Boys soccer: Jackson Harvey scores game's lone goal as Medina beats Wadsworth

WADSWORTH — A Saturday morning non-league matchup between Medina County boys soccer teams with deep tournament aspirations saw Medina knock off Wadsworth 1-0.Future contests between the schools will be in the Suburban League National Conference, as the Bees (10-2-3) will join the Grizzlies (8-4-4) in next fall.The quality of play was at the forefront particularly on defense. Shots were tough to come by and quality chances even harder.The Bees finally broke through on a goal from Jackson Harvey off a feed from Cooper Korduba with 31:11 leftFittingly in a defensive slugfest, it took some luck and funky bounces to break the scoreless tie."Me and Brody (Gannon) were on the ball," Korduba said. "The original idea was to shoot, then we saw all the space down the sideline. So, (Gannon) played me through, and I was looking for the cross and I guess I hit it a little too far right. It hit the post, bounced right up off the ground onto Harvey's head and right and into the net."It wasn't the first or last time the post came into play, either.Medina's first solid scoring chance came just 7:45 in, when Jack Piatak hit the corner post and bounced out.Wadsworth's leading scorer, Justin Lazaretti, was stopped by the same post after the teams switched ends when his shot with 3:30 left clanged out."We really did up our pressure there at the end," Lazaretti said. "We just really wanted to get that last goal back. They were really organized there in the back. They talked a lot. We didn't get a lot of shots off other than that one at the very end. It was frustrating."Lazaretti also got his head on a ball in the box that Medina goalkeeper Bennett Werthmuller got his hand on and tipped over the crossbar earlier in the second half.Werthmuller also had a terrific sliding kick save in the second half. Both stops were critical in helping his team keep the one-goal margin."I didn't have to do much the whole game," said Werthmuller, who made four saves. "The defense played amazing, and I stepped up when I had to and I made the saves."The Grizzlies got a tremendous effort in goal as well, with junior K.J. Mack (4 saves) stepping in for injured starter Cayden Taylor.Next up for Medina is a Greater Cleveland Conference matchup against Strongsville (12-1) on Tuesday that amounts to a conference championship game. The Mustangs are fifth in MaxPreps Division I rankings, have allowed just five goals this season and have shut out opponents in 10 of the last 11 games."We just have to play our game," Werthmuller said. "We know what we are capable of, and we know what they have. We just have to come out there and bring the energy."The Grizzlies head to Solon for a SL National matchup Tuesday before beginning postseason play at home against Cuyahoga Falls on Oct. 22.Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com.Medina 1, Wadsworth 0 MEDINA 0 1 — 1WADSWORTH 0 0 — 0SecondM — Jackson Harvey (Cooper Korduba), 31:11.Shots on goal — Medina 5, Wadsworth 4. Corner kicks — Medina 4, Wadsworth 3. Saves — Bennett Werthmuller (M) 4, K.J. Mack (W) 4. Records — Medina (10-2-3), Wadsworth (8-4-4). Junior varsity — Medina 2, Wadsworth 0.