Storm surge hits late in second period of 5-0 game; Raiders fall at BRF

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

It was the closest game a Medford girls hockey team has ever played against the Central Wisconsin Storm Tuesday night, but with the puck spending most of the game in their defensive zone the Raiders had no chance of outscoring the D.C. Everest-based conglomerate in a 5-0 loss at the Greenheck Fieldhouse.

The Storm outshot Medford 24-1 in a scoreless first period, and the Raiders continued to hold the Storm off the board until the dam finally broke 12:10 into the second period. Another goal in the final minute of the period was a killer and the two-goal lead swelled to five in the third when the Raiders ran out of gas.

Ultimately, the Storm outshot Medford 53-3 with freshman Ilsa Brunner stopping 48 of the Storm’s shots on net in an outstanding effort.

The loss dropped the Raiders to 1-2. The Storm improved to 4-1.

Opportunities were there for both teams in the opening period. Not only did the Storm get plenty of shots, they had two power plays they failed to convert. Medford had two power plays as well but only got one shot on goalie Chloe Lemke in the period.

The Storm outshot Medford 18-0 in the second period and finally got the tiebreaker from Michaela Gerum with the teams at even strength. Madeline Kelter and Ava Whitmore had the assists. Hannah Baumann’s goal with 47 seconds left in the period doubled the lead heading into intermission. She was assisted by Tristan Wicklund and Hailey Piskula.

Gerum scored again 8:45 into the third. Kailey Grosskreutz and Baumann also beat the worn-out Raider defense at 11:40 and 12:42 to close the scoring.

In nine previous meetings since the 2009-10 season, the Storm hadn’t scored fewer than eight goals against the Raiders. Medford got its first-ever goal against the Storm last season in an 11-1 loss at the Simek Center.

Medford earned its second JV win over the Storm this season Tuesday by a score of 4-0.

The Raiders head to Eau Claire today, Thursday, for a 5 p.m. face-off with the Eau Claire Area Stars at Hobbs Ice Arena. The Stars have gotten off to a slow start at 1-5, though they have faced some strong competition to start the season. The Hayward Co-op has beaten the Stars twice. Medford will face the Hurricanes Dec. 15 at the Simek Center at 5 p.m. to start a doubleheader with the boys game against Waupaca to follow. The Raiders head to Eagle River to face a struggling Northland Pines squad on Dec. 16.

Tigers 5, Raiders 1

On Friday, the Raiders played an even last two periods with the Black River Falls Co-op, but the game was decided in the first period when the Tigers dominated control of the puck and scored three times to set the tone in their 5-1 win.

The Tigers outshot Medford 12-1 in the opening 17 minutes and scored all three of their goals in the period in a span of 90 seconds while earning their first win of the season after losses to the Hayward and Eau Claire co-ops, teams the Raiders will soon be seeing as well.

Samantha Berra got the Tigers’ first goal 4:12 into the game with an assist by Avery Hagen. Zowie Hunter then had an impressive shift, scoring unassisted goals at 5:04 and 5:42 to widen the lead to three.

Medford picked up its pace in the second period and cut into the lead with an Alisyn Gruny goal at the 12:55 mark. It came off assists from Sophia Brunner and Zayleah Leonhardt and was part of a period where the Raiders put 14 shots on Tiger goal tender Isabel Blackdeer, who took over for Sydney Magnuson at the start of the period.

Ilsa Brunner settled in for Medford, stopping all 15 shots she saw in the period. She had 37 saves for the night.

The Raiders kept it a two-goal game until the Tigers got two goals in the final four minutes. Marah Noth was unassisted on her goal with 3:11 left. Hunter finished off her hat trick with 1:39 to go, assisted by Hannah Lane.

Blackdeer stopped 18 of the 19 shots she faced in the last two periods. Medford had the only power play of the game. It came in the second period and expired not long before Gruny put the Raiders on the board.