Boys soccer: Firelands bidding for eighth title in eight seasons in the Lorain County League

A lot has changed since the Lorain County League began play in 2019. There have been two presidential elections, a new Firelands High School, 13 Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks and 13 seasons of "Survivor." One thing has remained the same. The top of the LCL's boys soccer standings. Firelands has been the only champion in the conference's seven-year history and this year the Falcons are going for an unprecedented eighth consecutive league crown. This year's version is led by a trio of returning All-LCL players — senior Alex Duke and juniors Tristan Janosik and Niko Zagar — three-year starting goalkeeper Ashton Lutz and two-time LCL Coach of the Year Bill Yakunovich. "Winning another conference title is a pretty big deal to me, especially because this is my senior year, " said Lutz, one of six seniors on the roster. "We've won it every year I've been in high school and I wouldn't want to lose it now." Not only have the current crop of Falcons never known a world when it didn't hold the LCL trophy, it has never even lost a conference match. Firelands is 66-3-4 in league play over the past seven years. It's last LCL defeat came Oct. 17, 2020, a 3-0 loss to Oberlin. "I don't know if it's because we've had an expectation of winning, but we don't take anything for granted," Yakunovich said. "We expect every game that we go into to be a tough game no matter who it is against." Yakunovich acknowledged the community's youth program and the club teams many of the players train with in the offseason for helping to build the foundation for the success. "The youth program is great," he said. "The kids come up and they're pretty much ready. And many of our players also play for local clubs in the area." Duke, who was third on the team with six assists last year, is one of of those players who came up through the youth program. He pointed out how growing up together has brought the team closer as it reached the high school level. "A big part of the success of the team is the bond we have with each other. That gives us the trust we need out on the field," he said. "Everyone on this team is a good person. They all have great personalities. It's special to come to practice to be around this team every day and have fun. Most of us have been playing soccer since we were little and we have so much passion for the sport." Last year, midfielder Tristan Janosik was one of the Falcons' top playmakers, tying for the team lead with 14 assists. This season, he's became one of the top scoring options. "This conference is good this year, but I feel like 100 percent we're going to win again," Janosik said. "We have everything we need to win. It starts in the offseason. We work and run a lot and the coaches do a great job of getting us prepared. If we don't take the offseason serious, we won't achieve our goals." Lutz has 174 saves at the varsity level, dating back to his freshman year, when he saw limited action, and owns a career goals against average of 0.95. "A lot of us have played together since we were really young and we know each other's playing styles," he said. "It helps that our coaches really know how to push us to our extremes." Zagar is one of the leaders on a defense that has recorded three shutouts this year. "Of course there's a little pressure. It's been seven years, but I'm most worried about doing a great job as a team and living up to our own standards," he said. "We all play for the love of the game. If we didn't really want to play and want to be here, we wouldn't have had the outcomes we've had." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.