Girls soccer: Defensive lapse, offensive woes lead to Brunswick loss to Strongsville

BRUNSWICK — The defense of the Brunswick girls soccer team was nearly impenetrable against Strongsville on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, one miscue combined with an offense that wasn't able to find the back of the net put Brunswick on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss. The annual backyard rivalry pitted the teams that entered the night tied for second place in the Greater Cleveland Conference. "It was a tough loss," Blue Devils senior Peighton Railey said. "I feel like we held them a lot of the game. One mistake kind of changed the game, but we kept going until the end. I'm proud of us for that." Brunswick (5-6-2, 3-1-1) came in on a four-game winning streak, while Strongsville (9-1-2, 4-0-1) was just as hot on a five-game run. "I'm a bit upset," Blue Devils goalie Abbie Burgess said. "It was a close game that really showed we are up there in skill with everyone else, despite our record in the past. It really sets us up for the rest of our season. "The end sucked, but overall I think we did the best we could." The Mustangs stayed on the heels of GCC-leading Medina (10-0-2, 5-0), a 9-0 winner over Euclid on Wednesday. The Bees meet Brunswick next Wednesday and conclude league play against Strongsville on Oct. 15. Burgess (8 saves) and a rotation of players led by starters Abby Morgan, Meredith Mucha, Sydney Rice, Kate Hubbell, Kaila Peterson and Railey were strong on the defensive end and in the midfield to limit Strongsville's attack. That effort kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard for 62 minutes. "We knew that if we wanted to have a chance of not getting scored on, we had to be highly energetic throughout the entire game," Burgess said. "We had to keep it up, because as soon as we dropped the energy, that's when they started pushing." Freshman Addison Eichenberger broke the ice with 17:51 left, when she slipped the ball by Burgess into the lower-right corner of the goal after a pass from junior Hadley Gierosky, who was able to find space and work through the defense. "It was just a moment where the ball got played through and was unlucky," Burgess said. "It all happened so quickly." Less than two minutes later, it looked like Brunswick was going to have a chance to end its 12-game losing streak against Strongsville when Railey stepped up to take a free kick above the box on the left side, but the ball went off the crossbar and the Blue Devils were called for offsides on the follow up. The free kick was set up by a Strongsville defender getting called for a foul in the aftermath of a corner kick by Katie Callahan. "That was really tough," Railey said of her kick sailing just high. "I was really hoping I could tie us back up. It was sad to see it not get in the back of the net." Brunswick's last non-loss to the Mustangs came on Sept. 2, 2015, a 1-1 tie. Brunswick entered the game averaging 5.2 goals over its past six contests, going 5-1 in that span. In the end, the Blue Devils were shut out for the seventh time this season but only the second since Sept. 10. "We need to keep going until the end," Railey said. "We need to press as much as we can, because anything can happen in any minute of the game." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Strongsville 1, Brunswick 0 STRONGSVILLE 0 1 — 1 BRUNSWICK 0 0 — 0 Second S — Addison Eichenberger (Hadley Gierosky), 17:51. Shots on goal — Strongsville 9, Brunswick 5. Corner kicks — Strongsville 3, Brunswick 2. Saves — Ava Therrien (S) 5, Abbie Burgess (B) 8. Records — Strongsville (9-1-2, 4-0-1), Brunswick (5-6-2, 3-1-1). Junior varsity — Brunswick 1, Strongsville 1.