Boys soccer: Medina stays undefeated with win over Hoover

MEDINA — The Medina boys soccer team continues to ace every test. The latest example of the Bees' streak of straight A's came Saturday night, when Medina blew past North Canton Hoover 4-1 in a battle of undefeated state-ranked teams. The Bees are third in the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association Division I state poll, while the Vikings are sixth. "We came into this game very confident in ourselves and knew what our team was worth," senior Kyler O'Reilly said. "We knew they were a great team and knew it was going to be a great game. We just came in here and wanted it a little bit stronger. It's a big win for the boys." Hoover (8-1-1) is 12-2-1 in its past 15 games, with both losses coming to Medina, including 5-1 in last season's regional semifinals. The Bees are now 17-1-1 over their past 19 games, with the lone loss coming to St. Ignatius 1-0 in the state semifinals. "We've had a great start to the season and tonight was a little more of a test, knowing they are such a great team," Bees junior Evan Kotick said. "Tonight, was a good test to see if we are where we think we are. I'm supper happy with this result, and it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward." Kotick scored Medina's first two goals and assisted Konner Leyden on the final score. O'Reilly added two assists as the duo led the offense on the night. O'Reilly now has six goals and four assists on the season, while Kotick has five of each. "Those two have so much pace," Bees coach Doug Coreno said. "They are so technical. They are very, very difficult to defend. We scored some great goals tonight, and it was fun to watch." Medina dominated the midfield, and the defense led by seniors Ian White, Lincoln Horton and Dylan Eckert limited the chances of talented Hoover trio Alec McLeod, Logan Ash and Cam VanNatta. The Vikings did not register a shot on goal until Bees keeper Donny Taylor saved a shot by Michael Grosse with 30:34 left, and Medina was on the verge of its fourth straight shutout until Ash drew a penalty kick that he slotted to the low-left corner with 1:57 remaining. "(Hoover) works very hard in the midfield, and we knew that coming in," Coreno said. "Our backline and our midfield on the defensive end really rose to the occasion. We knew we were going to be chasing them down, and we locked them down until that penalty kick." Despite controlling the midfield, the Bees only held a 1-0 halftime lead. Kotick scored off a short pass by O'Reilly after a throw-in by Horton 14 minutes in. With Hoover hanging around, Medina knew it needed to open a bigger lead against a Vikings squad that had only allowed three goals on the season. Kotick fired a shot with 26 minutes left that Hoover keeper Rowan Ellis (6 saves) deflected, but the ball trickled across the goal line. "In the locker room, we said one is not enough," O'Reilly said. "We need more. We need to send a statement. Thanks to Evan, we came out in the second half and he gave us that second goal. From then on, it was all downhill for them and all uphill for us." Fewer than 5 minutes later, O'Reilly found Owen Alber for the 3-0 lead and Leyden extended the advantage to 4-0 with 11 minutes remaining. The Bees have scored at least three goals in five of the past six games. "It's more than just one man running off the ball," Kotick said. "When we really play together as a team, everything starts to look pretty and we put the ball in the back of the net." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Medina 4, Hoover 1 HOOVER 0 1 — 1 MEDINA 1 3 — 4 First M — Evan Kotick (Kyler O'Reilly), 25:56. Second M — Kotick, 26:05. M — Owen Alber (O'Reilly), 21:23. M — Konner Leyden (Kotick), 11:00. H — Logan Ash, 1:57. Shots on goal — Hoover 4, Medina 10. Corner kicks — Hoover 4, Medina 6. Saves — Rowan Ellis (H) 6, Donny Taylor (M) 3. Records — Hoover (8-1-1), Medina (9-0).