News for the Week of May 4, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 5/4/2015:


Friday Night Futbol:
There is an exciting concept in the planning stages for this Fall season.  Friday nights in high school is the traditional time for gathering for football games.  Well, what if we added soccer to the Friday night mix also???  Plans are currently being made for a Friday Night Futbol game this year. The game will be held on Friday August 21st at home in Memorial Stadium against Oregon Clay and it will be the girls opening game of the season. This night will be designated as ALSO youth soccer night which means that all youth soccer players will have free admission to game and there will be prizes and raffles, etc.  We want to get a large crowd for the game and we are working to get the ALHS Marching band to play as well.  It should be a real memorable event for the girls and a lot of fun also. Watch for more details as the summer progresses.


2015 Season Schedule:
Speaking of the schedule - please find below the schedule for the 2015 season. There may still be some changes, but this will be pretty much what to expect.  This year's schedule provides a variety of competition including Oregon Clay which was 15-1-2 last year; the 4 new members of the SWC in 2015 in Avon, Lakewood, Midview & North Ridgeville which makes the conference schedule consist of 9 games now; and three private schools in Padua, Elyria Catholic, & St. Joe's.  It looks to be a schedule that we can be very competitive with.

Opponent           Date 

Scrimmages:
Nordonia           8/5/2015   Scrimmage   Away 5 JV/7 V

Magnificat         8/7/2015   Scrimmage   Home  5/7

Strongsville       8/10/2015  Scrimmage   Away 5/7

Bay Village       8/19/2015  Scrimmage   Home  5/7


Regular Season:
Oregon Clay             8/21/2015  Game   Home  4 JV/6 V

Elyria                        8/24/2015   Game  Home   5/7

Avon                         8/26/2015  SWC Game  Home   5/7

Padua                        8/31/2015  Game   Away  5/7

Lakewood                 9/2/2015    SWC Game   Home   5/7

North Ridgeville       9/9/2015    SWC Game   Home   5/7

Elyria Catholic          9/14/2015   Game  Home  5/7

Amherst                    9/16/2015   SWC Game  Away  5/7

Shaker Hts.               9/19/2015   Game  Away  1/3

Wadsworth               9/21/2015   Game  Away  5/7

Berea-Midpark         9/23/2015   SWC Game  Home  5/7

Olmsted Falls           9/28/2015   SWC Game  Away 5/7

St. Joe's Academy    10/1/2015   Game  Home  5/7

Westlake                   10/5/2015   SWC Game  Away  5/7

Midview                   10/7/2015   SWC Game  Away  5/7

North Olmsted          10/14/2015 SWC Game  Home  5/7

Mattress Sale:

Once again this year, the girls team in conjunction with the boys team will be holding a mattress sale fundraiser.  The sale will be one day on Saturday May 23rd from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm at the Avon Lake High School Commons. See the attached flyer below.  This is a great way to get a mattress at a discounted cost and you will be helping out the ALHS soccer program!!  Pass the word to family and friends....

In Memoriam:

We have some sad news to report this week as Rod Braye passed away unexpectedly on April 27th. Rod was the father of graduated soccer players James & Megan Braye.  As you can read in the attached obituary, he was quite an accomplished man as well as a military veteran.  In soccer, he helped the girls program in a number of ways, the most notable of which was that he prepared scouting reports for the coaching staff. In fact, I still use his template for scouting reports to this day. We thank him for his contributions to our program and will miss his presence at games.

http://obits.cleveland.com/obituaries/cleveland/obituary.aspx?n=roderick-dale-braye&pid=174774586

Soccer Training Videos:

The offseason period is a great time to work on soccer skills and to assist with that we will be posting training videos and this week we have one entitled "3 Soccer Kicks That You Must Know".  Watch the videos and then go out and practice and refine your technique.  The videos are put together by an outfit called Epic Sports.  They have a website that you can visit as well.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=17ZrGdbGdIQ

Shorty Sez:

We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports

https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope you find something that inspires you here:

Decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage to say no to other things.

Don't let perfect get in the way of progress. The key to moving ahead is following through.

