Roundup: Avon squads playing well

After some tough early season losses by Avon’s boys soccer, girls soccer and field hockey teams, the Falcons have been playing well. The Avon boys soccer team has won five of its last six games, the girls soccer team has captured eight straight matches and field hockey is 5-0-1 in its last six games. Some big games are approaching for each sport as the season winds downs. 

BOYS SOCCER: After dropping a 2-0 decision to Suffield about three weeks ago, Avon has won four straight matches by a combined score of 24-0 over Stafford, Coventry, Canton and East Granby. Sean Janson had five goals in the winning streak while Bobby Zaino had seven goals including three-goal hat tricks against East Granby and Coventry. 

But Avon (8-2, 8-2 NCCC) stumbled in a 3-2 loss to a tough Somers team at Fisher Meadows despite two goals from Zaino, who has a team-leading 14 goals after 10 games. Avon outshot Somers, 15-6 in the losing effort. 

Avon got back on the winning track with an 8-0 win over Sport Medicine Science Academy last Friday and a dominating 8-0 win over Bolton on Tuesday afternoon. Liam Stetsen, Riley Strassner and Zaino had two goals each in a win over a Bolton team (7-1-2) that had yet to lose a game this year. 

GIRLS SOCCER: After a humbling 5-0 loss to Suffield in the second game of the season, Avon (9-1, 9-1 NCCC) has ripped off eight straight victories. The Falcons have given up just two goals in that span while scoring 34 goals. 

Hannah Davey leads the Falcons with eight goals, including our in the past three games. Kaleigh Sherman has six goals and Erin Heston has five for Avon, which has received goals from 13 different players. 

Avon will need to remain sharp and keep growing as a team. They finish the regular season against three of the top teams in the league – Ellington (6-2), Suffield (10-0) and Granby (7-3). Avon travels to Ellington on Oct. 23, hosts Suffield on Friday, Oct. 25 at Fisher Meadows and closes out the regular season with a home game against Granby on Monday, Oct. 28. 

FIELD HOCKEY: After a stunning 1-0 loss to Canton on opening day, the Avon High field hockey team has gone 5-0-1. Avon (5-1-1, 5-1 NCCC) has outlasted Granby, 2-0, and earned hard-fought one-goal decisions over Stafford, 1-0, Suffield, 3-2 and Enfield, 2-1. Emily Stoss had two goals against Enfield while goalie Natalie Sawicki had three saves. 

Sawicki earned her third shutout of the season with seven saves on Saturday as the Falcons battled to a 0-0 tie with previously undefeated Glastonbury (7-0-1), who was ranked No. 3 in the state at the time. 

Avon travels to Granby for a big NCCC match on Tuesday. Entering this week, the Bears have lost just one game this season – the game against Avon in September. 

VOLLEYBALL: Over halfway through the NCCC campaign, Avon (9-4, 8-2 NCCC) is tied for second place in the league with Granby. The Falcons host Granby in a big NCCC contest next Wednesday in Avon followed by a match at defending league champion Coventry next Friday. 

Sophomore Abby Laszewski leads the team with 94 kills after 11 matches with 23 blocks. Junior Caitlin Cunningham is second on the team with 52 kills and she leads the squad with 90 digs. Junior Sammy Maniatty has 50 kills while senior Caroline Renderio has 48 kills and a team-leading 37 blocks. Senior Nicole Rubenstein has 88 digs. 

CROSS COUNTRY: The Avon High girls cross country team had a fine week with a pair of wins over Canton, 15-49 and Stafford, 15-48 at Stratton Brook Park in Simsbury to win their 38th straight NCCC meet. Junior Maddie McHugh won her fourth dual meet of the season as Avon (10-0, 10-0 NCCC) placed seven runners in the top 10. 

Avon, which is ranked No. 5 in the latest state coaches poll, easily won the Nonnewaug Invitational last Friday for the second time in three years with a 31-80 win over East Hampton. McHugh beat Thomaston’s Sabrina Olsen by 23 seconds to win the individual title. Molly Hamel finished third while Sara Stokesbury was fourth. Freshman Christina Martin took ninth. 

Avon will be competing at the NCCC championship meet on Wednesday at Windsor Locks. The Class MM championship races will be Saturday, Oct. 26 at Wickham Park in Manchester. 

The Avon boys cross country team is 7-3 and they finished third at the Nonnewaug Invitational. Collin Pritchard finished eighth in 17:32.23 seconds while Andrew Suter was 10th overall.