Eagles tie Amherst, 1-1, remain atop SWC girls soccer standings

Riding high after playing highly-ranked Hudson to a 1-1 tie this past weekend, the Avon girls soccer team was unable to duplicate the effort Wednesday in a Southwestern Conference matchup with visiting Amherst, instead finishing in a 2-2 tie. “I think our girls probably came out having that idea, or that mentality, that we’ve won this game,” said coach Attila Csiszar. “Every game’s a battle and everyone is coming after Avon. Last year we made the Final Four. We’re chipping away, getting closer to Columbus. We have so much talent here. I mean, we competed against Hudson, and they were ranked No. 1 in the state. But I think this was a mental setback where we already thought we had won the game.” Fortunately for the Eagles, the tie didn’t cost Avon its spot atop the SWC standings. With an overall mark of 7-3-2, the Eagles are now 4-0-1 in league action with two SWC matches to play—October 1 at Avon Lake and October 8 versus Elyria. They are followed in the standings by Olmsted Falls at 4-1, Amherst and North Ridgeville at 3-1-1 and Avon Lake at 2-2-1. But Csiszar is quick to warn his troops about feeling too comfortable about the league standings. “We’ve got to finish what’s on the table,” he said. “You get another tie, you’re done. We’ve done that in the past where we went undefeated, yet we didn’t win the conference. Two ties are worse than a loss. But I think, with our girls’ mindset, we’ll get them ready for the next game.” The opening 15 minutes of the match made it appear that a high-scoring affair was in the offing, as the teams combined for three goals in a span of less than 4 minutes. The Comets opened the scoring when Isabelle McGee deflected into the nets a corner kick from Paige Miller, making it 1-0 with 30 minutes, 15 seconds left in the first half. Avon’s Sydney Thomas answered just 1:25 later with her 15th goal of the season, as the sophomore found herself alone in front of the goal after an excellent pass from Paige Millet. Just over 2 minutes later, Amherst scored again. After a long shot hit the right post, the ball bounced directly to freshman Sienna Rebman, who had no problem making it 2-1 at the 26:32 mark. But as quickly as those goals came, the offense suddenly dried up for both teams as the match turned into a defensive struggle. Neither team had very many chances to score for the rest of the match, especially in the second half. “I think we were rushing a lot of our passes, and we were just playing kickball,” said Csiszar of the offensive struggles. “We were in a panic mode.” However, Avon did manage to piece together a scoring opportunity very late in the first half. Morgan Terrell possessed the ball about 40 yards from the goal when she sent a ball that landed behind the Amherst defense but in front of goalkeeper Haydn Beischlag. By the time Beischlag came out of the goal, Avon’s Kaitlyn Buchino sprinted to the ball and headed it past her with just 28 seconds remaining in the half. “That was huge,” said Csiszar. “It was huge for Kaitlyn to throw her body in and head the ball in the back of the net. We needed it.” But the momentum that was achieved late in the first half wasn’t able to produce a goal in the second. The Eagles had the advantage in ball possession, but they were unable to find the nets despite a handful of scoring chances. The match ended with Amherst placing a free kick in front of the Avon goal, with a wild scramble ensuing that didn’t result in a goal as time ran out. Csiszar said his team showed how good it can be when it tied unbeaten Hudson, but he said there needs to be more consistency of effort. “What (the Hudson match) showed me is that we can play defense,” he said. “We can understand this game at a high level. It’s just we’re picking and choosing our moments. We have to understand that we have to work both sides of the ball. You know, defense wins games. Bottom line, defense wins games. If you defend, you’re not going to lose. Sometimes our breakdown is, we’re looking at one of our other teammates to do the job that we can do. “But ultimately, we do have a great team, and great group of girls who are very competitive. My hope is that we finish out this season and win the SWC.” Avon’s next match is against another strong opponent as the Eagles travel to Medina Highland Saturday to face the Hornets, who have a record of 10-1-1 and have outscored their opponents, 55-7. Last year, Highland lost to Bay in the Division III state final, 1-0.