News for the Week of November 14, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 11/14/2016:

2016 All-Ohio:
History was made on Sunday evening as Olivia Siko and Kellie Norris were both named Division I All-Ohio for this past season.  This is the first time in the 24 year history of Avon Lake girls soccer that the team has had two players in the same year named All-Ohio.  Additional firsts were achieved as Olivia Siko became the first Shoregal player named First Team All-Ohio as well as she was the first Shoregal to be named All-Ohio twice – she was Second Team All-Ohio in 2015.  Kellie Norris earned a place as Second Team All-Ohio.  No other team in the SWC had two players named as All-Ohio and only 4 other schools in Division I had two players named All-Ohio.   Siko and Norris became the 11th and 12th players in Avon Lake girls soccer history named as All-Ohio.   Just a tremendous accomplishment for these players, the coaches, and the program in general as this shows the amount of respect the girls have earned from other coaches from their play on the field.

To see all the All-Ohio selections go to:

http://www.ossca.info/

Then click on the All State Honors hypelink



2016 Postseason Awards:
We are going to start over the next several weeks listing the many awards that were earned by the girls this past season.  This week we will start off with the awards for the Lorain County Soccer Coaches Association:

Lorain County MVP D1 Girls Soccer                  Olivia Siko

1st Team All-Lorain County                                 Olivia Siko
1st Team All-Lorain County                                 Kellie Norris
                            
2nd Team All-Lorain County                                Kelly Spitz
2nd Team All-Lorain County:                               Amber Achladis

Honorable mention:                                               Allie Heschel
Honorable mention:                                               Paige Hood 

Assistant coach of the year:                                   Caleb Reutter

Lorain County Senior All-Star Game:                   Olivia Siko
                                                                         Kellie Norris
                                                                         Lauren Anthony

The game is scheduled for Saturday, November 19th at 12PM at Midview High School in Grafton, Ohio.


2016 State Championships:
This past weekend the Girls State Championship soccer games were played with the following results:

Division I     Walsh Jesuit 2             Springboro 0
Division II    Kettering Alter 3        Chagrin Falls 0
Division III   Gilmour Academy 2  Cincinnati Country Day 1 OT

The Cleveland area was represented in every championship game with two local teams taking home the trophy.  This just shows at what a high level that girls soccer in Northeast Ohio is played at.


Shoregals in College:
Now that the college soccer regular season has ended, let's take a look at how some of our Shoregal alumni did with their respective college teams:

Rada Zunich is a sophomore defender with the College of Wooster - she played in 16 games and started 11 for the Scots who finished their season at 6-9-4.

Bri Carlin is a freshman midfielder with St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.  She played in 15 games and started 6 and recorded 1 assist for the Bearcats who finished their season as 3-8-6.

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:

When I lost all of my excuses, I found all my results.... 

Failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it.

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it & staying with that plan.

Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits.

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.

News for the Week of Nov. 7, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 11/7/2016:

25th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
The 2017 season will be the 25th year of Shoregal soccer which started with the 1993 season.  Watch for special events in the upcoming year and also special Shoregal wear to commemorate this season.


Academic All-American Award:
The Shoregals were once again awarded Team Academic All-America status for the 2015-2016 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 251 teams nationwide (about 5 per state) to receive this prestigious award and the team GPA was an excellent 3.25!

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 October of 2016.  

This year's team is also on track to receive Academic All-America status again for the current academic year in October of 2017.  That would mark the 8th year in row that the Shoregals have received this award as they have now earned it in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, & 2008.

Regional Soccer Update:
In Regional soccer action, District champion Avon was beaten by Brunswick by a score of 1-0 on a corner kick.  Also Mayfield, a team that we beat 1-0 during the regular season, reached a Regional Final ultimately losing to powerhouse Walsh Jesuit.

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:

STRENGTH doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from OVERCOMING the things you COULDN'T

Most important ingredient to winning: no personal agendas. The commitment has to be 'us' driven not 'me' driven.

