Girls soccer: Sydney Atkinson's hat trick leads Medina to GCC win over Brunswick

MEDINA — After setting an unofficial record for the longest pregame senior night ceremony in Medina County history, the very grateful members of the Medina girls soccer team figured they better win the game.Her team locked in a tie with upset-minded county rival Brunswick on a chilly Wednesday night, senior Sydney Atkinson made it happen by scoring her third goal to lift the Bees to a thrilling 4-3 Greater Cleveland Conference victory.Atkinson's score with 2:12 to play capped a night that saw Medina (12-0-2, 6-0), which will play at Strongsville next Wednesday in a game that will decide the GCC title, honor its 10 seniors in a pregame ceremony that took 40 minutes.While lengthy player bios were read as the players walked across the field with their parents and siblings, the Blue Devils (5-7-3, 3-2-1), who are much better than their record indicates, were warming up.The Bees were then given 10 minutes to loosen up, lineups were hastily announced and the game began without the national anthem being played."It was getting cold," Atkinson said of the festivities. "We were all ready for it to be done. We only had 10 minutes to get back in the mindset of going out there to play. It was a little chaotic, but sometimes chaos is good."After leading 1-0 and then falling behind 3-1, Brunswick tied the game with 6:22 to play on a 21-yard free kick by Rylan Sheets, who also had her team's second goal on a 25-yard rocket with 23:59 remaining.Soon after, a Medina player went down due to injury and the Bees came together and lifted themselves back up. The only undefeated Division I team in the state then got what proved to be the game-winner when Atkinson drilled a straight-on shot from about 12 yards into the upper left corner of the net."As soon as our girl got hurt, we all came together and said we had to get something," she said. "The ball came right to me, I hit it as hard as I could and it went in the goal."That capped an enjoyable evening for the Bees, though the game was closer than they would have liked.Brunswick had a lot to do with that. With Medina starting its 10 seniors along with freshman Naomi Sundermeier, the Blue Devils quickly took advantage when Sheets fed Abby Morgan for a goal just 5:40 in."They didn't get to warm up as much as we did, so we wanted to get the early jump and show them what we could do," Sheets said.Medina, which finished with a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal and a 4-0 edge in corner kicks, got the equalizer when Atkinson, about 20 yards out and slightly left of goal, struck a perfect shot into the upper right corner with 10:09 to play in the first half.It took the Bees just 1:47 of second-half play to take the lead, with senior Ella Wilgor taking a phenomenal cross-field pass to the left post from classmate Caitlyn Taylor and tapping the ball into the net."It was the best pass I've ever seen," Wilgor said. "We've been practicing that non-stop."Atkinson then made it 3-1 less than six minutes later when she got behind Blue Devils keeper Abbie Burgess. Atkinson's first shot was blocked by a Brunswick defender, but the ball came back to her and she pocketed the rebound.Up two goals with 32:15, the Bees appeared to be in control, but Brunswick answered.Sheets hit a rocket from 25 yards off an assist from Morgan to beat Medina keeper Brianna McCashin, then tied the game after the Bees were whistled for a questionable foul just outside the box but right in front of the goal. Sheets' shot to the left was partially deflected by a diving McCashin but almost instantaneously hit the inside of the post and curled in."Coach (Scott) Ward just said to hit it low and hard," Sheets said. "I've had problems in the past with hitting it too high. I knew if I hit it hard it would go somewhere near where it needed to go."The Blue Devils exited happy with how they battled but realizing three goals are often enough to win."We definitely didn't expect it to be this high-scoring of a game," Sheets said. "We need to get better at stepping to the ball right away and closing down the space immediately. That's been our problem all year."With fairly loud student sections for both teams and a solid crowd on hand, Medina left knowing it could have played better but happy to have won on senior night."With Brunswick being a big rival, tying on senior night would have been like a loss for us," Wilgor said. "(Atkinson) just had a phenomenal game."Winning on senior night is the best, but after our whole long ceremony, getting together and locking in was tough. I'm proud we still pulled through."Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.Medina 4, Brunswick 3BRUNSWICK 1 2 — 3 MEDINA 1 3 — 4First B — Abby Morgan (Rylan Sheets), 34:20.M — Sydney Atkinson, 10:09.SecondM — Ella Wilgor (Caitlyn Taylor), 38:13.M — Atkinson, 32:15.B — Sheets (Morgan), 23:59.B — Sheets, 6:22.M — Atkinson, 2:12.Shots on goal — Brunswick 5, Medina 12. Corner kicks — Brunswick 0, Medina 4. Saves — Abbie Burgess (B) 6, Brianna McCashin (M) 2. Records — Brunswick (5-7-3, 3-2-1), Medina (12-0-2, 6-0).