Boys soccer: Evenly matched Brunswick, Wadsworth duel to tie

BRUNSWICK — In a 1-1 non-league boys soccer draw between Medina County rivals Wadsworth and Brunswick where both goals were scored by No. 11, the entire 80 minutes of play were just as close Wednesday. The Division I Blue Devils (0-0-2), who beat the D-II regional finalist Grizzlies (1-0-1) a season ago, got seven saves from keeper Eli Hyde, while Wadsworth got six from Cayden Taylor. Wadsworth held an 8-7 edge in shots on goal and a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks in a match where a light drizzle fell for much of the evening, but both teams had an equal number of opportunities, leaving both satisfied but not thrilled with the final outcome. "It's more about performance," Brunswick senior midfielder Owen Beskid said. "We were proud of our performance. We played well enough to win, but unfortunately it didn't go our way." "We were looking to get back at them after last year, but we knew this was going to be a good game," countered Wadsworth senior midfielder Justin Lazzaretti, who also played quite a bit at forward. "There were things we did good and things we could have done better." After nothing resembling a shot on goal was recorded over the first 13 minutes, Brunswick had a solid run of opportunities over a five-minute stretch, but Taylor leaped to stop a great Beskid free kick from the far right side and then made another excellent stop on a shot by Brayden Oleksiw. The scoring drought was finally broken with 8:24 left on a play that began as a Wadsworth corner kick from the right side. Diego Montoya played a great ball to Lazzaretti about 10 yards out from the left post and Hyde made a terrific save on Lazzaretti's initial shot, but the ball came right back to Lazzaretti, who dished to Kyle Nagel for an easy tap-in. "The keeper made a great save, so I put the ball in the middle," Lazzaretti said. "I was luck Kyle was right there. "It was a perfect," he added of the corner kick that started everything. "It was right there. I couldn't ask for more." Brunswick answered with 3:15 left in the opening half on a play that began as a free kick from 44 yards. After a brief flurry just outside the box, Taylor came out to the top right corner in an attempt to corral the ball, but could only push it just outside the box. The ball landed between a player from each team and then ricocheted to Kai Piskach, who slid a left-footed shot — his right leg is his strong one — past a Wadsworth defender who couldn't get there in time and into the lower right corner of the net. "I saw (Taylor) come totally out of goal, so I knew I had to do something," Piskach said. "I just ripped it and hoped for the best." Neither team scored in the second half, but both had chances despite solid play from the Wadsworth back line of Bretty Pelkey, Eli Watson, Benny Sauser and midfielder Vincent Gambaccini and Blue Devils defenders Tyler Bradbury, Kaden Tibbs, Ryan Dick and Oleksiw. Brunswick's best opportunity came with 7:19 remaining on a 27-yard free kick by Beskid. Taylor made a save above his head, but not before the ball slipped through his hands and came dangerously close to landing behind the goal line. Wadsworth's best chance came with 2:14 left when L.J. Barker launched a rocket from the left side, but it was saved by Hyde, who was rock-solid steady all night. "I don't think it was a horrible outcome," the Grizzlies' Montoya said. "There were things we could have done better, but that's on us." "We're OK with it," the Blue Devils' Piskach said of the tie. "The energy we brought was like no other. We intend to bring that to every match." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazete.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Wadsworth 1, Brunswick 1 WADSWORTH 1 0 — 1 BRUNSWICK 1 0 — 1 First W — Kyle Nagel (Justin Lazzaretti), 8:24. B — Kai Piskach, 3:15. Shots on goal — Wadsworth 8, Brunswick 7. Corner kicks — Wadsworth 6, Brunswick 3. Saves — Cayden Taylor (W) 6, Eli Hyde (B) 7. Records — Wadsworth (1-0-1), Brunswick (0-0-2).