Leadership must be demonstrated, not announced. – Fran Tarkenton - retired NFL quarterback

The enemy of the best is the good. If you're always settling with what's good, you'll never be the best. – Jerry Rice

When you are through trying to improve, you are through. – Vince Lombardi - Hall of Fame NFL football coach

News for the Week of October 31, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 10/31/2016:

Final Results of the Elyria District bracket:

1st round:
#7 Amherst Steele     2
#8 Olmsted Falls       3  SO

#5 Berea-Mid            4
#9 N. Ridgeville        3

#6 Midview               15
#12 Lorain                 0

#10 North Olmsted   5
#11 Elyria                 0

2nd round:
#1 Westlake              2  SO
#8 Olmsted Falls      1

#4 Avon                    2
#5 Berea-Mid           0

#3 Avon Lake           1
#6 Midview              2

#2 Magnificat           3
#10 North Olmsted   0

District Semi-final:
#1 Westlake              0
#4 Avon                    1  SO

#2 Magnificat           1
#6 Midview              0

District Final:
#4 Avon                    1  2OT
#2 Magnificat           0

Congrats to the Avon Eagles - the 2016 District Champions - they will go on to face a very strong Brunswick team in a Regional Semi-final on Tuesday Nov. 1st.

2006 District Game:

It was 10 years ago this past Saturday that the Avon Lake girls soccer team won their only District championship in the now 24 year history of the program.  Let's take a look back at that day.....

It is hard to pick out one game as the greatest game in program history, but this game would probably fit that bill.  Not only for the importance of the game, but for all the events and emotions that surrounded the game.  There were many levels to this game and its effects were felt for years afterward.

The game was played on Saturday afternoon 10/28/06 against a powerful Magnificat team in which the Shoregals were a decided underdog. In fact, it was noticed that the Magnificat parents had brought a "Congratulations District Champions" cake into the stadium before the game started - that's how sure they felt about this game.  No one was picking Avon Lake to win this game as the Shoregals came into the playoffs with a very average record of 6-6-3 and had started the season 0-4.   But during the playoffs, the Shoregals got hot and won their first three playoff games all by shutout to reach the District championship game.

The game was originally scheduled to be a home game for the Shoregals, but the night before the Shoremen football game was played in a driving rainstorm in old Memorial Stadium which featured a grass field.  The football game rendered the field unplayable for the District game and it was moved to Rocky River which had an all weather turf field.  This game ended up being used for years as one of the main justifications for installing the turf field that is in existence today in Memorial Stadium.

As for the game itself, the Shoregals and Magnificat battled to a 0-0 tie through 80 minutes of regulation time.  Avon Lake really had the better scoring opportunities throughout the game as they had 5 solid chances where the Mags goalie was out of position, but failed to put it in the back of the net.  Adding to the drama were adverse weather conditions.  A typical fall day in northern Ohio where every season was represented.  It was a cold day and was raining during many parts of the game.  The rain at one point turned to sleet and frozen pellets mixed in with some snow.  Then during the second half, the skies cleared and the sun actually came out, but by the end of the game the snow had come back.  While the action was taking place on the field, there was also drama in the stands.  Word had circulated through the stands that Gino Strippoli a long time coach, referee, and board member of the Avon Lake Soccer Organization had been rushed to the hospital with a heart attack while reffing a game in Lodi.

Back on the field, the girls has finished regulation time in a 0-0 tie which meant that two 5 minute overtime periods would be played with the team that scored first the winner.  Through the first overtime period, neither team was able to score.  Meanwhile, up in the stands the incredibly tragic news came that Gino had died from the heart attack. A very weird vibe swept through the stands as the sadness of hearing about Gino was mixed with the intense rooting for the girls to win this game.  Then it happened - the Shoregals were awarded a corner kick which was taken by Sammy Harris who drove the ball into the middle of the box and a leaping Kimmy Ward, who was a defender that was moved up for the corner kick, headed the ball in for the winning goal and the Shoregals first District championship!  Just an amazing victory for a huge underdog team which was given no chance of winning. However, the joy was muted by the knowledge that the girls would be told about the news of Gino within the next few minutes.

