Boys district soccer: Brunswick fades, loses to GlenOak

PLAIN TWP. — The sixth-seeded Brunswick boys soccer team's season came to a sudden and unfortunate end Wednesday night when the Blue Devils lost 3-0 to fifth-seeded GlenOak in a Division I, Northeast 3 District semifinal. Brunswick (9-5-4) had early chances on the offensive end but failed to capitalize, while the Golden Eagles (14-3-1) rode two goals by senior Grant Millsap to reach the final against fourth-seeded Medina (12-2-3) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at North Royalton. "It's meant the world to me," Blue Devils senior Owen Beskid said of his career. "It's given me relationships that I never thought I'd have. It got me a family that I didn't think I needed. These are my brothers. "I'm not happy how it ended, obviously, but I'd do it all over again." Beskid had the first quality chance for either team seven minutes in when he got the ball on a breakaway and fired low, but GlenOak goalie Nico Codispoti made a great sliding save. The low shot was a smart play on a night with intense winds, but Beskid (7 goals, 12 assists) just couldn't get the ball past Codispoti (4 saves). The senior was injured on a hard collision midway through the second half but made his way back onto the field to compete with his teammates. Roughly two minutes after Beskid's shot, sophomore Enzo Gliatta dribbled into the box and fired into the lower right corner of the net to give GlenOak a 1-0 lead. Brunswick tried to counter with another chance midway through the first half, but Brayden Oleksiw's shot sailed just high enough to go off the football crossbar above the goal. "We just wanted to get one quick, maybe catch them off guard," Blue Devils senior Miroslav Milanovic said of the start. "We wanted to get them first to knock them off balance and get another one." The hole got more difficult to climb out of for Brunswick when Millsap scored his first goal with 15:37 left in the first half. Ian Meyer set up for a corner kick that was headed away from the goal, but it then found Millsap's foot and then the right side of the net. "I feel like we came into the game fast, ready to go, and then all of the sudden they go up 1-0 and it took out our steam a little bit," Beskid said. "We got right back up and had another chance, but that second goal killed us." Following that second goal, Brunswick became in even more of a hurry to move the ball upfield for quick counterattacks, which allowed GlenOak to increase possession. The Golden Eagles worked more methodically and moved the ball with greater creativity. "I think we needed to hold the ball more," Oleksiw said. "We played too much kick ball out of the back to our strikers." Brunswick still had opportunities to cut into the lead, but Codispoti intercepted a pass from Martin Klenjoski just before it got to Beskid late in the first half. Codispoti then made another great save on a shot by Milanovic just before Millsap gave his team a 3-0 lead. Codispoti's final save came against Lazar with just under 26 minutes left. The Blue Devils graduate five starters in Beskid, Milanovic, Victor Lazar, goalie Eli Hyde (2 saves) and defender Isaac Steele. They also said goodbye to reserves Kai Piskach, Nathan Angus, Xavier Wypasek and Matt Reppa. Last season, GlenOak defeated Medina 1-0 in the district semifinals and Brunswick 1-0 in overtime in the final. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. GlenOak 3, Brunswick 0 Division I, Northeast 3 Semifinal BRUNSWICK 0 0 — 0 GLENOAK 2 1 — 3 First G — Enzo Gliatta, 30:55. G — Grant Millsap, 15:37. Second G — Millsap, 31:21. Shots on goal — Brunswick 4, GlenOak 5. Corner kicks — Brunswick 1, GlenOak 5. Saves — Eli Hyde (B) 2, Nico Codispoti (G) 4. Records — Brunswick (9-5-4), GlenOak (14-3-1).