Smith provides offense for Avon Grove in win over Unionville

EAST MARLBOROUGH — Early in the season, Avon Grove has been searching for some offense to counteract with its strong defense.

Down two midfielders (Beau Kush and Bryce Reid) with injuries, the Red Devils needed any one of their young players to provide a spark in their Ches-Mont opener.

Enter freshman Jake Smith, who did not have any varsity goals in his career heading into Tuesday’s game at Unionville.

That changed in a hurry.

“I guess I set the tone,’ Smith said. “But it was the entire offense. We were moving the ball and passing it around well. No one was playing ‘ me’ ball, but it was us finding ways to get open.’

Smith scored his first career goal in the first minute of the game and added another early in the first quarter to give Avon Grove the lead for good. His two goals provided the offensive burst Avon Grove needed as the Red Devils scored five goals in the first quarter en route to a 11-3 victory over Unionville in the Ches-Mont opener for both teams Tuesday night.

Jake Pousson led Avon Grove (1-0 league, 2-2 overall) with three goals, but Smith turned out to be the player that head coach Eric Jackson was seeking to provide some offense after the Red Devils scored just nine goals in the last two games (both losses).

Even with Smith’s performance, Jackson is dealing with an attack that is still finding its way.

“We did a nice job in the first quarter just playing fundamental ball,’ Jackson said. “We had a tough-go the last couple games, but we have a lot of new faces on offense. Naturally, it takes a bit later to see what works. We got to keep finding out who we are there.’

After Jimmy Nowoswiat scored his 15th goal of the season to cut Unionville’s deficit to 2-1, the game belonged to Avon Grove, despite the Indians having 17 shots in the first half.

Part of that was due to the performance of Liam Brodie, who finished with 17 saves in the game–16 of which came in the first three quarters.

“You have to go into every game thinking that you can have a 100-percent save percentage, even though you obviously will give up some,’ Brodie said. “That’s how I play my game.

“That aside, I couldn’t have played this well without my defense. We rotate in four to five different guys consistently and every one of them does their part. It makes things so easy for me in net.’

Once Nowoswiat scored with 3:16 left in the first, Doug Jones answered with a goal 54 seconds later to give the Red Devils a 3-1 lead. In the final minute of the first, Stephen Cyron and Scooter Whiteside scored to put Avon Grove 5-1 as the quarter ended.

Unionville had an opportunity to cut the lead in the second quarter after it was awarded a two-minute penalty, which Avon Grove had no release. The Indians couldn’t find the back of the net as Brodie denied multiple shots by the Indians to keep the Red Devils up four goals.

“Liam’s just a wall back there,’ Jackson said. He’s been huge for us all season. Our defense has done a great job at giving him opportunities to see the ball a bit too.’

Winslow Davis scored with 9:45 left to get the Indians back in the game at 7-3, but Pousson responded with two goals in a span of 1:28 to put Avon Grove up 9-3 midway through the fourth, not leaving the outcome in doubt.

As Avon Grove continues its quest for goal scorers with Kush out for the season and Reid out indefinitely, there wasn’t a doubt in Brodie’s mind that Smith was going to provide the spark the Red Devils needed.

All he had to do was watch him in warmups.

“Jake got two goals right off the back of me,’ Brodie said. “From that point, I knew he was going to have a good game. That’s exactly what he did.’