by The Avon Lake Shoremen took on the North Olmsted Eagles in the 2026 OHSAA district semifinal and won by a final score of 10-1. The Shoremen controlled the puck almost the entirety of the game. They put constant pressure on the Eagles while also playing great fundamental hockey the whole game. Kooper Nilson and Nathan Lerevost were the stars of the show for the Shoremen in this one. Nilson scored 4 of their 10 goals while Leprevost scored 2 and picked up points on all but 3 of their goals. They will move on to the district final where the Eagles of St. Edwards awaits them.
Avon Lake came out of the gate on fire. They set up in the offensive zone and did a great job to draw an early penalty. North Olmsted did a fantastic job to kill the penalty but tired skaters would get called for a crucial icing shortly after the kill. Shoreman senior center Nathan Leprevost won the face off following the icing and set up in the slot. He took a nice pass right after the face off and buried it in the back of the net to put his squad up 1-0 just 4 minutes into the game.
The Shoreman weren’t done there however. Throughout the entire period they were in complete control of the puck. They were living in the offensive zone, and when they weren’t there, they were playing stellar hockey in the neutral zone. Eagles goalie Olivia Cotofan looked sharp after letting past the first goal, but with the amount of time her squad was spending on defense, it was only a matter of time before another one went in.
Shoremen senior Kooper Nilson put his team up 2-0 with 7 minutes left in the opening period. He took a pass from Leprevost and skated right across Cotofans crease. He faked her out with a nice move and slid the puck in for an easy goal. It wasn’t just any goal for Nilson however, it was his 100th career goal and a big one to extend the early lead.
The dominance continued throughout the period as North Olmsted didn’t get their first and only shot on goal until just 4 minutes left in the 1st period. They did a nice job not letting another one in but were gonna have to get on the offensive quick in the 2nd period to put themselves back into the game.
Unfortunately for the Eagles the 2nd period was much of the same. They did pick up a goal in the period though. Sophomore AJ Ferretti scored a power play goal for his eagles late in the period, but it was to cut the deficit to 6-1.
The Shoreman scored 4 goals in the 2nd period. Sophomore Ryan Gibel picked up 2 of them, 1 of which was a short handed penalty shot after a tripping call on a breakaway. The other 2 came from Nilson and Leprevost, with Leprevost’s being another short handed goal. They both built on their amazing games, heading into the locker room for 2nd intermission Nilson had 3 points and Leprevost had 5.
The Shoremen continued to pour it on in the 3rd period. They scored another 4 goals. Kooper Nilson picked up 2 more goals giving him 4 on the game. Gibel scored 1 of the other 2 and the last one was scored by Koopers brother, Kollin Nilson. They finished the game with 10 goals and will move on to take on the 3 seeded St Edwards Eagles later this week.
