1988 Boys Soccer Team
1988 Boys Soccer Team
The 1988 Avon High boys soccer team went undefeated with a 20-0 record, winning the North Central Connecticut Conference title with a 16-0 mark and capturing the ClAC Class M championship with a 2-1 win over Stonington. It was Avon’s fourth state title in five years and second in a row.
In 1988, the Falcons scored a program-record 97 goals and allowed just 10 goals, posting 11 shutouts. Avon finished the year with 31 straight wins and plenty of awards: The team had three All-State players (J.D. Kosakowski, Chris Conte, and Peter Ellef) and two selected All-New England (Ellef, Kosakowski). Head coach Marty deLivron was named state coach of the year. The team was ranked No. 1 in the final Hartford Courant state coaches poll and No. 2 in the final poll by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Kosakowski scored a school-record 35 goals that season, including five goals in a win over East Granby, still a record. Brian Brown had 13 goals , while Jason Fox added 12. Twice during the regular season, the Falcons beat defending Class LL champion E.O. Smith of Storrs by a score of 2-1. Avon also beat defending Class S champion Granby, 5-1.
In the state tournament, Avon opened with a 4-0 win over Jonathan Law, with Kosakowski scoring three goals. That was followed by a 6-2 win over Plainville in the Class M quarterfinals, with Kosakowski again scoring twice. Avon got two goals each from Fox and Brown in their 6-1 semifinal win over RHAM, and in the title game Kosakowski had both goals in their 2-1 win over Stonington, the first loss of the season for the Falcons previously undefeated opponent.
Five members of this team went on to play soccer at the Division I level in college. Kosakowski played at Harvard, Ellef played at Maine, Brown played at Pennsylvania, Fox played at Notre Dame and Conte played at Stetson University. Prior to completing their high school careers, both Brown and Fox earned individual All-American honors.
Team Roster: Paul Akerlind, Scott Beardsley, Jay Beaulieu, Brian Brown, Chris Conte, Peter Ellef, Jason Fox, Rick Guarnaccia, Jason Janetzke, Mike Loudermilk, Travis Lytle, JD Kowsakowski, Rico Perez, Pat Ruddy, DJ Stradley, Paul Tarasuk, Mark Toomey. Coach Marty deLivron