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A night Pavlik won’t forget

I’m not the kind of guy who shares these kinds of stories, but while covering the Lakeview girls soccer team’s 3-2 win over Champion on Sept. 25, I witnessed something that my boss thought was cute. Therefore, I guess I must share it.

Lakeview’s Alli Pavlik had a night she won’t forget for multiple reasons. The senior forward netted the match-winning goal – her second of the night – with less than 2 minutes remaining, which is memorable enough for her final showdown with the Golden Flashes, but awaiting her after the traditional after-match handshake was something that capped off the night entirely.

Walking back to the home touchline, a group of high-school males, standing on the all-weather track that encircles the field at Don Richards Stadium at Lakeview High School, carried a series of posters that spelled out “Homecoming” and another one that finished up the question: “Alli?” Standing there with a bouquet of flowers was presumably the guy asking Pavlik to the dance.

That guy was Pavlik’s best friend, who already discussed with her that he was going to ask her to the dance. Even if she expected the question, the method and the timing of it left quite the impression on Lakeview’s leading scorer.

“He told me he was going to ask me Oct. 4, which is the day before the dance,” Pavlik said. “I was kind of expecting something late, but he pulled something together nice. I was really happy. He made it a day that I won’t forget, and this game is a day I won’t forget – it’s just a great day.”

ARNOLD PRAISES UNDERMANNED HEIGHTS: When the Warrensville Heights football team came into Mollenkopf Stadium last Friday in Warren G. Harding’s 43-0 win, it came with only a fraction of its roster.

The Tigers had only 21 players available off their 28-man roster, as a good number of the team was injured. Coach Eric Sopkovich already cut his roster this season when a group of players quit the team.

Despite the final score, Harding coach Steve Arnold made it a point to make sure to show his appreciation for the Tigers’ effort.

“We kind of knew coming in they were a little undermanned, but I told the coach and I told their kids that they played extremely hard,” Arnold said. “I wanted to congratulate every player that they had and the coaching staff for coming here with 20, 21 players and playing hard.”

LaBRAE ON THE RISE: One area boys soccer team that could be fun to watch in the coming years is the LaBrae.

According to coach Rick Jones, the Vikings hadn’t recorded a positive result against the Hubbard Eagles before this season, and they will end this season without losing to the Eagles after Sept. 3’s 3-2 win at home and Monday’s 3-3 draw at Hubbard.

These aren’t the only encouraging results for LaBrae, as the team also recorded a tie against the Harding last Thursday and a 4-2 win against Champion on Sept. 10.

With only four seniors on this year’s squad, the Vikings might be an interesting follow next season.

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