Girls soccer: Medina closes out GCC tenure with tie with Strongsville, outright league title

STRONGSVILLE — The Medina girls soccer team didn't win the game Wednesday, but the Bees collected the greater prize anyway.By virtue of a 1-1 tie with archrival Strongsville, Medina won its sixth Greater Cleveland Conference championship and third outright title since helping form the conference in 2015.Thanks to a 1-1 tie against Mentor for the Mustangs (11-3-3, 5-0-2) earlier in the season, the Bees (13-0-3, 6-0-1) won the GCC for a second straight season."It means everything," captain Caitlyn Taylor said. "As a senior, this is all I've been wanting all year. I wanted an undefeated season, which we got, and I've been wanting to win the GCC."It was amazing to do it last year, and I wanted to do it again."Medina closed its GCC tenure in the the same way it began: as outright league champion. Since that win in 2015, the Bees have also shared the championship with Strongsville three times. The Mustangs have won five outright championships, as the schools have accounted for every title in the conference's 11-year existence.The Bees will join the Suburban League National Conference next fall."It is just so many happy emotions, I'm just so overwhelmed," freshman Naomi Sundermeier said. "We've worked so hard. To come off with a tie is incredible. We know that we've earned it, and this is our hard work paying off."Sundermeier gave the Bees a huge boost when she put away her 14th goal of the season — by far the biggest — just 3:27 in. The midfielder collected a loose ball in the box after a corner kick by freshman Annaliese Ebert was deflected a number of times and slid it into the back of the net."That was such a right moment at the right time," Sundermeier said. "It wasn't my best goal, but I was just happy that I could put it in for the team. Obviously, it had a big impact on the final result, so it was good."The Medina defense made that goal stand up during a dominant effort in the first half in which Strongsville went without a shot on goal.The Mustangs came out pressuring the Bees' defensive end early in the second half, and junior Hadley Gierosky fired a shot over the reach of Medina goalie Brianna McCashin less than five minutes after halftime. It was just the 11th goal allowed by the Bees.After the goal, the Medina defense, led by starters Taylor, Becca Keserich and Madi Kautzman, went back into lockdown mode for most of the half, and McCashin made a huge save with 1:32 left that kept the game tied."I know for me and my fellow defenders, we wanted a shutout," Taylor said. "After that goal hit, it was a bummer, but we had to pick our heads up. We had to keep fighting hard to try to win every tackle."With less than one minute left, the Bees had a chance to come away with the win when leading scorer Emma McTigue (17 goals, 2 assists) fired a laser, but Strongsville goalie Ava Therrien was able to just get enough to tip it over the crossbar.Therrien's third save led to Medina's 10th corner kick, but the Bees were unable to capitalize on any of their set plays.The test against the rival Mustangs was a great measuring stick for what the Bees need to do to make a long postseason run. That journey begins Tuesday at home against Canton McKinley."This game shows us how hard we have to work," Taylor said. "Though we worked our butts off to get here and we have amazing coaches, we need to take another step and keep pushing ourselves every single day, every single practice."We grow as a team. We didn't have the perfect game, but we learn from those mistakes and move on."Before they move on to the postseason, the Bees were perfectly content to celebrate going on the road to win their final GCC title."It's a dream as a freshman to play with girls that I've looked up to my whole entire life and tie our rivals," Sundermeier said. "I'm overwhelmed right now."Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.Medina 1, Strongsville 1MEDINA 1 0 — 1STRONGSVILLE 0 1 — 1FirstM — Naomi Sundermeier, 36:33.SecondS — Hadley Gierosky, 35:21.Shots on goal — Medina 4, Strongsville 2. Corner kicks — Medina 10, Strongsville 1. Saves — Brianna McCashin (M) 1, Ava Theirrien (S) 3. Records — Medina (13-0-3, 6-0-1), Strongsville (11-3-3, 5-0-2).