Soccer season ends with strong effort, sudden-death shootout loss

WIAA DIV. 3 GIRLS SOCCER

In a round of blowouts in Sectional 1 of the WIAA Division 3 girls soccer tournament, there was one match that couldn’t have been any closer.

In a game that took two days to complete, the sixth-seeded Medford Raiders and third-seeded Falcons from Amherst/ Iola-Scandinavia played to a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, forcing a penalty-kick shootout to decide who advanced to Saturday’s regional final at Lakeland.

Unfortunately for Medford, that team was the Falcons, who won the shootout 3-2 in six rounds. Amherst/Iola-Scandinavia lost Saturday to second-seeded Lakeland 3-0 to finish its season 12-4-2.

Despite the outcome, Medford finished a 3-9-2 season on a high note with a game the Raiders won’t soon forget.

“Of course the girls were disappointed with the loss,” head coach Tanya Tessmann said. “But they thought it was a great way to end the season with such a close game. It was a nice for the seniors to finish playing such a good game.”

The game started on Thursday night but had to be suspended at the 51:57 mark due to lightning. At the time, the Falcons led 1-0 thanks to an early goal they scored just 10:58 into the game.

“It was hot,” Tessmann said. “It was still 85 degrees when we started the game at 7 p.m. That makes a big difference. We were down a few players, but we were able to get subs in early and rotate players through. When we started the second half, I felt like the girls were reenergized. But the skies got darker and darker and lightning forced the game to be postponed.”

The teams waited things out for just under an hour before it was decided to resume on Friday. While not exactly convenient, Tessmann said returning to Amherst for the next day’s 5 p.m. start also seemed to be a good re-start for the Raiders.

“Friday we said we just have to play strong for 38 minutes,” she said.

They did just that, tying the game almost immediately. At 52:22, just 25 seconds after the restart, Ellee Grunwald sent a cross from the right wing that found the foot of Gabby Brunner, who knocked the ball past the Falcon goalie.

From there, as they did for most of the game, the defenses dominated. Tessmann said there weren’t a high number of shots or scoring chances in the game, though the Raiders did have to fend off a corner-kick opportunity for the home team in the final 15 seconds of regulation.

Tessmann credited junior Kelsey Jascor for breaking up several pushes by the Falcons and the return of the team’s most experienced defender, Caitlin Doyle, was huge. Sophia Yohnk, Nikki Poetzl and Maddie Eckert also played key roles in keeping the Falcons off the scoreboard for nearly 100 minutes of play after they had taken the early lead. Freshman goalie Sophia Brunner had 20 saves.

Offensively, Sierra Tessmann led the Raiders in shot opportunities and shots on goal, with Grunwald, Wiitala, Gabby Brunner, Poetzl and Krause also recording shots on goal.

After the teams were scoreless in both overtime periods, the best-of-five shootout started with the coin flip, won by Amherst/Iola-Scandinavia, who chose to shoot second in round.

Medford’s leading scorer on the season, Jasmine Wiitala, powered a shot to left side that found the net in round one. The Falcons missed their opening shot. The Raiders’ Ellee Grunwald, Lydia Pernsteiner and Brunner were denied, while the Falcons hit their second and fourth shots to take a 2-1 lead. Needing to score to extend the shootout, junior Autumn Krause made an excellent shot to the left side. Brunner saved the fifth shot she faced, sending the shootout to a sudden victory format.

Yohnk’s shot in round six went high, and the Falcons made their shot to end it.

While the shortened season didn’t produce as many wins as the Raiders had hoped, Tessmann said the team improved as it progressed, the girls had fun and still have a lot to build from in what hopefully will be a normal season in 2022.

“We’re losing three outstanding seniors (Wiitala, Grunwald and Olivia Felix) and we’ll lose Sophia Yohnk, who is moving, but we’ll still have a great core group returning.”

Medford’s Nikki Poetzl (23) kicks the ball out of the goalie box and prevents a potential score by the Falcons during Friday’s second half.