Boys soccer: Avon goalie Oliver DeBrovic shuts out Strongsville in 2-0 victory

AVON — Oliver DeBrovic had it pretty easy in the first half Monday night, as the Eagles took on Strongsville in non-conference play. Avon's senior goalkeeper didn't have to make a single save, but he did his job in the second half, turning away six shots in leading the Eagles to a 2-0 win, their second in as many matches. "My center back Cole Veverka really strapped it down for me in the first half," said DeBrovic. "You have to stay focused the whole game, even if you're not getting a lot of action. My team could call upon me at any moment to make sure I make the play." "He's a quality goalkeeper," said Avon coach Chris Dore. "We actually are fortunate enough to have a couple of them and Oliver's getting the opportunity to play right now and he's really showing maturity in his ability to come up with big plays." Strongsville turned up the heat in the second half but Avon sophomore Connor Britt found himself alone with the ball on the right side of the net. "I had just came back in (the game) and I got it one-on-one and got it to my strong foot," said Britt of his goal with 33:36 left in the game. "I just chopped around him and I saw the shot. 'All right, I'm going to hit this.' I just banged it in. Felt awesome." Strongsvillle came close on several shot attempts but DeBrovic managed to either tip or smother every close try. Leo Morana had a penalty kick from about 28 yards but it sailed wide of the net. Morana had a couple other chances but couldn't finish. Later in the second half, Avon scored an insurance goal when junior London Carnie passed ahead to senior Mark Dushaj on the left side of the net and he scored with 9:28 to play. It was all DeBrovic and his teammates needed in sealing the victory. Avon opened the season with a 2-1 win over Lakewood last Friday. "After the first (goal), I was like 'We need to get another one,'" DeBrovic said. "The second one was like an insurance goal and I was like 'this is it, we got this one.'" Avon had plenty of opportunities to score in the first half. The Eagles took six shots but were wide or high on all of them. "The frustrating thing about the sport is goals are hard to come by, especially against good teams," said Dore. "Our objective was not to get frustrated and lose momentum with things not going our way. The kids came out in the second half and showed some pretty consistent composure." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Avon 2, Strongsville 0 Goals: Connor Britt, Mark Dushaj. Assists: London Carnie. Shots: Avon 12, Strongsville 10. Saves: Oliver Debrovic (A) 6, Dominic Koval (S) 4. Corner Kicks: Avon 3, Strongsville 3. Penalty/Free Kicks: Avon 14, Strongsville 15. Yellow Cards: Emmett Byrne (S), Britt, Grady Kramer (A). Halftime: 0-0.