Both teams entered the match with identical 5-0 marks in SWC play. Avon, 9-2-3 overall, handed the Shoremen their first loss of the season, dropping them to 11-1-2. The Eagles play at Rocky River Monday and then play at Elyria Wednesday in the final SWC match of the season. The Pioneers are currently 2-11-2 overall and 0-6 in SWC play.

“It was a huge win,” said coach Chris Dore. “Quite frankly, it’s the biggest game that we play every single year. And for the stakes to be the way that they were with both teams undefeated, it makes getting a good result in the game even more rewarding. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to keep working. We’ll enjoy it for a little while, but then we’re back on the field with bigger goals ahead of us.”

Avon Lake came into the game having posted nine shutouts on the season, allowing just five goals overall and outscoring its SWC opponents by a 13-1 margin. But it was the Avon defense, led by senior goalkeeper Oliver Dobrovic, that was the standout unit in this affair.

“Our defense was lights-out all night,” said Dobrovic. “We were just putting it away.”

The first half ended in a scoreless tie as neither team really had good chances to score. Midway through the half, Muratore hit the crossbar with a header, and late in the half Dobrovic gathered in a loose ball right in front of the goal after making a point-blank save. But that was really the extent of the scoring chances.

“I honestly don’t feel like we played our best in the first half,” said Dore. “I don’t know if it was nerves, but we have the ability. We are one of the highest scoring teams in our school’s history for goals per game. So, I know that it’s there. It’s just that we have to kind of uncover it.”

Enter London Carney, who fed a perfect pass to Muratore from the midfield 19 minutes into the second half. The junior who came off the bench for the Eagles made a run down the left side and then beat Avon Lake goalkeeper Lukas Pentz with a low bullet to the far post.

“It was coming off a counterattack,” said Muratore. “London got the ball from the defense, and I made a run. I always expect him to cross it in. Every time, he always puts in a great ball, and this time it was perfect. It bounced right past my defender. I ran behind him and with the top of my left foot, I got it perfectly to the bottom right corner and scored.”

Suddenly, the pressure was off, and the Eagles were able to relax and play their game.

“It was extremely important,” said Muratore. “It felt amazing. It gave us a confidence boost since we were kind of struggling to score. It was super important for us to get that edge on them and then continue doing the same thing, trying to shoot more and then win the game.”

Petzinger’s goal came about 15 minutes later and knocked any remaining wind out of Avon Lake’s sails. The senior midfielder scored the first goal of his varsity high school career a week ago against Amherst and tallied his second with a howitzer blast from about 25 yards out that found the upper left corner of the Avon Lake goal.

“That was my second goal on varsity ever,” he said. “There’s no better game to score a goal than this one. There really isn’t. It’s just the timing of it. I can’t even tell you the play by play or what happened. I just turned around and saw a line to the goal. I saw that golden light and I just ripped it. The emotion just overcame me. I saw the ball in the back of the net, and I just started running.

“This is the highlight of my high school career. I’m a senior. This is the best. This is the biggest rush I’ve ever felt playing high school soccer. It was really amazing. And then to run to the corner and have all my teammates with me, it really just overwhelmed me, made me feel just so amazing. I’m going to look back on this night for the rest of my life.”

Petzinger’s goal came during a stretch where Avon Lake was awarded several free kicks on the Avon half of the field. There were some tense moments, but each time Dobrovic and his defenders were up to the task.

“Anything inside the half, they like to put it in the box,” said Dobrovic. “And we knew that going into it. So, I just knew that I had to command my goal from the start of the game.”

Dore was very complimentary of the Avon defense, which posted its seventh shutout of the season.

“I feel like offensive performance is a lot of creativity and instinct,” he said. “Defending is just hard work. What you saw out there was a group of determined players who refused to get scored on. It was great to see something that, quite frankly, we’ve been missing all season.

“Take nothing away from our opponent. They’re a great team. They’ve been having a great season and there’s a chance that we’ll see them again at some point this season. But I guess it’s the old cliché: it’s the sign of a pretty good team when you don’t play your best and you can still get the results. I don’t think we played our best in the first half, but I do think we played up to our competitive potential in the second half.”
The result of which puts the Eagles in prime position to win the SWC crown.

“We can’t disrespect our next opponent (Elyria), but I think we’re going to bring it home,” said Dobrovic.