Talent wins games, but teamwork & intelligence win championships. - Michael Jordan

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. - Pele

Never let a win go to your head, or a loss to your heart.

News for the Week of April 27, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 4/27/2015:

Schedule for the Week of 4/27:
This week there will be meetings for both players and parents as follows:

Player Meeting ~ Wednesday, April 29th at 3:30 PM in Room 114 @ ALHS


Parent Meeting ~ Wednesday, April 29th at 8:30 PM in Room 114 @ ALHS


Shoregals in the News:
From time to time we like to recognize the accomplishments of our Shoregal soccer players.  During the Winter sports season two of our soccer players were on the Varsity Basketball team.  Juniors Casey Baughman and Maggie Moore played on a very successful team with a 16-7 record.  Maggie Moore garnered All SWC Honorable Mention and All Lorain County Honorable Mention awards.

Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we have one which shows some moves in slow motion .  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6dx--8x-K8&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope you find something that inspires you here:

Don't let perfect get in the way of progress. The key to moving ahead is following through.

You've got to be able to adapt from game to game and year to year. Something in your game has to improve.

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.

You can either throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face.

There are 2 types of athletes: Those who truly desire success and those who are trying to avoid failure. Which one do you want to be??

News for the Week of April 20, 2015

Program notes for the Week of 4/20/2015: 


JV Record:
This past 2014 season, the Shoregal JV team compiled an undefeated season with a 13-0-3 record. So the natural question that would arise is if this was the best JV record ever.  JV records are notoriously difficult to track down because they tend to get lost in the shuffle rather quickly. However, we have made a reasonable attempt to search back through the 22 year history of the Avon Lake program to uncover JV records from past seasons.  So, with reasonable confidence we can say that last year's team did have the best JV record in program history.  Congrats to the girls and Coach Caleb Reutter on such an impressive season!!  There was another undefeated team in 2008 which finished with a 11-0-5 record - very good, but not quite as good as this year.  Here are JV records from the past few seasons:

Year         W    L     T         Pct.
2007 11 2 2 0.800 
2008 11 0 5 0.844 
2010 9 5 2 0.625 
2011 11 4 1 0.719 
2012 9 5 2 0.625 
2013 10 1 5 0.781 
2014 13 0 3 0.906 

I think this shows that the future of our program should be very bright indeed......

Women's World Cup:
We will remind everyone again this week that the Women's World Cup will be held this summer running June 6th through July 5th - less than 50 days from now.  The host country will be Canada and the matches will be at various locations throughout the country.  You can follow all the action at the FIFA website which can be found at:

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/

The schedule for the United States Women's team group play is as follows:

June 8th vs. Australia at 7:30 pm

June 12th vs. Sweden at 8:00 pm

June 16th vs Nigeria at 8:00 pm

The rest of the schedule will be dependent on how group play turns out for the U.S.  I am sure that these games will all be televised on one of the ESPN channels.

You can also follow the Women's National team at:

http://www.ussoccer.com/womens-national-team

I would highly encourage the girls to watch as many matches as possible to continue to observe and learn the flow of the game.


Parent Corner:
This week we will post an article on an interesting topic - could turf fields pose health hazards to players?  This particular article comes from USA Today by author Thomas Frank.  While there is no definitive answer at this point, it certainly gives you something to think about. I would think a prudent strategy would be for proper bathing and washing of soccer kits after practices and games to mitigate some of the inherent issues with turf fields.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/15/artificial-turf-health-safety-studies/24727111/


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we have a compilation of several girls.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsToOd9PVuk&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope you find something that inspires you here:

You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims.

A determined person doesn't find it hard to succeed; they find it hard to stop trying.

What comes easy won't last, what lasts won't come easy.

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

How you make others feel about themselves, says a lot about you.

Play like a champion. Train like an underdog.

