Avon High School Sports Roundup

The Windsor-East Granby-Avon ice hockey team saw its tremendous 2010-11 season come to an end just short of where they wanted it to.

The Wave (17-5) were defeated 6-1 by Staples-Weston-Shelton (16-6-0) in the semifinals of the state Division III tournament Tuesday at Yale’s Ingalls Rink.

The Wave earned the third seed in the state Division III tournament after an impressive regular season and earned a first-round bye. The team then booked a spot in the semifinals with a 3-1 victory over No. 6 seed Newtown.

In the semifinals, the Wave took the play to the Wreckers in the opening period as they held a 17-4 advantage in shots but they just could not find the back of the net.

Kyle Wehmhoff did as he scored 3:35 into the game to give Staples-Weston-Shelton a lead it would not relinquish.

“We threw shot upon shot on the goal, and the shots just didn’t go in,” Wave coach Jesse Peters said. “I feel like the first half of the game we dominated. Psychologically, it starts to wear on you.”

The Wave finally got one past Staples-Weston-Shelton goalie Luke Andriuk on their 27^th shot of the game, with just :45 seconds left in the second period. 

Jeffrey Demers flipped the puck over Andriuk and  Justin Fischler got the assist on the goal. The goal cut the deficit to 3-1 and gave the Wave some momentum, but it was short-lived.

“Their goalie played tremendously. I just wish we drove to the net more effectively,” Peters said. “We were trying to find loose pucks, but I felt we were always a second too late. Our goal came on a third chance opportunity.” 

Any momentum the Wave had was lost when Adam Lebowitz was whistled for a tripping penalty 51 seconds into the third period.

“I thought we were going to have momentum going into the third. The wheels fell off when we took the penalty,” said Peters. 

Watertown-Pomperaug, defeated Staples-Weston-Shelton, 4-0, on Saturday to win the state title.

SWIMMING/DIVING:

John Andrade and Zac Cesaro competed in the State Open swim meet recently and had solid results.

Andrade took fifth in Class M and finished eighth at the State Open after being seeded 19^th out of 24 divers.

The Falcons finished 12th in the Class M championship meet as Cesaro finished fifth in the 100 back and eighth in the 200 free. The Avon 200 medley relay team took eighth.

At the State Open, Cesaro was 13^th in the 200 free and 14^th in the 100 back.