1 week Ago By Mark Perez-Krywany
A bottom-half finish in the Southwestern Conference did not stop No. 16 seed Avon Lake from a playoff push to the district semifinals. The Shoregals’ Division I Northeast 5 sectional final on May 8 resulted in an 8-5 win against No.
21 seed Westlake and their first district semifinal appearance in three years. “We do not look forward. We do not look backwards.
We only look to the next game,” Avon Lake first-year Coach Brandon Webster said. “For the past two weeks, we did not and do not care about our record. Why? Because the voting already happened, so it’s irrelevant.
We are working; challenging ourselves to get better. ..
. We have come a long way.” Avon Lake (9-17) will be the host site in a Northeast 5 district semifinal, but the Shoregals will be listed as the away team and top-seed Brecksville Broadview Heights will be their next opponent.
“From day one, we respect all of our opponents,” Webster said. “We expect to go in there and compete. We expected to go in this game and compete.
We look at anyone and think that they are going to come in and beat us. We are excited to have home-field advantage, even though (Brecksville) is the home team.” The Shoregals faced tough opponents to finish out the year.
Along with the SWC, they played state-ranked Walsh Jesuit (13-2 loss) and defending Division I state champion Austintown Fitch (18-0 loss). They were one of five SWC teams to advance to the district round, along with Midview (16-6 win vs. Wadsworth), Nort.