News for the Week of April 13, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 4/13/2015:


Women's World Cup:
Just a reminder to everyone that the Women's World Cup will be held this summer running from June 6th through July 5th - just 55 days from now.  The host country will be Canada and the matches will be at various locations throughout the country.  You can follow all the action at the FIFA website which can be found at:

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/

The schedule for the United States Women's team group play is as follows:

June 8th vs. Australia at 7:30 pm

June 12th vs. Sweden at 8:00 pm

June 16th vs Nigeria at 8:00 pm

The rest of the schedule will be dependent on how group play turns out for the U.S.  I am sure that these games will all be televised on one of the ESPN channels.

You can also follow the Women's National team at:

http://www.ussoccer.com/womens-national-team

I would highly encourage the girls to watch as many matches as possible to continue to observe and learn the flow of the game.


Women's Professional Soccer
Another reminder that the Women's Professional Soccer is back again this year.  The National Women's Soccer League began play over the past weekend. You can follow the league at its website:

http://www.nwslsoccer.com/

The league consists of nine teams and its season runs from April to September followed by playoffs. The nearest team to us would be the Western New York Flash which is based out of Rochester, NY. Their website can be found at:

http://wnyflash.com/home/

It might make for a nice weekend family outing to catch a game.  There is plenty to do in the Rochester/Buffalo area.


Parent Corner:
The never ending debate is whether to specialize in a sport or to play multiple sports. We have Shoregal soccer players who both specialize and play multiple sports. There is no right or wrong, black or white answer. It really depends on the aspirations of the individual player and what they are comfortable with.  Below you will find an excerpt form the book Positive Sports Parenting by Jim Thompson that lends some insight to this topic.

http://t.co/ozWwHSvulY


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we will feature another one with English freestyler Sheuneenio.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuZKcY7aDeQ&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope you find something that inspires you here:

Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.

Life is meant to be a challenge, because challenges are what make you grow.

The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.

The main purpose of a team is for the strengths of the whole to offset the weaknesses of the individual.

Trying times are not the times to stop trying.

The discipline you learn and character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable than the goal itself.

News for the Week of April 6, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 4/6/15:

Happy Easter to all our soccer family and friends!!  For the Avon Lake players and families - have a safe and fun filled Spring Break!!


SHOREGALS RECEIVE POSTSEASON HONORS
Before we move forward to our new season we would like to formally close out the past season.  A short recap of the season including the numerous awards earned by the girls is as follows:

The Shoregals soccer team made history during the 2014 season for their amazing defensive exploits while compiling a 7-7-4 record. They set a school record for goals scored against them in a season with only 12 given up in 18 games. They also compiled a streak of 9 consecutive shutouts which was also a school record and encompassed 814 minutes of field time or 13½ hours – Wow!!! The shutout streak also ranked 7th all time in the state of Ohio.  Best wins of the season were 1-0 over Westlake, a 1-0 victory over Amherst where the girls played over 60 minutes of the game down a player, and a 2-1 overtime playoff win vs. Avon.  Not to be outdone, the JV team compiled a 13-0-3 record and may have been the only undefeated JV team in program history.

Several Avon Lake girls soccer team members were awarded All-Ohio status by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association, All-County status by the Lorain County Scholastic Coaches Association, All-Conference status from the Southwest Conference (SWC) coaches, and All Greater Cleveland recognition for their performance from the just concluded season.  Those receiving awards are as follows:

All Ohio Second Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)

All Lorain County First Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)
All Lorain County First Team - Elise Duvall (Jr.)
All Lorain County First Team - Olivia Siko (So.)

All Lorain County Second Team - Lindsay Butler (Jr.)
All Lorain County Second Team - Kellie Norris (So.)

All Lorain County Honorable Mention - Clare Adams (Sr.)
All Lorain County Honorable Mention - Addy Poole (Jr.)

In addition, the following Seniors were selected to play in the Lorain County All-Star game which was hosted by Avon Lake in Memorial Stadium:

Clare Adams
Rada Zunich


From the Southwest Conference:
All SWC First Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)
All SWC First Team - Elise Duvall (Jr.)
All SWC First Team - Olivia Siko (So.)

All SWC Second Team - Kellie Norris (So.)

All SWC Honorable Mention - Clare Adams (Sr.)
All SWC Honorable Mention - Lindsay Butler (Jr.)


