WATERBURY, Nov. 16 – The Avon High girls soccer team hasn’t been shy about sharing the ball this season. The Falcons won 13 of 16 regular season games with 12 different players scoring goals. There have been plenty of assists up and down the lineup.
Avon’s Catherine Martin (13) controls the ball in Avon’s 1-0 semifinal win over Bunnell.
That unselfishness and ability to work together as a team helped the Falcons earn a spot in the CIAC’s Class L championship game for the second straight year. They faced No. 2 seeded RHAM-Hebron (17-1-1) last weekend seeking its first state title since 2003. In 2009, the Falcons fell to New Canaan, 1-0 in the championship game.
With precision passing, No. 4 Avon was able to control the ball in its 1-0 semifinal victory over No. 8 Bunnell-Monroe on the synthetic turf at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium.
“That is our game,” Avon coach Jim Murray said. “We love to pass the ball. On the turf, we just had to adjust for the quickness of the turf. I thought we did a good job of doing what we needed to do, move the ball and keep possession as best as we could.”
Avon (16-2-1) outshot Bunnell, 11-5 and had several more chances to score. They finally cashed in midway through the second half.
Senior Catherine Martin found fellow senior Kristina Shayler streaking down the sideline and passed the ball to her. Shayler had a defender on her but she was able to keep the ball on her foot and she firmly pushed a ball across the middle of the goal mouth.
Teammate Katie Zambrano twisted around but couldn’t get a foot on the ball. It sailed past her to freshman Britt Douglass, who was racing to the far post. A step ahead of her defender, she tapped it in for her second varsity goal with 24:17 remaining in the game.
Erica Primovic (7) moves the ball upfield.
Many of Avon’s passes were one-touch passes to firmly redirect the ball. And the Falcon players sprinted all over the field to the ball. At times, it enabled Avon to easily move through the Bunnell defense and control the play.
“Being on turf is a little different for us,” Murray said. “We’re used to the nice, plush grass in Avon so this is a little quicker game for us and we have to make adjustments. Bunnell just keep coming right at us. They were tenacious.”
For Bunnell (16-5-2), it was their best season in school history with 16 wins. But they couldn’t get too many quality chances on Falcon goalie Kaylan Conrad. Most of their five shots came from the outside of the penalty box.
“Our defense has been getting tighter and tighter,” Murray said. “We were solid and did what we had to do.” And when they had opportunities, Conrad gobbled them up. With 3:42 remaining in the game and the Falcons nursing a 1-0 lead, Bunnell’s Jessica Beamonte beat an Avon defender and tried to push the ball toward the goal. Conrad raced out of the net and grabbed it before Beamonte could re-establish control.
On another play, Conrad beat Bunnell’s Chelsea Boursiquot to another loose ball. “You saw that on that one play,” Murray said. “Kaylan came out and I said, ‘Is she going to get it? Is she going to get it? Fortunately for us, the turf accelerated the ball just enough.”
It was Conrad’s ninth shutout of the season and second in the Class L tournament. Avon blanked Farmington in the second round, 2-0 and used a three-goal outburst in the second half to eliminate Hand-Madison, 4-1 in the quarterfinals.
Sweeper Molly Brown and defenders Katie Bentivegna, Sarah Gerali and Maddy Zabel didn’t allow the Bunnell strikers much room to operate and get off shots.
“Most of those girls in the back can play anywhere,” Murray said. “Sarah played midfield for us when we had an injury and we moved her back there today”
This was the third season since Avon moved up to Class L. They’ve made the semifinals three times and have played in the championship game twice.
“Moving up hasn’t hurt us too much,” Murray said. “We play in a medium and small school league (North Central Connecticut Conference) but they’re good soccer schools and they get us ready for this.”
League champion Suffield, who were undefeated in the regular season (16-0), scored six goals this year in two wins over Avon this fall. In the other 14 regular season games, Avon gave up a total of 10 goals.
Class L semifinals:
Avon 1, Bunnell 0
Class L quarterfinals:
Avon 4, Hand 1
Class L 2nd round:
Avon 2, Farmington 0
Avon 1, Bunnell 0
At Waterbury
Avon (16-2-1) 0 1 – 1
Bunnell (16-5-2) 0 0 – 0
Goals: Britt Douglass (A); Assists: Kristina Shayler (A); Saves – Kaylan Conrad (A) 5, Laura Collins (B) 9; Shots – Avon 11-5; Corner kicks — Bunnell 3-1
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