Boys soccer: Rivals Brunswick, Wadsworth battle to scoreless tie

WADSWORTH — When you know each other as well as the Brunswick and Wadsworth boys soccer teams do, it's hard to get anything past anybody. The latest example came Tuesday night, as the Medina County rivals tied 0-0 in a non-league contest. It was the fourth time over the last eight annual meetings that the game ended deadlocked. "Brunswick-Wadsworth goes back with a lot of history," Blue Devils defender Ryan Dick said. "It's a great rivalry. Playoffs, regular season it's always a fight. No matter what happened the year before, it's always skill is out the door. It's about hard work and whoever wants it more." Both defenses definitely went to work, with Dick and Evan Denker captaining a back line that included Charlie Avarello and Collin Perlatti. Equally up to the task were Grizzlies defenders Lincoln Nagy, Jordan Russell, Gavin Lucci and Landon Myers. Wadsworth's Cayden Taylor and Brunswick's Artur Vasylkevych each made five saves in the battle that had a late-October feel in late August. "The matchup is like a playoff level game," Wadsworth forward Benny Sauser said. "Overall, I thought we performed well as a team, but there's some small areas that we could get better in. They're a rival, and I feel like we played pretty well." Sauser had what might have been the best chance for either team to crack the scoreboard with 13:03 left when he got the ball in space on the right side, but his shot sailed just over the goal. The Wadsworth defense, which has only given up one goal in two games this season, picked up Sauser and the rest of the Grizzlies with a stellar effort to make sure the Grizzlies walked out of Art Wright Memorial Stadium with the draw for the second straight season. "It just comes down to teamwork and communication," Nagy said. "Cayden talks to me the whole time. I talk to my outside backs. They talk to their wingers. It's just communication on communication. "That helps us as a team to shift and cover and make sure nothing gets by." Sauser had a header with 26:31 left in the first half saved by Vasylkevych for first true chance for either team. Midway though the first half, Brunswick went on offense behind captain Martin Klenjoski's two opportunities. The first sailed wide left, and then Taylor saved the next one. Late in the second half, Taylor saved another Klenjoski shot. The Blue Devils, who tied Massillon Jackson 1-1 in their season opener, continued to try to find their rhythm offensively. "We tried to press a lot to get the ball back through turnovers," Klenjoski said. "We also try to get the ball out wide and find crossers for our tallest players. We always try our best to press and go on counterattacks most of the time." Early in the second half, forward Levi Eidenmiller attempted to put Brunswick ahead with a pair of chances that included a nice save by Taylor, who also made a great play on a header by Tyler Bradbury off a corner kick by Denker just past the midway point of the second half. Wadsworth pressed Brunswick in the closing minutes, with Mason Hiltner having a try go just over the goal and the Blue Devils turning away a pair of late corner kicks. "Defensively, we knew coming in they were going to be very direct," Dick said. "We can't let the ball bounce at all, because once it bounces it can go out of control. We didn't let that happen, which is a great thing." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 0, Brunswick 0 BRUNSWICK &emsp;&emsp; 0 0 — 0 WADSWORTH &emsp;&emsp;0 0 — 0 Shots on goal — Brunswick 5, Wadsworth 5. Corner kicks — Brunswick 3, Wadsworth 5. Saves — Artur Vasylkevych (B) 5, Cayden Taylor (W) 5. Records — Brunswick (0-0-2), Wadsworth (1-0-1). Junior varsity — Brunswick 1, Wadsworth 1.