And from the Greater Cleveland Scholastic Soccer Coaches Assn:
All Greater Cleveland First Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)

All Greater Cleveland Second Team - Elise Duvall (Jr.)

All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Clare Adams (Sr.)
All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Lindsay Butler (Jr.)
All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Kellie Norris (So.)
All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Olivia Siko (So.)

In addition, the following Seniors were selected to play in the All-Greater Cleveland Senior All Star Game

Clare Adams
Rada Zunich

All-Greater Cleveland All Academic Team (Seniors):   
Clare Adams
Esther Killius
Kayla Kress
Sarah Nasr
Rada Zunich


All-Greater Cleveland All Academic Team Award:        Fall 2014 Varsity Roster

Congratulations to these Shoregals on their well deserved awards!

In addition, the Shoregals were once again awarded Team Academic All-America status for the 2013-2014 school year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).   This is the highest academic honor that high school soccer teams may receive in the country.   Avon Lake was one of only 194 teams nationwide (about 4 per state) to receive this prestigious award and the team GPA was an excellent 3.42!

Also, Avon Lake was the only Lorain County school to be awarded Team Academic All-America status.  To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year.   The way that this award is figured is based on the fact that a number of states play Spring soccer only and in order to include all states the NSCAA waits until after the Spring season is completed to determine the award winners.  That is why the award for last year was just announced in late November of 2014.  This was actually last year's team that won the award and would include last year's 9 graduated seniors.

This year's team is also on track to receive Academic All-America status again for the current academic year in November of 2015.  That would mark the 6th year in row that the Shoregals have received this award as we have now earned it in 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, & 2008.

2015 Shoregals College Prep Guide: 
Just another reminder that once again this year we have put together a relatively comprehensive guide regarding what is involved in college soccer and how to prepare to play at the next level.  It was e-mailed to our player families already and we have posted it here also under the Pages section on the right hand side of the blog.  Hope you find it useful.


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we will feature English freestyler Sheuneenio.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUOegdz8KoA&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope you find something that inspires you here:

"With every passing minute is a chance to turn it all around" - from the movie Vanilla Sky

Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions be louder than your words.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than they think they can.

One good wish changes nothing. One good action changes everything.

News for the Week of March 30, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 3/30/2015:

The Blog is Back!!!!  It is time to start making plans for the 2015 season and passing along all types of information out to players, families, and friends.


OHTSL Scholarship:
Just a quick reminder that The Ohio Travel Soccer League (OHTSL) is offering a scholarship program for the girl's and boy's division of OHTSL. Four (4), $1000 scholarship will be awarded in each division. Please see the cover letter for eligibility requirements. The completed application must be post marked by April 3, 2015. Recipients will be announced on the web site after May 2, 2015 and presentation of the scholarship will be at the OHTSL All Star game on May 16, 2015.  The OHTSL website may be found at http://www.ohtsl.com/ then go to the OHTSL scholarship box.

Cover Letter - http://www.ohtsl.com/scholarship/file212.doc

Application - http://www.ohtsl.com/scholarship/file213.doc

Please direct any questions, to Debbie at treasurer@ohtsl.com

On a side note - an Avon Lake girl has received this scholarship in three of the past four years.  So, it is very winable for our players.


2015 Shoregals College Prep Guide: 
Just another reminder that once again this year we have put together a relatively comprehensive guide regarding what is involved in college soccer and how to prepare to play at the next level.  It was e-mailed to our player families already and we have posted it here also under the Pages section on the right hand side of the blog. Hope you find it useful.


Southwestern Conference Update:
Remember that this is the year that the SWC expands to 10 teams. Brecksville has left to join the Suburban League in 2015.  That created an opening which will now be filled by North Ridgeville and they will join Avon, Lakewood, & Midview who had previously committed to join the SWC. The new SWC will field 10 teams in Fall of 2015 as follows:

Amherst
Avon
Avon Lake
Berea-Midpark
Lakewood
Midview
North Olmsted
North Ridgeville
Olmsted Falls
Westlake

Looking at this new lineup for girls soccer, it should be a very evenly matched conference and one that Avon Lake should be in a position to compete for a conference championship every year. Welcome to the new schools entering the conference!


