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Schools

Somers Field Hockey Falls on the Road

Avon defeated the visiting Spartans 7-2 on Thursday.

Despite arriving just minutes before game time, the field hockey team manged to complete their warmup in preparation for its contest with the Avon High School Falcons.

Although hampered by injuries and coming off of a tough 10-0 loss to Granby Memorial, Somers came ready to play.

Fresh off of their recent 2-1 win over Canton, Avon proved that they too were more than ready to play when sophomore Caroline Schaefer to a pass from co-captain Emily Arciero at 25:05 to give her team a 1-0.

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From there, the game appeared to be a close battle as the game remained scoreless for the next 17:32. That's when Avon co-captain Elle Crane was assisted by Arciero for the Falcons' second goal of the game.

Catching Somers on the defensive, Avon tallied again just 57 seconds later at 6:36, bringing the score to 3-0. This time it was Maddy Riccardi receiving an assist from Crane. In order to slow down the Avon offensive, Somers coach Amy Cunningham wisely called a time out and regroupled her players.

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It didn't take long for Avon to pick up where they left off as Schaefer received yet another assist from Arciero with 3:39 remaining the first half.

Halftime saw Avon make a change in goal as starting goaltender Nicole Andrew was substituted by backup goaltender Monica Veldman.

Somers entered the second half ready to take on its four-goal deficit. However 9:30 into the second half, Avon picked up where it left off by adding a fifth goal from Schaefer and yet another assist from Arciero.

Avon tacked on two more goals by Maddie Riccardi (unassisted) and Ashley Eschert (from Arciero) at the 13:04 and 10:50, respectively, extending Avon's lead to 7-0. Not wanting her team to become over-confident, Avon coach Terri Ziemnicki called for a timeout to prepare her team for any possible surprises.

As Ziemnicki anticipated, not even a seven goal deficit could dampen the Spartan spirit. With just 2:25 left in the game, Marissa Forti and Emma Panto used what they had 'left in the tank' to break the Avon shutout.

Somers continued to keep the pressure until the final whistle scoring again at 1:35. This time is was Kristen Steidler's goal and Kayla Renaud's assist that ended the game scoring at 7-2.

Somers goaltender Jenna Jablonski deserves all the credit for keeping the Avon scoring threat at bay, by turning away 17 of the 24 shots she faced.

Cunningham recognized that she has a young and somewhat inexperienced Somers team this year. Regardless, she highlighted her team's "intensity when they're down."

"They have never ever looked at the scoreboard and said 'I'm going to stop playing,'" she said.

This was clearly identified by Somers' two goals in the final minutes.

When asked to summarize the win, Ziemnicki stated, "Our passing was expectional, our effort was exceptional and our communication was exceptional.... It's just nice to see when they play together and they're all on the same page."

With the victory, Avon remains undefeated at (3-0) while Somers' record falls to (1-3). Avon will next host Stonington on Saturday at 1 p.m. as Somers prepares for its next challenge - hosting Stafford on Monday at 3:45 p.m.

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