Blackhawks get second win over Raiders
MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY
Injuries are something the thin Medford girls hockey team couldn’t afford, but they are something the Raiders are having to deal with as they try to get to the finish line of the 2020-21 season.
Down a couple of skaters –– leading scorer Kyla Kennedy and Kylee Koontz –– the Raiders put 13 shots on goal Thursday, but were unable to dent goalie Makenna Rudie and her defense in an 11-0 loss to the host Viroqua Co-op.
The Blackhawks earned their second win of the season over Medford by scoring four goals in the first and third periods and adding three more in the second. Viroqua sat at 7-4 for the season after beating Beaver Dam 11-1 on Friday.
Rachel Simonson was the scoring leader with a hat trick and four assists. She secured her hat trick by scoring twice in the third period and she scored Viroqua’s third goal 10:54 in.
Erin Simonson capped her hat trick by scoring the game’s final goal with 4:38 remaining. She scored Viroqua’s first two goals 2:46 and 8:35 into the first period and added an assist. Cadence Dehlin scored the fourth goal of the first period with 53 seconds left. Freya Rising, Nola Karwoski and Aida Karwoski scored the home team’s second-period goals that made it 7-0 and assured a running clock in the third period.
Medford put seven of its shots on goal in the second period. Viroqua finished with 39 shots, 28 of which were saved by Medford’s Saige Duesing. She had 10 saves in the first period and 11 in the second.
Medford had the game’s only power play midway through the third period.
The Raiders (3-9) host the Chippewa Falls-Menomonie Sabers tonight, Thursday, at 6 p.m. and then head to Baraboo Saturday where they will take part in a triangular with the host Badger Lightning co-op and the Northern Edge co-op to close the regular season.
As expected, Medford drew the sixth seed in its six-team WIAA sectional bracket. The Raiders will head to Northland Pines for a matchup with the thirdseeded Eagles Feb. 4 that starts at 5 p.m.
Defending state champion Fox Cities and the Central Wisconsin Storm earned the top two seeds and drew first-round byes. The fifth-seeded Northern Edge meets the fourth-seeded Green Bay Area Ice Bears Feb. 5.
