Farmington beats neighboring Avon for CIAC Class L boys soccer title

The Farmington (Conn.) boys' soccer team was celebrating its newly-won CIAC Class L championship on Friday when one player said to another, "Can you believe we beat Avon, 5-0?"

The Avon and Farmington boys' soccer teams don't see as much of one another as they used to. The neighboring towns used to play each another regularly in the now-defunct Northwest League. Both are passionate about their soccer, and it made for a great rivalry.

Avon left the league in 1985, ending the regular-season games. They last played a meaningful game in 1989, when Avon beat the Indians in the Class M semifinals.

The two teams scrimmage one another, but that's pretty much the only interaction between the two, other than players bumping into one another at the local coffee joint.

It was a big deal, then, when Avon and Farmington finally hooked up again. Friday's final drew an overflow crowd to Meriden's Falcon Field.

Steve Waters, in his 30th season as Farmington's coach, was around when his team and Avon played each other in the regular season.

"None of these guys were around when we'd go through the rivalry of the eighties," Waters said, "Avon, Farmington and Joel Barlow were going for the Class M title back then.

"It's a soft rivalry (now)."

It still means something when you beat your neighbor, though.

"Us being rivals and the magnitude of the game pumped us up," Farmington senior Danny Manfredi said. "We weren't going to let down and not give 100 percent."

Junior Colin Cheeseman (two goals) said, "There's a certain desire to win when you play Avon just because they're the town next to you."

It was the Farmington's 10th state title. It's won three of them in the last five years; it lost in last season's Class LL quarterfinals.

"We lost a lot of good seniors and a lot of people we miss, but last year helped us build on to this year," Cheeseman said. "Losing in the tournament (last season), it's not a good feeling. So this year you come out ready to play and try to win your last game."

Avon has lost in consecutive state finals. It's won seven state championships.

"I think it's a friendly rivalry," Avon assistant David Zlatin said of the two teams. "The kids might disagree with me."

Avon saw the Indians in the semifinals and thought it knew what to expect.

Farmington surprised the Falcons by playing at a different pace.

"I give them full credit for pressing us hard, and we didn't react to them well in the first half," Zlatin said. "I wish we reacted to it better. Full credit, they pressed us hard and into errors."

Waters said, "Did we want to pressure them? Absolutely, and that seemed to work for us. We can play different styles, and the style we played today made them uncomfortable."

Farmington junior Guido Shutz scored the game's first goal in the 23rd minute. Cheeseman scored seven minutes later.

A little more than four minutes were left in the first half when senior Vasil Borisevich scored in oddball fashion. He kicked what looked to be a cross high into the air more than 30 yards away from the goal.

Instead, the ball began hooking toward the goal and sailed over the hands of Avon goalie Phil Lopreiato and into the net.

"He's a basketball player, so he's used to shooting from three," Waters said. "So he shot that from whatever (long range), and put it in. He never played for us before, this is his first year, so it's really great to have him in there and make an impact for the team."

Cheeseman and senior Joshua Moreno added goals in the second half.

"Credit to Avon, they're a good team," Cheeseman said. "It all clicked today for us."

Ned Griffen has covered high school, college and professional sports in the Northeast since 1992. A 2003 New England Associated Press News Executives award winner, he may be reached at nedgriffen@gmail.com