Boys soccer: Medina Christian gets first tournament win

MONTVILLE TWP. — The Medina Christian boys soccer team reached a milestone Monday with relative ease. The 18th-seeded Knights rolled over 41st-seeded Brookfield 8-0 in a mercy-ruled contest to capture their first OHSAA tournament win in a Division V, Northeast 3 quarterfinal. Medina Christian (14-3) moves on to a semifinal contest against a familiar foe in 39th-seed Loudonville, which the Knights have beaten 2-1 in each of the last two seasons. After allowing a brief foray by the Warriors (2-16) into their defensive end at the start of the game, the Knights took over behind seniors Daniel Hussey and Nathan Androshchuk. "It is a huge step up from last year," Androshchuk said. "Last year we were a newly started program, but between then and now I feel like we've grown so much. We finally have this team identity we're working towards, and we have. "I am grateful to my teammates and the environment that we play in. I cannot wait to come back in five years and see what is next." Hussey struck first just 2:08 in on the first of his five goals. He had a hat trick with 13:30 left in the first half. "If I didn't have my team around me, I wouldn't have those goals." Hussey said. "I have these guys around me getting me the ball." Androshchuk joined in shortly thereafter with the first of his two goals to make it 3-0, then closed things to bring a halt to the game with 4:06 remaining in the second half. "We wanted to set the tone that this is our home field," Androshchuk said. "We envision this place as a fortress for us and we want everyone to know that if they want to play at our field, then they can expect a hit or two from us in the back of the net." The Warriors notched just two shots on goal, and both were swallowed easily by goalkeeper Steven Androshchuk. Medina Christian entered on a roll, having won nine straight contests, including the Lake Effect Conference Tournament. "Our first few games we didn't have that chemistry yet," senior River Thomas said. "The more we played together, we were able to build that chemistry and we are really jelling as a good team." During their 10-game winning streak, the Knights have outscored their opponents 82-4. A big part of that for Hussey was seeing Nathan Androshchuk return to the lineup. "We got him back," Hussey said. "We have a lot of good freshmen this year, and that helps as well. We've just been building the program." One of those freshmen, Matt Lapeus, tallied an assist on Hussey's fourth goal. Fellow freshman Isaiah Dos Santos was a 50-50 ball force while helping the Knights keep the ball in the offensive end. The Knights outshot the Warriors 22-2, earned eight corners and fired 40 total shots. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Medina Christian 8, Brookfield 0 Division V, Northeast 3 Quarterfinal BROOKFIELD&emsp;0 0 — 0 MEDINA CHRISTIAN&emsp;5 3 — 8 First M — Daniel Hussey, 37:52. M — Hussey (Nathan Androshchuk), 27:05. M — N. Androshchuk (Hussey), 21:34. M — Hussey, 13:30. M — Hussey (Matt Lapeus), 3:47. Second M — N. Androshchuk, 21:34. M — Hussey, 8:20. M — Androschchuk (Hussey), 4:06. Shots on goal — Brookfield 2, Medina Christian 22. Corner kicks — Brookfield 0, Medina Christian 8. Saves — Nick Zelinski (B) 9, Brandon Evans (B) 5, Steven Androshchuk (M) 2. Records — Brookfield (2-16), Medina Christian (14-3).