Avon Lake Travels To Willoughby South For 5-1 Win

In the 8th minute Avon Lake almost hit pay dirt again off a free kick, this time from junior Josh Lawniczak . His kick bounced in the box and then got nudged forward for senior Andrew Jacobson, but he couldn’t get enough on it to push it past the Rebel keeper.

Just four minutes later the Shoremen again found space in front of the Willoughby South box as Lemanowicz found fellow senior Michael Mandel with a throw in to the middle, but after a touch to control his shot was lifted high. This would not be the last time Mandel would be ready to hit from distance.

Then in the 16th minute senior Charlie Krause got free for a header at the back post off junior Spencer Chippi’s corner but powered his header wide.

Two minutes later Krause would combine nicely with senior Cam Salco near the left touchline and the propel himself forward into the Rebel box before placing a pretty left footed shot in the back of the net to make it 2-0.

Lemanowicz, Avon Lake’s leading scorer, deposited his second of the game and 10th of the season into the bottom left corner of the Rebel net in the 20th minute off a throw in assist from Salco.

Willoughby South did not give up and in the 29th minute used a hustle play to take advantage of a miscommunication in the Avon Lake defense to poke home a goal and make it 3-1.

Four minutes later the Rebels had another golden opportunity barely miss, after their forward was given space about 30 yards out and hit a half volley that soared over senior Dino Pietromica and then started dipping. Fortunately for Avon Lake it didn’t dip enough to beat the crossbar and bounced away to keep the same score line.

Birthday boy Michael Mandel would add to the Shoremen cushion in the 36th minute after another Avon Lake corner kick was cleared by the Rebels, but not far enough. Mandel was waiting about 30 yards away and absolutely laced his half volley into the side netting to make it 4-1, which would be the halftime margin.

In the second half the Shoremen continued to apply pressure. In the 43rd minute a nice counter ended in a short through ball from Salco to Lawniczak, but as he got to the ball there was contact with the goalie as he came out and a foul was given to the Rebels.

DelGiudice almost curled one to the top right corner in the 47th minute after Mandel slipped him a pass and the he cut back behind his back from left to right and hit a quick right footed shot, and it did not miss by much.

In the 58th minute senior Aidan Miller played a lovely through ball that split the Rebel back line for Chippi to run on to, but just as he was about to hit his shot it was deflected out by a recovering Willoughby South defender for yet another corner kick.

Three minutes later DelGiudice hit another Cruyff turn to beat a defender before playing a diagonal that Chippi flicked on for Lemanowicz, who could not get his hat trick attempt to go as it was deflected and went just wide.

The exclamation point came with under two minutes left as senior Joey Caputo hit a banger to the upper left corner of the net off an assist from Liam Reutter to cap off a 5-1 victory. We are currently awaiting a full video review to determine which goal between Mandel’s and Caputo’s earn the @shoremensoccer Twitter Goal of the Game.

The Shoremen were able to mix and match lineups throughout the second half, including finding some meaningful minutes for the reserves and JV players, who managed to control the game until the final whistle.

“I’m pleased not only with our regulars, who took control of this game early and put goals on the board, but also for our backups, who came in and didn’t miss a beat,” said head coach Pete Klepek. “We never broke stride and earned a nice win to cap off an undefeated week with 4 games in 7 days.”

With the win Avon Lake improves to 8-2-0 on the season. In the early game JV also handled their business with aplomb, taking home a 9-0 win on the strength of a hat trick from sophomore Zach Ramsey, a brace for freshman goalie Andrew Crooks, and single goals from sophomores Tyler Johnson, Ethan Catlin and freshmen Nate Summerfield and Aiden Folds. JV moves to 8-1-1 on the year.

Both teams are in action again on the road at SWC rival Amherst on Wednesday night, games at 5 and 7.