Eagles ignore conditions, roll past North Royalton in boys soccer, 3-0

BRUNSWICK, Ohio—Being successful in soccer can sometimes come down to a team’s mentality—especially when it’s a match played in a steady rain with winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour.

But rather than lament the conditions in their Division II regional semifinal Wednesday at Brunswick, Avon’s boys embraced them and dominated because of it, taking a 3-0 decision over North Royalton. With the victory, the 15-1-3 Eagles are on to the regional finals. Next up for the defending state champions is a rematch with Lakewood, a team they defeated in the season-opener, 3-0. The regional final will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Nordonia.

“The conditions don’t matter for us,” said senior London Carnie, who led Avon with two goals. “We’re a team. We can play anywhere: rain, wind, anywhere.”

Having played into the middle of November in last year’s state championship season, Avon has experience playing in difficult conditions. But coach Chris Dore said that experience really wasn’t a factor against North Royalton. In fact, the Eagles scored their first two goals in the first half while playing into the wind, as the Bears won the coin toss and chose to open the match with the wind at their backs.

“You know, it’s not something that you can get used to,” Dore said of the conditions. “You just feel like it’s a mentality. We have a group of players that I don’t think was even bothered by it, other than the fact that we were playing against the wind in the first half and we had to change the way we play a little bit. But the conditions weren’t enough to throw them off mentally.”

Ironically, Avon opened the scoring on a play that might not have happened if Brayden Carlin didn’t have to come off the field because of an equipment malfunction with his cleats. Daniel Hernandez subbed in and very soon thereafter made a run round the left side of the North Royalton defense before feeding the ball to Connor Britt, who shot the ball low and left and gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the match.

“Things happen for a reason, I guess,” Dore said. “Daniel Hernandez stepped on the field early in the game, maybe before he’s used to going in. But he stepped up and created a great scoring chance. I tell these guys, it doesn’t matter if you’re on the field at the beginning of the game. If you get the opportunity to play, you can make a contribution.”

The lead lasted about 20 minutes before Carnie doubled it with a goal off an assist from Carlin.

“I won the ball in the middle and I saw Brayden was open,” Carnie said. “I played it to Brayden, and then he did a beautiful pass, 1-2, and I’m through. I took a touch around a defender that was pressing me, and then I just slotted it in with my weaker foot.”

Carnie’s second goal, which came just under 9 minutes into the second half, was similar to the first, only this time Carnie had to use his deft foot skills to get past three defenders before taking a shot. The assist came from Valentino Cruzado.

“The second goal was the same scenario,” Carnie said. “I got the ball in the middle and played it to Valentino. He made a great move to cut in and play me another one, too. Then I took a couple touches around a couple guys and then just slotted it in with my left.”

The victory was the 12th shutout of the season, as Avon hasn’t lost since August 24. In the past month, a stretch that covers seven matches, the Eagles have allowed just one goal.

“It’s really just a team effort,” said defender Cole Veverka. “Keep the ball in front of us. It really takes all of us, and that was one of our game plans. Stay together, be strong, keep it in front of us.”

When the teams paraded onto the field for the pre-game introductions, it was clear that the Bears had a significant size advantage, which could have been an issue on set plays. But on each free kick and corner kick, Avon always got to the ball first, often times in the air. Goalkeeper Owen Huron only faced one shot, and it was a long free kick that he punched out of harm’s way.

“We knew that they were a pretty decent-sized group of kids, and that can be dangerous in certain scenarios,” Dore said. “But we’re really good in the air in the back and in the box as well, both offensively and defensively. I know that anything can happen, but I put our back line in the air against anybody in high school soccer this year.”

The dominant victory puts the Eagles right where they want to be, playing their best soccer at the end of the season.

“I love my team, especially when we play so hard like this,” said Dore. “The season’s long. It’s our 19th game and there are ups and downs and I don’t always think highly of the way that we play. But this is definitely one of those moments where I could walk away being completely satisfied.”