Avon Defeats Brooklyn 4-0, Meets St. Ignatius In Quarterfinals Tuesday

BROOKLYN, Ohio- The Avon Eagles and Brooklyn Hurricanes prepared for battle on Saturday afternoon, with the winner taking on the defending state champion St. Ignatius Wildcats in the quarterfinals.

Avon won their first-round matchup against Chagrin Falls in convincing fashion, defeating the Bulldogs 5-0 on Tuesday night. Brooklyn hadn’t played since last Saturday, which would be something to keep an eye on.

Senior Forward Zach Zwierecki talked on Tuesday about the gameplan heading into today’s matchup.

“Tire them out and just put some pucks in.”

Both teams came out with an intention of playing fast. There were opportunities missed on both sides early on, as goaltenders Beau Reinhart and Danny Fielding performed well. Though the Hurricanes would have two power play opportunities in the frame, it would be the Eagles who would get on the board first. Zach Zwierecki fired a slap shot from the blue line that found the back of the net with fifty-seven seconds left in the frame. The Hurricanes would head into the break trailing 1-0 while also preparing to play the first minute and a half without Matt Crossman, who was sent to the sin bin during the winding seconds of the first for tripping.

The Hurricanes would come out with a lot of aggression in the second frame, laying heavy hits early on. Unfortunately, it might have led to a little overaggression and Aaron Wrost would head to the sin bin with 7:10 left in the period. Avon would take advantage of the man advantage and extend their lead to two after Connor Wing netted the puck from in front of the crease of Reinhart at the 9:03 mark of the 2nd. Avon would not be done, as Leo Goetz would fire a rocket to Zwierecki at the blue line to start a two-on-one breakaway. Zwierecki would find Shane Docherty, who would not miss a beat and send the puck past Reinhart at the 13:44 mark of the middle stanza. Cooper Docherty and Aaron Wrost would both start the final frame in the sin bin, withDocherty spending another 1:42 in the box and Wrost serving another 1:55. The teams would head into the break with the Eagles leading 3-0.

Both teams would spend time on the penalty kill in what turned out to be a very physical third period. Zwierecki would ice the game late at the 13:15 mark with a play in which he would trip and recover fast enough to fire a slap shot past Reinhart for the fourth Eagles goal of the game. That score would stand as the final, as Avon would advance to the quarterfinals.

After the game, Avon Head Coach Kyle Botos acknowledged the task ahead of his team.

“Tuesday is gonna be a different story, it’s gonna be a different beast. I think losing the Baron Cup has kinda woken a lot of these kids up. You lose one more, it’s over and you’re done, season’s over. If you’re a senior, you’re moving on. But Tuesday you’re gonna need a lot of motivation because Tuesday is gonna be a great game and if you’re not prepared, it could be ending in two periods.”

Avon will play St. Ignatius on Tuesday at 5:30pm.