Avon tops Canton under the lights in field hockey

Avon’s Hailey Graff, left, moves the ball upfield as Canton’s Diedra Kronschabel defends in Monday night’s game under the lights in Avon. The Falcons won, 2-1

AVON, Oct. 22 – The Avon High field hockey team got two goals in less than two minutes to beat Canton under the lights Monday night, 2-1. Lisa McGluhn scored first with 12:24 left in the first half and Caroline Schaefer followed 1:08 later, scoring off a cross from Maddy Riccardi.

The Falcons improve to 9-2-1 overall and 8-0-1 in the NCCC. It was a good win for Avon, which had scored just three goals in past four games – a 1-0 win over Stafford, a 1-0 win over Suffield, a 1-1 tie with Granby and a 1-0 loss to Glastonbury on Saturday.

“I like how we’re moving the ball on offense,” Avon coach Terri Ziemiecki said. “We have to get the ball in the net more. We need to keep creating opportunities for ourselves.”

Avon, which played four games last week, hosts Stafford (12-2, 8-2 NCCC) on Thursday night under the lights at the high school. The Bulldogs won their first eight league games before losing to Avon last week and dropping a surprising 3-1 decision to Suffield.

Avon has to win one of its final three games (Stafford, Canton, Enfield) to clinch its second straight NCCC championship.

Canton (2-8, 2-7 NCCC) received a goal from Sarah Allen with 12:36, scoring off a crossing pass to cut the lead to one. But the Warriors couldn’t get too many shots on goal. Avon outshot Canton by a 14-4 margin.

“We improved tremendously this season,” first-year coach Brian Roy said. “I have six seniors and three didn’t see too much (varsity) time last year. We have a freshman in goal and freshmen who are all over the field who have stepped up and improved.”

Many of the Warriors are still learning to play at the varsity level. Scoring goals has been an issue. In 10 games, Canton has scored just nine goals. “We’ve had a lot of close games,” Roy said. “We haven’t been blown out. If we can get some scoring, we could be dangerous.” Goalie Natalie Nardello made 7 saves in net for Canton.

Canton needs to win its remaining three games against Suffield (Tuesday, Oct. 23), Granby (Oct. 25) and Avon (Oct. 29) to earn a spot in the Class S tournament. All three games are at home.

Avon 2, Canton 1
At Avon
Canton (2-8)            0  1  — 1
Avon (9-2-1)            2  0  — 2
Goals: Lisa McGluhn (A), Caroline Schaefer (A), Sarah Allen (C); Assists: Maddy Riccardi (A); Saves: Nicole Andrew (A) 2, Natalie Nardello (C) 7; Shots: Avon, 14-4; Penalty corners: Avon, 10-4