By Kalen Lumpkins

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

PERRYSBURG — On a sunny Saturday afternoon, things were bright for the road team as Avon Lake defeated the Perrysburg girls lacrosse in both teams’ season opener, 12-8, at Steinecker Stadium.

The game started quickly with a goal from Perrysburg freshman Carly Friar, much to the delight of the home crowd. Avon Lake, however, responded almost immediately to tie.

Right after the game-tying goal, Avon Lake kept the pressure on with a goal from junior Lila Krawiec. This prompted a time-out from Perrysburg coach Autumn Stevens.

The timeout proved effective, as senior Sara Yager scored from long range, tying the game at two apiece. Avon tried to respond, but Perrysburg goalie Autumn Brosnan had other plans with two great blocks.

To end the first quarter, Yager was inches from giving Perrysburg the lead, but a bad bounce sent the ball in the other direction. Arayah Ellis made up for her miss, bringing the score to 3-2 at the end of one.

Avon did not go away easily, scoring 12 seconds in the second quarter, tying the match at three goals apiece. Under a minute later, Krawiec scored her second of the game, and Avon suddenly gained the lead.

The Yellow Jackets finally stopped the onslaught with an impressive deep goal, cutting the Avon lead to 5-4. This prompted a timeout from the Avon Lake coach Don Pashayan.

The tough breaks continued out of the time out for Perrysburg as they had a potential game-tying goal overturned. The Perrysburg defense tightened up for a little while until the teams traded goals to end the second quarter with a 6-5 Avon Lake lead.

The two teams adjusted to the opposing offenses coming out of the halftime break, as both teams struggled to create quality shoots for a majority of the third quarter. Finally, Perrysburg’s Harshini Bharadwaj found an opening to tie the game at 6-6.

Avon Lake showed their strong will once again, as they scored twice to regain the lead just 45 seconds after giving up the tying goal. The third quarter end with the Shoremen owning a 9-6 advantage.

The Avon Lake defense continued to impress in the fourth, making it difficult for Perrysburg to run down the field, let alone create scoring opportunities.

A goal from Ava Mandly put the Shoremen into double digits with a 10-6 lead. Shortly after, Mandly scored again to put an exclamation point on the Avon Lake win.