There will probably never be a game quite like this again which will end in a bittersweet moment where the elation of winning our first District championship is tempered by the death of a man who personally coached many of the girls on the field that day and would have been so proud of them in their victory, but never got the chance to tell them.

The Shoregals were coached in this season by Caleb Reutter who was in the third year of a 4 yr. run in which he coached the girls to 40 victories and still their only District championship.

                             2006 District Champs – Avon Lake Shoregals

News for the Week of October 24, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 10/24/2016:

Game Recaps:
Here is a summary of our Sectional Final game against Midview:

AL vs. Midview  10/20/16

AL  1   (10-2-5)      Midview  2  (12-3-3)

Goals:
AL - Kelly Spitz

M - Ashley Dekam
       Colleen Benton

Assists:
AL - None

M - None

Goalies:
AL - Danielle DelGuidice - 0 saves

M -  Ashley Callaway - 4 saves


Final SWC standings:

2016 SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
TEAM	W	L	T	PTS.
Westlake	9	0	0	27
Avon	6	2	1	19
Avon Lake	5	1	3	18
Berea-Midpark	5	1	3	18
Amherst	4	3	2	14
Midview	3	3	3	12
Olmsted Falls	3	4	2	11
North Ridgeville	2	7	0	6
Lakewood	0	8	1	1
North Olmsted	0	8	1	1

Avon Lake has lost only one game in the past two years in the SWC for the best two year SWC record in program history.


Elyria District bracket:
1st round:
#7 Amherst Steele     2
#8 Olmsted Falls       3  SO

#5 Berea-Mid            4
#9 N. Ridgeville        3

#6 Midview               15
#12 Lorain                 0

#10 North Olmsted   5
#11 Elyria                 0

2nd round:
#1 Westlake              2  SO
#8 Olmsted Falls      1

#4 Avon                    2
#5 Berea-Mid           0

#3 Avon Lake           1
#6 Midview              2

#2 Magnificat           3
#10 North Olmsted   0

3rd round: 
#1 Westlake
#4 Avon                 10/25

#2 Magnificat
#6 Midview           10/25


Shoregals in College:
From time to time we like to update everyone on how some of our Shoregal alumni are doing with their respective college teams:

Rada Zunich is a sophomore defender with the College of Wooster - she has played in 14 games and started 9 for the 5-8-4 Scots.

Bri Carlin is a freshman midfielder with St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.  She has played in 13 games and started 6 and has recorded 1 assist so far for the 3-7-5 Bearcats.

We also hear that freshman Addy Poole is playing on the Univ. of Cincinnati Women's club team.

News for the Week of Oct. 17, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 10/17/2016:

Monday, October 17
5:15PM-5:30PM Captain Meeting (Captains only) at ALHS Stadium
5:30PM-7:00PM Training at ALHS Stadium

Tuesday, October 18
3:00PM-4:15PM  Video Session in Room 302 at ALHS
4:15PM-5:45PM  Training at ALHS Stadium

Wednesday, October 19
5:30PM-7:00PM  Training at ALHS Stadium
7:15PM-8:30PM  Playoff Roster Team Dinner @ Norris's (174 Centennial Drive)

Thursday, October 20
7:00PM-8:30PM  Sectional Playoff Game vs Midview
Wear white (home) kits.  Arrive by 6:15PM at ALHS Stadium "dressed and ready to play".

News for the Week of September 12, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 9/12/2016:

Training/Game schedule:


Monday, September 12th
5:00PM  JV Match vs Shaker Heights @ ALHS Stadium
7:00PM  Varsity Match vs Shaker Heights @ ALHS Stadium

Wear Home (White) Kits.  JV arrive by 4:15PM "dressed and ready to play".  Varsity arrive by 6:00PM "dressed and ready to play".


