Avon’s Luke Davey (16) puts the pressure on a Newington’s Connor Brennan in Saturday’s CCC contest. The Falcons prevailed, 6-5.
AVON, May 5 – The Avon High boys lacrosse took a positive step toward qualifying for the CIAC Class M tournament on Saturday. The Falcons beat Newington, 6-5, to snap a four-game losing streak and reduce the number of victories they need to qualify to three.
Avon (4-6, 0-2 CCC Central) needs to win three of their final six games to get seven victories and earn a post-season tournament.
Avon raced out to a 5-0 lead in a rough-and-tumble contest with Newington (8-4) and played solid defense in the second half to secure the victory. The five goals allowed by the Falcons was a season-low.
“It’s a great group of kids,” first-year coach Aaron Cohen said. “They’ve done well. They can do better but we’re very young.” There are just five seniors on the roster.
Avon’s Eric Schweitzer (2) looks for open space in Saturday’s CCC match at Buckingham.
It’s been a challenging campaign. Two starting midfielders have been lost for the season with knee injuries. The Falcons are not particularly big, so ball possession is a key to success. Turnovers have hurt in some games this season.
The Falcons dropped a 7-6 overtime decision to Farmington on Tuesday and lost to Conard, 10-7 on Thursday.
But they got off to a strong start on Saturday against Newington at Buckingham Field. Sophomore Nick Cohen had two goals for the Falcons while Luke Davey, Eric Schweitzer, Broderick Dwyer and Tom Hartigan each had goals.
Davey is the team’s leading scorer with 21 goals on the year followed by Schweitzer and Dwyer with 13 each and Cohen with 10 goals. Cohen has the most assists on the squad (13) followed by Hartigan with nine and Jadon Folkwein with eight.
Avon’s Tom Hartigan (7) feels the pressure from Newington in Saturday’s victory.
Newington cut the lead to two goals at halftime, 5-3. The Indians trimmed the lead to one, 5-4, when Connor Brennan scored with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Falcons increased the pressure. They had multiple shots on net. It finally paid off when Schweitzer scored with 6:44 left in the game. Newington’s Scott Robideaux scored with 46.2 seconds left in regulation to cut the lead to one but the Indians didn’t get another shot off in the game.
Avon did well in the fourth quarter forcing several Newington turnovers and keeping the ball away from the Indians with solid passing.
Freshman goalie Owen Folkwein picked up the win in net for Avon. Coming into the game, he had a 9.30 goals against average and had made 99 saves on the season.
Avon goalie Owen Folkwein (5) makes a save in the third quarter of Saturday’s win over Newington. The Falcons gave up a season-low five goals.
The Falcons hit the road for their next two contests. They travel to South Windsor on Tuesday and travel to West Hartford on Thursday to face Hall in a CCC Central contest beginning at 6 p.m. The next home is Monday, May 14, against Simsbury at Buckingham beginning at 4 p.m.
Avon 6, Newington 5
At Avon
Newington (8-4) 0 3 1 1 — 5
Avon (4-6) 4 1 0 1 — 6
Goals: Luke Davey (A), Eric Schweitzer (A), Broderick Dwyer (A), Nick Cohen (A) 2, Tom Hartigan (A); Dan Pestrichello (N), Scott Robideaux (N) 2, Connor Brennan (N) 2
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