That pressure did not faze No. 5 Southwestern as it cruised past No. 12 Medina 4-1 in a Section VI Class B2 boys soccer prequarterfinal at Charles A. Lawson Field on Tuesday night.

Southwestern was all over Medina from the beginning and, if not for strong goalkeeping, the Trojans would have scored in the opening five minutes.

However, the wait for the first goal was not long thanks to Connor Young.

With the speed and skill on full display by Southwestern wingers Seth Vaughn and Young, it would be Young who would open the scoring when he finished off a rush down the left wing with a laser to bottom left corner of the net.

Trojans’ Jonas Gesing makes a save. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

Just prior to Young’s tally, Vaughn had pulled off a similar run where he cut inside and managed to beat the defense, but could not slip it past the Medina keeper.

“Our speed up front is one of our weapons,” Southwestern head coach Jason Deering said. “Nolan Froah in the middle of those three, he’s able to find those guys and pick out passes to them and they do what they do. It causes defenses all kinds of fits and it’s awesome to watch.”

Southwestern’s offensive onslaught continued and with it came a bevy of quality chances which led to some corners. The Trojans managed to convert on two corners and built what looked like an insurmountable 3-0 lead very early into the contest.

On the first corner, Nolan Froah laced a perfect ball into the box to meet the head of a soaring Spencer Bell who nodded the ball into the left side of the net. The second corner was not as clean, as Froah’s cross was a low one that caused a bit of chaos, but Matt Lefler managed to pluck the ball out of the fray and slot it into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

It looked as if Southwestern would cruise into half with that lead, but Medina’s Cole Callard had other ideas when he sent in a long shot that got by Jonas Gesing with just a minute left in half.

Southwestern’s Neves Hoose settles a ball near midfield during Tuesday’s Section VI Class B2 prequarterfinal against Medina at Charles A. Lawson Field. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

Just when it looked like Southwestern would have an easy walk to victory, the late Medina goal made things interesting. Medina came out with more energy in the second half thanks to the goal and even created some great opportunities. This time Gesing would not be foiled as he made two of his five saves that looked to surely be goals.

“It was absolutely solid back there,” Deering said about the Trojans’ defense and goaltending. “From our center-defensive-mids to our back three to Jonas, who made a couple huge saves in that second half. The game would have been totally different if those two goals went in. We gave up 20 goals in the first half of the season and we’ve given up four or five this half.”

With Medina pressing it put its defense at a disadvantage and the Trojans made sure to take advantage of that. Froah took advantage of the pressure in the 56th minute when he turned upfield and sent a through ball for Young to run into and it paid off to give Young his second goal.

The final goal deflated the Medina comeback effort and Southwestern poured on the pressure. The Trojans defense and midfield made it difficult for Medina to even bring the ball past midfield as they cruised to the 4-1 win.

“Grey Kidder played fantastic tonight in the center midfield,” Deering added. “He was composed most of the night, picking out easy passes, moving the ball, controlling our pace, finding Nolan in the middle and finding the outside mids. It was exactly what we were looking for, him and James Pirrello just continue to balance each other off in that midfield.”

Southwestern (12-4-0) will now play at No. 4 Bennett (8-1-1) on Thursday.

“We just had to play our game,” Deering said about the Trojans. “We feel like if we play our game, we do the things we’ve been talking about and stay consistent throughout then we can go deep in these playoffs.”