Tuesday, September 13th
5:00PM JV Match vs Chardon High School @ Chardon High School

Wear Away (maroon) Kit.  Bus departs ALHS at 3:00PM.
3:15PM-4:45PM Varsity Training at Troy


Wednesday, September 14th
5:00PM  JV SWC Match vs Amherst Steele @ ALHS Stadium
7:00PM  Varsity SWC Match vs Amherst Steele @ ALHS Stadium

Wear Home (White) Kits.  JV arrive by 4:15PM "dressed and ready to play".  Varsity arrive by 6:15PM "dressed and ready to play".


Thursday, September 15th
3:15PM-4:45PM Training at Troy

Friday September 16th
Free Day


Game Recaps:

Here is a summary of our 5th game against Lakewood:

AL at Lakewood  8/31/16

AL  2   (3-1-1)      Lakewood  1  (2-3-0)

Goals:
AL - Olivia Siko, Amber Achladis

L - Ava Clause

Assists:
AL - Stephanie Carr, Amber Achladis

L - None

Goalies:
AL - Danielle DelGuidice - 4 saves

L -  Rachel Lowell - 9 saves


Game Summary:
The Shoregals have truly been road warriors thus far this season.  The ‘Gals first six games of the season will all be on the road – this time they travelled to legendary Lakewood Stadium for a SWC encounter with the Lady Rangers.  They were able to pull out yet another win on the road by a score of 2-1.

This was a nail biter as Lakewood employed an aggressive offside trap defense which Avon Lake struggled with all match.  The ‘Gals did strike first in this one about 7 minutes into the game as Olivia Siko took a long pass from Amber Achladis and immediately got behind the flat line trap of the Lakewood defense.  She headed straight to goal unmarked and placed the ball just inside the right post for the tally.   Lakewood was able to get the equalizer with 14 minutes left in the half when Ava Clause gathered in a deflected shot and put it right back into goal.

In the second half, Avon Lake picked up the intensity and increased their energy as they took 11 shots, eight of which were on goal and really dominated the time of possession.  They finally broke through with the winning goal with 20 minutes left as Amber Achladis took a pass from Stephanie Carr and slipped through the Lakewood defense to drill the ball past the goalie.

The midfield of Amanda Allemeier, Olivia Siko, Stephanie Carr, Paige Hood, Margaux Duvall, Olivia Hall, Jackie Rush, Sarah Gee, and Achladis did an excellent job of containing Lakewood’s top player – Halle Krebs and limiting her touches on the ball.  In goal for Avon Lake was Danielle DelGuidice who made 4 saves.

In JV action, the Shoregals lassoed the Lady Rangers by a 4-0 score.  Adele Osberg had 2 goals, Olivia Jedlicka scored on a penalty kick, and Phoebe Hood added another goal for the final margin of victory.  Elaina DeMerritt was in goal for the JV ‘Gals and earned her third shutout of the season.

Here is a summary of our 6th game against North Ridgeville:

AL at North Ridgeville  9/7/16

AL  6  (4-1-1)    North Ridgeville  3  (1-4-0)

Goals:
AL - Olivia Siko - 4, Anna Robinson, Amanda Allemeier

NR - Danielle Blagojevic - 2, Abby Bernhardt

Assists:
AL - Anna Robinson, Mila Zunich

NR - Danielle Blagojevic, Lauren Milner

Goalies:
AL - Danielle DelGuidice - 3 saves

NR -  Alexis Klingelheber - 3 saves; Logan Dickson - 9 saves


Game Summary:
It may have been the excitement of playing in a brand new stadium, maybe they wanted to see if the scoreboard was working, but whatever it was Avon Lake and North Ridgeville lit up that new scoreboard for a whopping nine goals in a 6-3 victory for the Shoregals.

