Avon’s Brendan Brown (14) and Guilford’s Shane Molloy (13) battle for the ball in Friday’s Class L quarterfinal game at Fisher Meadows. Avon won, 3-0.
AVON – After giving up four goals in their first 15 games, the Avon High boys soccer team had given up at least one goal in the past three games. Falcon coach David Zlatin wanted to see his team pitch another shutout.
No. 11 Avon advanced to the Class L semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons with a 3-0 victory over No. 14 Guilford Friday at Fisher Meadows. The Falcons will face No. 18 South Windsor (12-6-1) next week at a neutral site for the opportunity to advance to the state championship final.
“I was the happiest we finally got the shutout we’ve been talking about,” Zlatin said. “We’ve been so good defensively all season and we allowed goals in our last three games. That was a bit out of character for us. We were focused today. We cleaned things up defensively and communicated with each other.”
And when tested, the Falcons (15-1-3) rose to the occasion. Goalie Danny Magrini made four saves to earn his 13th shutout of the season. He made two key saves early in the second half when it was a one-goal game, reacting quickly, cleaning catching the ball and not giving up any loose rebounds.
Avon led 1-0 at the half thanks to a nice goal from Jack St. Onge off a crossing pass from a teammate. In the second half, the Falcons converted a pair of penalty kicks. Leading scorer Riley Strassner scored on a penalty kick with 5:09 gone in the second half after a Guilford player was called for a hand ball in the penalty area. That extended the lead to 2-0. Strassner has scored 32 goals on the season and four in three state tournament games.
The Falcons made it 3-0 with 25:48 remaining when Matt Fuge converted on a penalty kick. Strassner was pulled down by a Guilford defender in the penalty area.
“Once we got that third goal, the game settled down and we were able to move the ball around pretty well,” Zlatin said. Avon used its passing to control the game in the second half, making numerous runs toward the Guilford goal.
Avon’s Matthew Fuge controls the ball during Friday’s Class L quarterfinal in Avon. The Falcons prevailed, 3-0.
South Windsor has won three straight tournament games including a 2-1 decision on penalty kicks over No. 2 Naugatuck in the second round. Avon will be looking for its first trip back to the state finals since 2012 when the Falcons were beaten by Farmington, 5-0. Avon’s most recent state championship came in 2000 when the Falcons won the Class M title with a 1-0 win over Lewis Mills.
Avon 3, Guilford 0
At Avon
Guilford (11-5-4) 0 0 – 0
Avon (15-1-3) 1 2 — 3
Goals: Jack St. Onge (A), Riley Strassner (A), Matt Fuge (A); Saves: Danny Magrini (A) 4, Colin Brocksleper (G) 5; Shots: Avon, 14-7; Corner kicks: Avon, 3-1
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