Medina buzzes into state semifinal against reigning Division I state champion St. Ignatius

The Medina boys soccer team is set to face a familiar foe in Cleveland St. Ignatius at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a Division I state semifinal.

Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium will be the site for the match as the No. 7 state-ranked Bees (15-3-3) and the No. 1 state-ranked Wildcats (19-2-0) meet for the seventh year in a row in the tournament.

Medina boys soccer:Bees win Division I boys soccer regional title to advance to state semifinal

Medina earned wins over Ignatius in 2017 and 2018 in state semifinal matches. The Bees finished as the Division I state runners-up in 2017 and the Division I state champions in 2018 under former coach Simon Spelling.

Ignatius topped Medina in 2016, 2019 and 2020 in state semifinal matches and in 2021 in a regional final and won the Division I state championship. The Wildcats have won 11 state titles, all since 2004.

Those results are history and Medina coach Doug Coreno said he believes his players can win Wednesday night after “staying composed” and “showing a lot of professionalism” in a 2-1 win over No. 2 state-ranked Hudson in overtime in a regional final Saturday at Nordonia’s High School’s at Boliantz Stadium.

Coreno is in his first year as Medina’s boys soccer coach after Spelling retired. Coreno led the Medina girls soccer team to a Division I state title in 2009.

Medina boys soccer:Medina tabs state champion coach Doug Coreno to take over boys program for retired state champion coach Simon Spelling

Medina at a glance

Junior Ian Kaczmarek and senior Jacob Hutz scored goals as Medina erased Hudson’s 1-0 halftime lead.

Coreno said Saturday that the plan was “to probably do 48 hours of recovery exercises and film and then get back on the pitch on Tuesday night” ahead of playing Ignatius.

“At this point of the year, the health of your body is just as important as whatever you are going to cover in practice,” he said.

Medina boys soccer:Bees win Division I regional semifinal, one win away from state semifinal

Kaczmarek scored his goal in the 15th minute of the second half off a pass by junior Cole Turchyn.

“The second half, we came out and we were like, ‘We’re a goal down and we have the wind to our advantage,’” Kaczmarek said. “We were driving on them more and I saw an opening, cut across and Turchyn played a beautiful ball through and I swung my leg at it and it was 1-1.”

Hutz delivered his goal eight minutes into overtime.

“This is unreal,” Hutz said of his goal. “I have never done anything like this or scored a goal as important as this. We lost to them at home [3-2 in the regular season] and to come back and beat them feels amazing.”

Turchyn is Medina’s starting forward. Seniors Hutz, Landon Daum and Nathan Werthmuller start in the midfield with junior Kyler O’Reilly and sophomore Evan Kotick.

Junior Donny Taylor is the Bees goalkeeper behind junior defenders Lincoln Horton, Ian White, Dylan Eckert and Danny McCashin.

Medina’s top reserves are seniors Tyler Jeppe and Chris Conrique and juniors Kaczmaryk and Owen Alber.

Medina boys soccer:Bees win Division I boys soccer district championship

Hudson boys soccer finishes 19-2-1

Hudson’s starting lineup will definitely have a different look next year with 10 seniors set to graduate off a team that finished 19-2-1.

Explorers coach Steve Knapp is bidding farewell to goalkeeper Kenneth Enos; defenders Easton Rowell, Jeremy Samangy, John Stecker and Noah Zappone; midfielders Matthew Morgan, Ben Mihalek and Ben Mormino; and forwards Joe Hallis and Tyler Travis.

“I feel for our seniors,” Knapp said. “The effort that they put in for four years and the culmination of all of that hard work and where they got to is pretty impressive. You feel for them.”

Hudson boys soccer:The heart of Hudson: Nick Savelli plays key role with Explorers boys soccer team

Travis scored a goal to give Hudson a 1-0 lead Saturday against Medina.

Sophomore Sam Robledo is set to be Hudson’s lone returning starter. Junior Gavin Mertes and seniors Owen Durkee and DJ Ashe consistently played as reserves in the tournament.

Hudson opened the season with a win over Kent Roosevelt, a draw with North Canton Hoover and a loss to Jackson.

The Explorers then put together an 18-match win streak that included two wins over Twinsburg and single victories over Medina, Wadsworth, Lake, Revere, Brecksville, Green, Nordonia, North Royalton, Toledo St. Francis de Sales, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Archbishop Hoban, Stow, Copley, Aurora, Kent and Walsh Jesuit.

“They are a very good team,” Turchyn said of Hudson. “We kept battling with them back and forth. I think when we realized that this could be our senior teammates’ last game, we kind of put that into perspective and we started driving on them more. We wanted to win so bad just to prove a point from the loss earlier this year. Hutz put it away, and we are all proud of him for doing it.”

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Medina heads into state semifinal boys soccer against St. Ignatius