North Ridgeville got the scoring started just 2 minutes into the game when Danielle Blagojevic picked up a deflected ball off an AL defender and dribbled right to the goal uncontested to put a shot inside the right post.  Avon Lake tied the score just six minutes later when Olivia Siko got the first of her four goals on the evening.  I am going to have to do some digging on this one, but it has been a while since a Shoregal had 4 goals in a game.  This one also came off a deflection as Siko gathered in the ball about 40 yds. from goal and went right down the center of the field to blast one by the NR goalie.  Siko scored again to put the ‘Gals up 2-1 when she took a long pass from Anna Robinson and dribbled down the right side of the field to drill one by the goalie.  The Lady Rangers got the equalizer when Abby Bernhardt took a pass from Blagojevic and sent a hard shot at goal which deflected off Danielle DelGuidice’s hands and back into goal.  It would not stay tied for long as just one minute later Siko struck yet again on a free kick from 25 yds. out that was placed perfectly just over the goalie’s hands. The ‘Gals closed out the scoring for the half when Mila Zunich sent a hard shot at the goal which was unable to be handled cleanly by the goalie and Anna Robinson was in the right place to put it right back into goal giving Avon Lake a 4-2 halftime lead.

To start the second half, North Ridgeville scored quickly again this time three minutes into the half as Blagojevic took a crossing pass from Lauren Milner to score her second goal of the game and cut the Shoregal lead to one.  After that, Avon Lake pretty much controlled the rest of the game as Siko got her 4th goal with 24 minutes remaining on a turnaround shot from about 25 yds out from a throw in.  Avon Lake finished the night and the Lady Rangers off in fine fashion as Amanda Allemeier converted a penalty kick for her first goal of the season with a minute remaining to give the Shoregals the final margin of victory at 6-3.

In goal for Avon Lake was Danielle Del Guidice who made 3 saves and Elaina DeMerritt also saw some playing time without seeing a shot on goal.  Avon Lake took an eye popping 38 shots of which 18 were on goal. North Ridgeville used two goalies with Alexis Klingelheber playing the first half and stopping 3 shots and Logan Dickson manning the second half and she made 9 saves.

For the JV team, unfortunately this is another school which is struggling with its numbers and are not able to field a JV team at this time.  Next week the world will get better for the JV ‘Gals as Shaker Hts. and Amherst have JV teams.


Concussion Article:
An interesting article about concussions in female athletes:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/covering-the-crew/2016/09/it-feels-like-someone-is-stabbing-a-thick-wire-through-my-head-female-athletes-keeping-up-with-the-boys-in-concussion-rates.html


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:

Being positive doesn’t just make you better, it makes everyone around you better.

Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better. – John Wooden, legendary basketball coach

Be at your best when your best is needed. – John Wooden

News for the Week of Sept. 5, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 9/5/2016:


Training Schedule:

Monday, September 5th ~ LABOR DAY
No training.

Tuesday, September 6th
3:00PM-4:15PM Training @ ALHS Stadium
4:15PM-5:00PM Training in grassy area used for discuss / shot put
5:00PM             Team Dinner hosted by the class of 2018

Wednesday, September 7th
3:00PM Domino's Pizza Fundraiser ~ EAT PIZZA!
5:00PM JV match vs SWC opponent N. Ridgeville in North Ridgeville
7:00PM Varsity match vs SWC opponent N. Ridgeville in North Ridgeville

Thursday, September 8th
3:15PM-4:45PM Training @ Troy

Game Recaps:
Here is a summary of our 3rd game against Avon:

AL at Avon  8/24/16

AL  0   Avon  0

Goals:
AL - None
 
A - None

Assists:
AL - None

A - None

Goalies:
AL - Danielle DelGuidice - 3 saves

A -  Maggie Beatty - 3 saves

Game Summary:
Derby (pronounced Dar-bee) is a term from English football used to describe games between two rivals of close geographical proximity.  They are matches which are intensely competitive and fiercely contested.  In the world of girls HS soccer, Avon Lake vs. Avon has earned the right to be called a derby. In the last six years this series has featured closely matched games either ending in a tie or decided by one goal usually scored late in the game.  This year’s installment was true to form as these two “across the tracks” rivals battled to a 0-0 draw.

