Despite just 10 shots, Raiders get big win over the Union

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

The Medford Raiders began the season targeting three teams they had to prove they could beat to meet their goals of hosting and hopefully winning the program’s first-ever post-season games.

They got the first one Nov. 22 in their season opener.

Riding an incredible 45 saves from freshman goalie Ilsa Brunner and an opportunistic offense that pounced on its opportunities, the Raiders knocked off the Wisconsin Valley Union 5-1 at the Simek Recreation Center to start the season in style.

It was the first win Medford has ever had over any combination of the Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids/Marshfield coop has had since the Raiders began varsity play in 2009-10 and the first win of what they hope is several over potential sectional opponents this winter.

“Part of our goal is met,” head coach Scott Brandner said after the win. “We needed to beat Wisconsin Valley Union. We have two more (Northland Pines and the Northern Edge Co-op) to beat to reach our goal. We’re super excited.”

Brunner and the Raiders’ defense was tested early. After Medford got the first couple of shots in the game, the Union turned the tide a bit and wound up outshooting Medford 16-7 in the first period. Brunner had to make some big saves on a Union power play midway through the period. Her teammates then came through with two goals in just over a three-minute span to put Medford in the lead for good. On the first one, Sophia Brunner and Jaylin Machon were positioned behind the Union net. Brunner passed right to left to Machon, who pushed the puck past Union goalie Grace Lawrence. At 14:34, just after Ilsa Brunner survived a shot right at the crease, the Raiders were able to clear the zone and Sophia Brunner and Machon got on a two-on-two rush. Brunner’s centering pass perfectly found Machon’s stick and she punched in her second goal of the period.

The Raiders only put two shots on goal in the second period but both found the back of the net.

On the first, senior Skylier Krueger got a breakaway chance and put it home at 9:57. The Raiders broke up a Union rush and Carly Koski fired a clearing pass out of the zone to Emily Kiselicka at center ice and she put a perfect touch pass on Krueger’s stick. Not long after that at 11:16, Delaney Hraby was in the right spot at the right time, cleaning up on the deflection on a shot by Sophia Brunner, who got her third assist.

“Our work ethic is showing,” Brandner said. “We work hard, we dig hard. I was happy.”

If there was a lull in Medford’s effort it came in the latter stages of the second period when the Union started applying more offensive pressure and found itself owning a five-on-three chance for a minute following two Medford penalties. The Union took advantage of the first one, getting a three-on-one breakout that resulted in a Jenna Jones goal, assisted by Mya Cullen.

The Raiders successfully killed off the second penalty, but not without some team defense at the net as Raiders defenders got in the way of at least two shots to help out their goaltender.

“We have a lot to clean up yet,” Brandner said. “I was upset after the second period. The girls heard about it. We went out there way too flat and just enjoyed what was not a very big lead. We made mistakes, but we’re cleaning it up. If we do that, I think we can be a pretty strong team.”

The Raiders did clean things up in the third and, while Brunner faced 15 shots, the difficulty on most of those shots was greatly reduced from what she saw in the second period. Hraby closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:04 remaining in the game.

Lawrence had just five saves for the Union, while giving up four goals before leaving the open net with 2:19 left. Brunner was credited with 16 saves in the first period, 14 in the second and 15 in the third.

“Ilsa was unbelievable,” Brandner said. “She played really well. Once we got everybody getting the bugs out, and getting the nerves settled down, the girls came around and played really well.”

Now 1-0 for just the second time in program history, the Raiders will return to action Friday by facing another co-op that has given them plenty of problems over the last several years, the Black River Falls Co-op. Face-off is set for 7 p.m. on the Tigers’ home ice.

“When the girls did the right things, they looked good,” Brandner said. “Hopefully we can keep that going and keep going strong. We have stuff to work on, but I’m super excited to see the girls work that hard and come through and do what they had to.”

1-1 at JV tourney

Several of Medford’s younger players took part in the JV portion of the Gobbler Cup tournament hosted by the Central Wisconsin Storm. The Raiders went 1-1, beating the Storm’s JV 6-1 in Friday’s opening round and then falling 2-1 to the Eau Claire Area Stars in Saturday’s championship.

Ilsa Brunner had 19 saves and Victoria Konieczny scored the last two goals in Friday’s win. The Raiders scored the last five goals of the game, breaking away from a 1-1 second-period tie.

Machon scored first 10:32 into the first period with an assist from Megan Schaefer. The Storm got their goal 38 seconds into the second period, but Sophia Brunner got the go-ahead goal at 5:14 with an assist from Zayleah Leonhardt. Grace Schmidtfranz scored one minute later, assisted by Emily Kiselicka. Leonhardt made it 4-1, scoring at the 12:53 mark of the period off assists from Machon and Kara Kennedy.

Konieczny’s third-period goals were assisted by Carly Koski and Ava Hartl.

Makenna Wellman got Medford on the board first in Saturday’s game, scoring off assists from Sophia Brunner and Schmidtfranz. Unfortunately, that was the only shot the Raiders got past Stars’ goaltender Amy Thul, who finished with 30 saves, including 13 in the third period.

Mikaylen Liljander and Jaleah Hays scored goals for the Stars in the second period.

Leonhardt got the start in net and finished with 27 saves, including 11 in the first period and 10 in the second.

Medford senior Skylier Krueger carries the puck deep into the offensive zone midway through the first period of the Raiders’ 5-1 victory over the Wisconsin Valley Union on Nov. 22. The win was the program’s first over a co-op based out of the Marshfield-Stevens Point-Wisconsin Rapids area.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS