Avon boys soccer plays to 1-1 draw with Bay

The celebrations of winning a program’s first state championship are long gone. What’s left for Avon’s boys soccer team is the aftermath.

From the high of edging Kings Mills Kings, 1-0 in overtime, in last year’s Division II state title game last November to the ordeal of being a defending state champion this fall. That’s the journey the Eagles have taken and will continue to take throughout this season.

Wednesday night, Avon hosted Bay in a non-conference matchup of two of the top programs in the state, pitting the state champion Eagles, against the Rockets, the state runner-up in Division IV last year. The expected hard-fought battle ended in a 1-1 tie, with the hosts scoring just 59 seconds into the proceedings and then struggling for the remainder of the night.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said coach Chris Dore. “No disrespect to Bay. They’re a great team, state finalists in their respective division. It was two very competitive teams. But I focus a lot of attention on who we are, and we have a lot of soul searching to do after coming off a very successful season last year. For the first time ever, we have to figure it out. We’re definitely still figuring it out.”

Exactly what “it” is was left unsaid by Dore. But the message to the team was clear: things need to change.

“Thank goodness we scored, because the rest of the 79 minutes were kind of subpar, from our standpoint and what we’re looking for,” Dore said. “We have the ability. We have talent, we have depth, we have experience. Now we just have to find the purpose.”

Brayden Carlin found the nets for Avon. The junior forward spun toward the goal after receiving a pass from Caleb Free, finding only Bay keeper Logan Jennrich between himself and the goal. Carlin, who has scored three of his team’s four goals thus far this season, had no problem putting the ball into the lower right corner to make it 1-0 less than a minute into the match.

About five minutes later, London Carnie nearly scored for the Eagles, hitting the right post on a free kick. It appeared Avon would be able to use its possession game to control the ball and dissect the Bay defense. But midway through the opening half, the Rockets stepped things up on defense, pressing the ball and not allowing the Eagles to maintain possession.

Bay tied the score on a penalty kick from Jonah Czarnecki, who powered the ball into the right corner of the goal as Avon keeper Owen Huron dove the other direction. The penalty kick, which came with 14 minutes, 55 seconds left in the first half, came as a result of a defensive error by Avon which allowed John Messmore to burst through the back line before being pulled down.

“I didn’t see it,” Dore said. “I knew the kid was in on goal after we made a mistake. We took a bad touch and the ball bounced very nicely to one of their players. I kind of turned away, because I knew, just from experience, that it was not going to be a good situation.”

Both teams had near-misses in the second half and both goalkeepers had outstanding saves. But the bottom line is that neither team scored and both are now 1-0-1 on the season. Next up for the Eagles is a trip on Monday to St. Ignatius, a Division I power that defeated Avon last year, 5-1.

“Tomorrow is tomorrow.” Dore said. “I mean, it’s kind of like the sport itself. If you worry about what happened before, then you’re not going to be ready for what’s happening next. It’s the same concept with life, and the season, and everything. You can dwell on the past or just accept the fact that you’ve got work to do. Obviously, it’s hard for us to enjoy a result that we don’t feel that we wanted. But you’ve got to shake it off, don’t feel sorry for yourselves, and get ready to work the very next day.”