That is not to say there was not excitement or scoring chances in this game.  Avon Lake’s best scoring chance came just 12 minutes into the game when Olivia Siko blasted a free kick which went just under the crossbar, but somehow Avon goalie Maggie Beatty was able to snag out of the air.  Avon scored what appeared to be a goal just 2 minutes into the second half when Sam Farmer sent a free kick towards goal that Abby Delprincipe was able to deflect into the net.  However, the assistant referee raised his flag to indicate offsides and the goal was taken off the board.  Avon had another potential scoring chance with 9 minutes remaining when an Avon player was dribbling in the box toward the Shoregal goal and was bumped off the ball by an AL defender. It was a close call that could have went either way – penalty kick or waved off and thankfully it was waved off this time. One last important highlight of the game was that Shoregal goalie Danielle DelGuidice recorded the first shutout of her varsity career!

The JV game was also closely contested as Avon was able to pull out a 2-1 win over the Shoregals.  Adele Osberg tallied the AL goal on a corner kick from Marcy Allen.

Here is a summary of our 4th game against Westlake:

AL at Westlake  8/27/16

AL  0   Westlake  3

Goals:
AL - None
 
W - Samantha Jablonski - 2; Peyton Rimko - 1

Assists:
AL - None

W - Peyton Rimko

Goalies:
AL - Danielle DelGuidice - 5 saves

W -  Katarina Jamsek - 5 saves


Game Summary:
It almost didn’t seem fair having to play a team named the Demons on such a devilishly hot day and the weather worked in their favor as they put the heat on the Shoregals in a 3-0 victory.  Westlake found a number of different paths to the goal on this day as they scored on a penalty kick, a corner kick, and a rebound off a deflection.  However, throughout the first half it looked as if this game was destined to be 0-0 draw and that was the exact score at the half.  Avon Lake probably had their best scoring chance of the game in the first half when Mila Zunich slipped a pass over to Amber Achladis who put a strong shot on goal, but it was able to be handled by Westlake goalie Katarina Jamsek.

In the second half it all went to H-E-double hockey sticks as the saying goes when the Demons netted their 3 goals.  The first came on a penalty kick after a foul in the very top corner of the box and the kick was taken by junior defender Peyton Rimko just 4 minutes into the half.  Rimko was involved again on a corner kick with 18 minutes left as she sent a ball to the far post of the goal which was literally bodied in by freshman Samantha Jablonski. The final goal came from Jablonski again as she was in the right place to pick up a deflected shot and put it right back into goal.  That was a tough outcome for a Shoregal defense that had played well for the entire game and held the Demon offense in check in the normal course of play.  The defense was led on this day by Kellie Norris, Lauren Anthony, Kelly Spitz, and Tayleigh Price along with Lucy Lemanowicz and Izzy Caputo.  Goalie Danielle Delguidice recorded 5 saves for the match.

The Morning Journal story on the game can be found at the link below.

http://www.morningjournal.com/sports/20160827/high-school-girls-soccer-westlake-defeats-avon-lake-3-0

The Chronicle-Telegram story can be found at the link below:

http://www.chroniclet.com/sports/2016/08/28/Girls-soccer-Westlake-shuts-down-Shoregals.html

Some Interesting Tidbits from the OHSAA:

Interesting stat:  there are 45 "coed" HS soccer teams in Ohio. Teams that have boys & girls must compete as boys teams & enter boys Tournament

Interesting stat:  there are 4 females serving as head coaches of boys HS soccer teams in Ohio.

Interesting stat: over half (58%) of high school girls soccer head coaches in Ohio are non-teachers.

Interesting stat: there are 522 head girls soccer coaches in Ohio.  81 of them are new coaches at their school.