Boys soccer: Brunswick ties Medina, wins GCC crown

MEDINA — New season, same result when the Brunswick and Medina boys soccer teams met Tuesday night, as they played to a 1-1 draw for the second consecutive time. The catch was the tie meant the Blue Devils (10-2-2, 4-0-1) took the Greater Cleveland Conference championship away from the Bees (6-5-3, 2-1-2). Neither registered a shot on goal through 40 minutes, but Brunswick (10-2-2) finally did early in the second half and took advantage, as senior midfielder Josh Prykan gathered the ball at the top of the box and fired off his left foot into the right side of the net to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead with 37:27 left. "What a fantastic goal by Josh," Brunswick coach Ben Dotson said. "Gave us a little bit of confidence. It was a super good moment." It looked like that super good moment might result in Brunswick's first win over Medina since 2017, but the Bees showed why they were the GCC champions for the past seven seasons. With fewer than five minutes left, Medina (6-5-3) had a free kick and brought goalkeeper Bennett Werthmuller up for the service. He launched the ball into the box, where it found the head of sophomore defender Jackson Harvey, who sent it past goalkeeper Eli Hyde to tie the game with 4:38 left. "(Werthmuller) is a good weapon, so it's something we take advantage of," Medina coach Doug Coreno said. "He served a great ball." As for the goal scorer? He took a look at Hyde before making contact with the ball. "I saw the keeper out of the corner of my eye, and I thought he overran it deep, and he didn't go up for it straight away," Harvey said. "I knew I could get in front of him and just win the ball. It was a good ball. I got in a little early but managed to take myself back and put it right in." Brunswick last defeated Medina in the 2017 regular season, and then the Bees ran off six straight wins starting with the district semifinals. The Bees also knocked off the Blue Devils in the 2022 district finals to go with four regular-season wins. In each of those seven seasons, Medina also won the GCC. That changed this fall. "I'll continue to say it, I think this is the toughest conference in the state of Ohio," Dotson said. "We just took it from the seven-time champs and, then again, the champs before that was us. It's an incredible feeling. "That's a fantastic program. They are an incredible team with an incredible coach, and to take it from them, it's a big deal. We're really, really proud of our kids." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Brunswick 1 – Medina 1 BRUNSWICK 0 1 — 1 MEDINA 0 1 — 1 Second B — Josh Prykan, 37:27. M — Jackson Harvey, 4:38. Shots on goal — Brunswick 2, Medina 2. Corner kicks — Brunswick 2, Medina 4. Saves — Eli Hyde (B) 1, Bennett Werthmuller (M) 1. Records — Brunswick (10-2-2, 4-0-1), Medina (6-5-3, 2-1-2). Junior varsity — Brunswick 0, Medina 0.