Win by Southington eliminates Avon booters from state tournament contention

Avon’s Daniel Shayler (11) and the Falcons were eliminated from state tournament consideration with a 1-0 loss to Southington on Friday night. Action above is from Monday night’s 1-0 loss to Simsbury in Avon with Shayler dueling with Simsbury’s Drew Marquis (8).

SOUTHINGTON, Oct. 28 – Senior John Testa scored on a rebound of a shot from teammate Alex Fausto midway through the second half to lift the Southington High boys soccer team to a 1-0 win over Avon in CCC Central Region action Friday night at Fontana Field.

The victory eliminates Avon (4-9-2) from CIAC Class LL contention. Avon, the two-time defending Class L champions, needed three points in their final two games to qualify for the tournament for the 25th consecutive season. The last time that Avon missed the tournament was in 1991 when the Falcons were 5-7-1 under head coach Marty deLiveron.

This was Avon’s sixth one-goal loss of the season and the second this week. On Monday night, Simsbury slipped past the Falcons, 1-0.

Testa scored his third goal in two games for Southington (9-4-2). Goalie Evan Daddona made five saves to earn the shutout. Max Umansky had seven saves in net for Avon.

Avon closes out the season when they host CCC Central White champion Farmington at Fisher Meadows on Monday at 3:45 p.m.