Avon Grove cruises past Lewisburg in first round of states

MIDDLEBURG >> Doug Jones and his Avon Grove teammates haven’t forgotten just yet.

Coming off a loss to Upper Dublin in the District 1 championship last week — their first loss since their season opener in late-March — the Devils knew they needed to answer back.

Wednesday night served as their rebound.

Jumping out to an eight-goal lead through the opening 13 minutes, Avon Grove breezed past Lewisburg, 17-4 in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs at Midd-West High School.

“That loss to Upper Dublin was definitely on the back of our minds,” said Jones, who scored four goals. “It really struck us, I think we realized that we can’t assume anything. We can’t take any team lightly and expect not to have to fight the entire way.”

With the win, Grove advances to the second round and prepares to take on Springfield-Delco — 10-5 winners over Delaware Valley.

Though the team was down following the district final loss, head coach Eric Jackson had little issue getting his players to shift their focus onto states.

“It wasn’t very difficult to get these guys excited for states,” he said. “These guys know that we’ve gone through this before. We know where we want to be. That district final was a bit of a wake up call for us.”

Avon Grove looked wide-awake the get-go, highlighted by two quick strikes in a matter of seven seconds.

Jones scored off a feed from Beau Kush to take a 2-0 lead at the 7:50 mark. Just a few seconds later, the Devils secured the face-off, with Nate Hammond finding Brendan Harmon at the 7:43 mark to take a three-goal lead.

Joey Borkey paced Avon Grove with five goals and an assist while Zach Augustine and Harman each scored twice. Kush and Jake Smith each had a goal and an assist while Brayden Peck scored once. Goalkeeper Kevin Malone finished with five stops in goal.

Coming off a strong regular season where Avon Grove finished 19-2 overall, Jones says the Devils have shown plenty of glimpses of the team his freshman season, which earned a trip to the state final.

“We have to stay focused, we’re definitely in for a grind,” he said. “We have the talent, we have the depth — it’s all about staying focused if we want to get back there.”

Brayden Toll paced Lewisburg with a hat trick while Jacob Bilger had a goal and an assist.