half was pretty even but, to be honest, in the second half I felt like we had the better run of play," Avon Lake coach Pete Klepek said. "Hat's off to Avon, that's a quality program. I have a strange feeling we might see them again down the road at a neutral site. "This is the adversity we needed to face. This is our first loss in 14 games, so I think we're doing OK. We're going to come back stronger and be ready to go for the tournament to make a deep run and do what we want to do. We missed out on the SWC but our next goal is getting to state and working our butt off to win it." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Avon 2, Avon Lake 0 Goals: A- Mateo Muratore (59th minute), Finn Petzinger (73rd minute) Assists: A - London Carnie 2 Goalkeepers: AL - Lukas Pentz (3 saves) ; A - Oliver Dobrovic (7 saves) Fouls: AL- 14; A - 18 Corner kicks: AL - 1 Offsides: A - 2 Yellow Card: AL - Guy Goldyn (76th minute), A - Cole Vevera (32nd minute), Logan Fitchko (71st minute), Grady Kramer (75th minute) Halftime: 0-0