Raiders finish up conference play with a shutout win

MEDFORD BOYS HOCKEY

Five different players scored goals and junior goalie Ben Brunner collected his first career shutout Monday in Medford’s 6-0 win over Tomahawk in the seventh- place game of the Great Northern Conference tournament.

Connor Gowey scored twice and was credited with an assist to lead the offense as the Raiders scored two goals in each period to earn their second win of the season over the winless Hatchets.

Medford improved to 6-13-1 overall heading into WIAA Division 2 tournament play. The sixth-seeded Raiders were scheduled to face third-seeded New Richmond in a 7:30 p.m. regional final tonight, Thursday, though a postponement is likely. The Tigers won the Middle Border Conference with a 7-2 record and are 11-5 overall.

The winner likely earns a trip to second-seeded Superior for a sectional semifinal on Tuesday. The Spartans, who went 6-5 in their abbreviated season, face the seventh-seeded Burnett Blizzard tonight in their regional final.

Monday’s win concluded a 2-8 season in the Great Northern Conference for the Raiders, with the last two games being consolation games in the tournament bracket.

The Raiders generally controlled play from start to finish Monday, taking over their time of puck possession and shot numbers at about the midway point of the first period. They broke the ice 8:58 into the period when the puck found its way to Miles Searles behind the net and he fed Carter Pernsteiner with a nice pass out in front of Tomahawk goalie Andrew Samundsen, Pernsteiner beat him low to the glove side.

At 15:24, a loose puck found the stick of Isaac Schaefer, who pushed it to his right to Brayden Machon, who ripped a shot high on Samundsen’s glove side and just inside the upper corner of the net. The period ended with Medford holding a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal. At one point late, the Raiders caught iron on back-to-back shots.

The Raiders quickly doubled their lead in the second. A Logan Searles assist set up Austin Stauffer with an easy shot at an open net at 1:24. Then, at 1:24, after the Raiders unsuccessfully charged the net and tried stuffing the puck past Samundsen, Kaden Kennedy kept the play alive and the puck found its way to Colbe Bull, who passed to his right to Gowey, who whistled a shot past Tomahawk’s freshman net minder.

The Raiders killed off a penalty and had several good scoring chances over the last 14 minutes of the period but were unable to widen their lead. They continued to pass the puck and look for teammates and the best possible scoring chances through the third. Gowey, though, did most of the work himself on the fifth goal at the 7:28 mark after getting the puck from Logan Searles at his own blue line. He beat a defender there and then skillfully worked past another Hatchet at the other blue line to get a oneon- one chance with Samundsen, which he won.

Logan Searles capped the scoring at 14:51 when the puck landed on his stick just as he left the penalty box after a fiveminute boarding major. He took care of the play unassisted.

Brunner only had to stop 11 shots to get his shutout, but eight of them were in the third period, and he faced a couple of tough ones late. He denied a one-on-one breakaway opportunity for Hatchet Benjamin Schertz and then stopped a couple of close shots toward the end of Tomahawk’s long power play.

Medford had just one power play the entire night and didn’t capitalize. Tomahawk (0-10, 0-19) had two chances.

Fourth-seeded Rhinelander won the conference tournament with upset wins over top-seeded Northland Pines (5-2) in the semifinals and over second-seeded Mosinee (5-3) in Saturday’s championship. Northland Pines rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and got a late goal to beat third-seeded Lakeland 4-3 in the thirdplace game. Fifth-seeded Waupaca beat sixth-seeded Antigo 5-4 in three-on-three, double-overtime hockey in Saturday’s fifth-place game.

Antigo 8, Medford 4

In Thursday’s consolation semifinals, Medford fell behind 6-1 before finishing the game on an up note in an 8-4 loss at Antigo.

Stauffer and Gowey scored goals late in the second period to pull the Raiders within 6-3 and Gowey added another goal in the third after Antigo had surged back ahead by five.

Medford lost its regular-season game in Antigo 6-0 back on December 12.

“We were streaky in this one,” head coach Galen Searles said. “We had spurts of great passing and pressure followed by letting Antigo control the pace.”

Brunner had 29 saves as the Red Robins outshot Medford 37-31.

The game didn’t get off to a good start when Robin Paden Michalik skated past a couple Raiders along the right boards just 16 seconds in and fired a shot that hit the crossbar and went into the net.

The Raiders answered at 2:22 after a long sequence in the Antigo zone finally paid off with Logan Searles gaining control of the puck inside the blue line and going top shelf with a wrist shot on the stick side of goalie Aaron Converse.

Antigo’s top line, however, got backto- back goals at 9:20 and 13:34 to give the Robins 3-1 lead. Joe Volpentesta got both scores with assists from Trevin Walbeck. Calvin Jansen added an assist on the first one.

Joe Bartletti and Carter Michalik scored at 1:58 and 4:50 in the second period. At 10:45, Garrett Husnick scored on Antigo’s second power-play chance of the game to make it 6-1.

A hooking penalty gave Medford its own power play and Stauffer capitalized at 13:20, flipping a backhand shot over Converse’s shoulder. Pernsteiner and Gowey had the assists. Stauffer assisted on Gowey’s goal from a tough angle with 21 seconds left in the period and Pernsteiner hit the post right off the ensuing face-off, coming inches away from making it a two-goal game.

A tripping penalty led to Landon Nelson’s power-play goal for Antigo 3:41 into the third and Paden Michalik scored 53 seconds later to put it away.

Gowey scored a power-play goal from the doorstep off assists from Pernsteiner and Warryck Leonhardt at 11:51.

Converse had 20 saves in two periods for Antigo, while Nolan Bunnell stopped seven of eight shots in the third. Antigo was two for three on power plays. Medford was two for four.