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have posted a freestyle video this week and will continue to put some more up in the upcoming weeks.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsToOd9PVuk&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez: 
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope you find something that inspires you here:

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Do something to move yourself toward your major goal every day.

Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.

Failure is a detour, not a dead-end.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

News for the Week of September 29, 2014

Program Notes for the Week of 9/29/2014:


Schedule for the Week of 9/29:
Monday, Sept. 29th
     Game 14 vs. St. Joe's Academy - JV 5:00/V 7:00 pm
Tuesday, Sept. 30th
    Training at Troy from 3:30PM-5:00PM
Wednesday, Oct. 1st
    Training at Troy from 3:30PM-5:00PM
    Game vs. Magnificat - JV only 7:30 pm
Thursday, Oct. 2nd
    Training at Troy from 3:30PM-5:00PM
Friday, Oct. 3rd
     Recovery Day
Saturday, Oct. 4th
      Off day - Homecoming Dance
Sunday, Oct. 5th
      Off day


Game Recaps:
Here is a summary of our 11th game against Lakewood:

AL vs. Lakewood  9/20/14

AL 0   Lakewood  0

Goalies:
AL - Elise Duvall - 3 saves

L -  Laura Sharkin - 1 save

Game Summary:
It is always interesting to see what will happen when a high scoring offense meets an impenetrable defense. In the case of Lakewood vs. Avon Lake it means the game ends in a 0-0 tie. The Lady Rangers came in averaging 5 goals a game and the Shoregals defense just posted 4 consecutive shutouts. Oddly enough, there was a paucity of shots on goal from both teams during the match.   Lakewood was able to manage just three shots on goal while Avon Lake only had one shot on goal, but the ‘Gals had the better scoring opportunities on the afternoon.  The first one came just 11 minutes into the game when Mila Zunich took a crossing pass from Mariela Lopez which pulled the goalie out of position, but Zunich’s shot went just slightly wide of the far post.  Then in the second half with 9 minutes remaining, Kayla Kress took a pass from Mae Quinn which got her behind the Lakewood defense and once again with the goalie out of position the ball just missed the inside of the far post. Outside of those two great chances, the AL offense was frustrated by a well executed offside trap defensive scheme which caused 10 offside penalties to be whistled against the ‘Gals.

The highlight of the game as it has been recently is the Shoregal defense which recorded its fifth shutout in a row covering 451 minutes of game time or 7 ½ hours without yielding a goal.  Simply amazing and now historic as well!! In the 22 year history of Shoregal soccer never has there been 5 consecutive shutouts.  Surprisingly, 4 shutouts in row have happened a number of times, but never 5 and never this many minutes of field time without a goal.  So major congrats to goalie Elise Duvall who has registered 6 clean sheets (shutouts) this season and the main defensive core of Rada Zunich, Kellie Norris, Addy Poole, Lauren Anthony, Mae Quinn, Esther Killius, Olivia Hall, and now Maggie Moore as well.

In JV action, the Shoregals continued their undefeated season with a 9-0 shipwreck of the Lady Rangers. The Avon Lake JVs record now moves to 8-0-3 on the year.  Scoring goals for the ‘Gals were Casey Baughman with 3 goals, Ashley Nally & Paige Hood with 2 goals, and Stephanie Carr & Danielle DelGiudice with one each.  Contributing the always important assists were Olivia Hall with 2 and Morgan Carlin, Ashley Nally, Paige Hood, & Stephanie Carr with one each. Danielle DelGiudice was in goal for AL.  

Here is a summary of our 12th game against North Ridgeville:

AL at North Ridgeville  9/22/14

AL 1   North Ridgeville  0

Goals:
AL - Olivia Siko

NR - None

Assists:
AL - Esther Killius

NR - None

Goalies:
AL - Elise Duvall - 3 saves

NR - Bri Casement - 6 saves

Game Summary:
The Shoregals continued their tour of incoming SWC schools with a visit to North Ridgeville on Monday and managed to produce a 1-0 result.  The Lady Rangers proved to be a pesky foe as they were continually able to make a defensive play either to block a shot or win possession close to their goal.  Finally, midway through the second half Avon Lake was able to breakthrough when Esther Killius had a throw in pass to Olivia Siko which she turned on and put a high shot from distance just under the crossbar and just above the goalie’s hands to score her 6th goal of the season.

