Boys district soccer: Cloverleaf falls to Westlake

WESTLAKE — The Cloverleaf boys soccer team's solid season ended with a 9-1 loss to Westlake in a Division III, Northeast 4 District semifinal Thursday.The fifth-seeded Demons (11-3-4), who are 10th in the MaxPreps D-III state rankings and aren't too far removed from competing in D-I, had too much offense for the 27th-seeded Colts (10-8-1).Westlake moves on to the district final and will play either sixth-seeded Revere or 34th-seeded Willoughby South on Saturday.The Colts' only goal came on a penalty kick by Tyler Dennis that pulled the deficit to 4-1 with 8:29 left in the first half."I feel like it was a lucky situation," Dennis said. "It was a chance to put one on them. It shifted momentum for a second, but it didn't last long."The Colts are one of only five teams to score on the Demons this season. The others are Aurora, Avon Lake, Avon and Bay."It was obviously a challenge," Cloverleaf senior Isaiah Kurtz said. "We saw these guys all year. We watched them, they were in the background of everything and they've kind of always been in the background of Cloverleaf soccer on and off, but we never really played them. We met our match today."Cloverleaf struggled against a very talented offensive attack of Westlake, which opened the season with a 2-0 win over Medina, and the penalty kick by Dennis was the Colts' only shot on goal.Dennis also had his team's other shot, but it did not go on frame.There weren't many offensive chances for the Cloverleaf, and that had more to do with the Demons' ability to possess the ball.The total shots on goal advantage went heavily in Westlake's favor at 19-1, as did a 9-1 edge in corner kicks."It was just constant pressure," Dennis said. "I don't think we were used to playing a team this fast. They got in our heads, and that is just kind of how the game went. They had the momentum from the start."Freshman keeper Hudson Pavlik was under fire from the opening kickoff but performed admirably with 10 stops.Sean Brouillard led the Demons with two goals and an assist, Santino Zingales and Jake Falcone each had a pair of goals and Rylan Eckel closed the game by mercy rule with 22:00 remaining.The eight Cloverleaf seniors will graduate having won three Metro Athletic Conference championships. They also boasted a 48-21-3 record while taking their team to another level."We had a great four years," Kurtz said. "We had a lot of fun. I wouldn't trade for anything. Obviously, we dropped off a little bit this year from our previous three, but it was still a special year."Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Westlake 9, Cloverleaf 1Division III, Northeast 4 District SemifinalCLOVERLEAF 1 0 — 1WESTLAKE 5 4 — 9FirstW — Colin McGregor, 30:57.W — Santino Zingales (Sean Brouillard), 23:43.W — Jake Falcone, 22:52.W — Brouillard, 16:06.C — Tyler Dennis (penalty kick), 8:29.W — Meekal Alramaha, 3:09.SecondW — Zingales (McGregor), 37:17.W — Falcone, 33:46.W — Brouillard, 32:53.W — Rylan Eckel, 22:00.Shots on goal — Cloverleaf 1, Westlake 19. Corner kicks — Cloverleaf 1, Westlake 9. Saves — Hudson Pavlik (C) 10, Nick Sherwood (W) 0. Records — Cloverleaf (10-8-1), Westlake (11-3-4).