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Avon field hockey team moves closer to 3rd straight NCCC title

Avon's Caroline Schaefer (19) played the entire second half with a swollen finger after getting hit with a ball on a cold night at the end of the first half.

Avon’s Caroline Schaefer (19) played the entire second half with a swollen finger after getting hit with a ball on a cold night at the end of the first half.

AVON – The Avon High field hockey team is in position to claim a share of its third straight NCCC championship. Thanks to a pretty goal from Abbey Hagan with 5:12 left in the first half, the Falcons beat Suffield, 1-0 on Thursday night under the lights.

With its fifth straight win, Avon improves to 10-2-2 and 9-2 in the league. The Falcons can earn a share of the championship with a win over Enfield on Monday in Avon. Or Avon can take home the pennant themselves if Suffield can beat Granby (10-4, 9-2 NCCC) on Monday.

If Granby beats Suffield, they will claim a share of the league championship.

This was a pretty good Suffield team that Avon beat. The Wildcats have won 11 games and moved the ball up field quickly with some booming drives.

Both teams played quickly. As soon as the referee would blow their whistle signaling a change in possession, players on both teams would immediately begin moving the ball in the opposite direction.

“We want to play fast,” Suffield coach Dan Gatto said. “You want to keep the defense moving.”

Avon did that to get its lone goal. Off a restart near midfield, Shelly George took the ball down the left sideline in front of the Suffield bench. George passed the ball to her right to teammate Emily Stross, who drove to the goal line and then fired a ball across the crease.

The pass slipped past Suffield goalie Olivia Raum and right to Hagan, who was driving to the net. She got a stick on the ball to push it into the net for her third goal of the season.

“It was a great assist and setup by Emily,” Avon coach Terri Ziemnicki said.

Avon outshot the Wildcats, 16-6 but Suffield (11-3-0-1, 7-3-0-1 NCCC) did have a few opportunities. They spent much of the final 10 minutes of the first half in the Avon end but couldn’t get a good shot on goal.

They came closer in the second half. About five minutes into the second half, the Cats hit the post on a shot. With about six minutes left in the game, Avon goalie Natalie Sawicki made a point blank save on a Suffield forward, kicking out the shot in a crowd of players.

“They are so skilled offensively,” Gatto said of Avon. “They are very good with the ball. They receive the ball well. And the big thing with them is that they don’t make mistakes (turn the ball over).”

Avon has found a scoring touch that it was lacking through the first nine games of the season. In those nine games, the Falcons scored just 14 goals, twice battling to scoreless ties with Glastonbury and Hall.

However, in the last five games, Avon has outscored the opposition by a 14-0 margin.

“We’re starting to put it together,” Ziemnicki said “It may be confidence. We’re beginning to trust each other. We’re focusing on being aggressive around the net.”

The Falcons are also looking to get the play moving as quickly as they can.

Caroline Schaefer, Stross and Grace have scored two goals each in the five-game winning streak while Mia Weiler had three goals in a 7-0 win over Stafford earlier this week. 

The team raised over $300 for breast cancer awareness and over $300 for the Colleen Martin Scholarship fund through bake sales in school and at the game. Players wore blue ribbons for colon cancer awareness in honor of Colleen.

Martin, the long-time physical education teacher at Avon Middle School, passed away at the age of 48 on October 11. Many of the girls on the team had Martin for a teacher. She was an assistant coach in the field hockey program for many years and also coached field hockey at Avon Middle School for many years.

Avon 1, Suffield 0
At Avon
Suffield (11-3-0-1)                 0  0  — 0
Avon (10-2-2)                        1  0  — 1
Goal: Abbey Hagan (A); Assists: Emily Stross (A), Shelly George (A); Saves: Natalie Sawicki (A); Oliva Raum (S) 10; Shots: Avon, 16-6; Penalty corners: Avon, 9-3

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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