But the real story of the game once again was the Shoregal defense holding yet another opponent scoreless.  History continues to be made as this amazing scoreless streak has reached 6 consecutive matches and 531 minutes of game time.  Elise Duvall made 3 saves to earn her 7th shutout of the season – by the way the team record is 12.  The back line was capably handled by Rada Zunich, Maggie Moore, Addy Poole, Kellie Norris, Esther Killius, and Lauren Anthony and withstood significant pressure from the Lady Rangers in the closing minutes of the game as they pushed forward trying to get the equalizer.

A few other notes about the game – the ‘Gals were able to put 7 shots on goal – two by Siko and one each by Jackie Rush, Maggie Moore, Mila Zunich, Rada Zunich, & Kayla Kress.  Six of those shots were saved by North Ridgeville goalie Bri Casement who played another outstanding game against the Shoregals and has only given up one goal in two years against AL despite having 24 shots on goal put at her in those two games.

Here is a summary of our 13th game against Amherst Steele:

AL vs. Amherst Steele  9/24/14

AL 1   Amherst  Steele 0

Goals:
AL - Mila Zunich

AS - None

Assists:
AL - Addy Poole

AS - None

Goalies:
AL - Elise Duvall - 9 saves

AS - Lizzie Keller - 0 saves

Game Summary:
The 13th game of the season proved to be lucky for the Shoregals and boy did they need some luck in their 1-0 victory over Amherst.  It looked as if luck was not going to be with Avon Lake on this night as just 16 minutes into the game a Red Card was shown to Olivia Siko.  That meant the ‘Gals were going to have to play with only 10 players for the remaining 64 minutes.  Added to that was an injury to defender Rada Zunich a few minutes later in the first half.  So, Avon Lake lost their leading scorer to a red card, a key defender and team captain to injury and had to play a girl down the rest of the game.  An unlucky turn of events and hardly the recipe for a successful result.

But then the Shoregals, as they have been doing over the past few weeks, just found a way to make things happen.  First, it was Mila Zunich who scored a shorthanded goal with 13 minutes left in the first half.  Mila took a throw in from Addy Poole that the Amherst defense didn’t challenge very robustly and let get to Zunich’s feet. From there Mila had just enough space to send a blast into the Lady Comet net.  It would be Avon Lake’s only shot on goal of the night and they made it count. Then the defense took over as they continually foiled Amherst scoring opportunities despite being backed into their defensive half as the Lady Comets moved 9 or 10 players into the AL half trying to get the equalizer. The Shoregal defense was able to pull off another shutout to secure the win and in the process move their record breaking shutout string to 7 in a row and 611 minutes of game time. Amherst was able to manage 9 shots on goal all of which were defended by Elise Duvall who recorded her 8th shutout of the season.

A remarkable effort by the 19 girls who played in this game which took a combination of luck, smart play, grit, determination, and the sheer will to win to produce a result.  

In JV action, the ‘Gals continued their amazing undefeated season with a 2-0 victory over the JV Comets.  AL took control of this game early on as they scored two goals in the first half led off by Casey Baughman’s 14th goal of the season from an assist by Paige Hood.  Then Anna Robinson struck off an assist from Morgan Carlin which was part of an 18 shots on goal attack by the Shoregals. Danielle DelGiudice made two saves to earn her 7th shutout of the year.  


Cudos Corner:
We like to recognize those individuals who do a little more for the program throughout the season. This week we would like to recognize Rob Hall and the staff at Premier Custom Flooring that have made the soccer signs that we currently have in use for each of our players. They made an entirely new set of 50+ signs last year to replace the 20 year old signs which understandably had become worn.


Shorty Sez:

Be a positive influence. Make a difference.

Don't embrace excuses, embrace solutions.