Regional girls lacrosse: Medina adjusts to new roles, beats Avon

BRUNSWICK — It took the second-seeded Medina girls lacrosse team a quarter to adjust to new roles, but the Bees took off after that. Without senior leaders Lauryn Krajzel and Julia Kraft on Thursday, Medina stormed past seventh-seeded Avon 12-6 to reach the program's sixth regional semifinal in a row behind six goals by sophomore Audrey Thompson. "I'm really happy with how we did," Thompson said. "I'm so proud of the people that stepped up today. "Definitely going in, we were a little worried. Lauryn Krajzel, she's heavy on the offense, and Julia is heavy on the defense. Everyone busted their butt in practice, and that translated so well to the game." The Bees (13-6) advanced to face fourth-seeded Massillon Jackson (10-7) in a regional semifinal Tuesday. Krajzel missed the game after injuring her knee on a goal in the first quarter of a 17-9 win over Brunswick last week. She is still undergoing tests to determine the severity of the injury. Kraft was missing the first of two games after drawing a red card in the win over the Blue Devils. In an ironic twist, the contest Thursday was played at Brunswick Middle School, as the host Bees' field was set up for graduation festivities. The Bees surrendered the first goal of the game to the Eagles' Ayla Perez two minutes in and led only 2-1 after the period, but took a 4-1 lead 2:22 into the second quarter as players became more comfortable in their expanded roles. Along with Thompson's output, Medina got two goals and two assists from Carmella Colon, as well as two goals and an assist from Campbell Burns, one goal and two assists by Kaitlin Frimel and one goal and one assist from Ryleigh Goldmeier. "We have some really, really strong kids in (Krajzel), (Thompson) and Cam (Burns), and we've been focused on shifting the energy away from (isolation) type of play and getting stats from everybody," Medina coach Colleen Kubasta said. "That's something we've been working on the last three to four weeks. Push came to shove, and we're in that situation now. I think everyone stepped up." Colon tied the game with 7:23 left in the first quarter on an unassisted goal, and Thompson finished a pass by Burns midway through the quarter for a 2-1 lead. Thompson expanded the lead 25 seconds into the second quarter and Burns scored off a pass by Colon with 9:38 left. Medina never lost control after that. "I think it's a little difficult when we're floating around different girls in different positions because of our current situation down two starters," Colon said. "I think we have a sort of team connection where we can bounce back (from mistakes) and teach each other what to do, when to do it and how to pull it off perfectly. Today, a multitude of girls new to attack really stepped up." Perez, a senior, put the Eagles back on the scoreboard 20 seconds after Burns' 150th career goal. It was the second of a team-high three goals for Perez. The last 20 seconds of the first half were filled with drama for the Bees. First, Thompson ran off the field with a bloody nose after getting hit with a ball. Then Goldmeier scored on a pass by Frimel so close to the buzzer that officials had to discuss the call among themselves and then with both coaches before ruling the goal good. It gave Medina a 7-3 lead. Thompson, who joked with Medina fans as she reached the sideline before the half, put any concern about her injury to rest, scoring off the opening draw of the third quarter in just 11 seconds. She added two fourth-quarter scores. "A teammate and I were going after a ball and I guess we didn't communicate well enough, which is a lesson," Thompson said. "It's OK. I think I came back better than before I left." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.