Gowey finds back of net enough to earn All-GNC mention
ALL-GNC BOYS HOCKEY
The leading goal scorer in Medford hockey history capped a big senior season by earning a spot on the honorable mention list for the 2022-23 All-Great Northern Conference team.
Connor Gowey’s first All-GNC hockey honor followed a year where he scored 12 goals and had two assists in the sevengame round-robin portion of the GNC schedule and added two goals and an assist in the three-game GNC tournament.
Overall, he finished the year with 33 goals and 11 assists. With those goals, he shot past 2017 graduate Jack Schaefer to become Medford’s career goals leader with 69. He broke Schaefer’s record of 66 with his second goal of the game in a 7-4 non-conference win over the Shawano Co-op on Feb. 7.
In conference play, Gowey’s four-goal game led Medford to its only league win, a 7-5 victory over Waupaca on Dec. 19. He also had an assist in that game. He scored all three of Medford’s goals in an 8-3 loss at Rhinelander on Jan. 5 and scored both of the team’s goals in an 11-2 loss to Northland Pines on Jan. 12 and both of Medford’s goals in a 12-2 loss at Tomahawk on Dec. 8.
In the season-ending league tournament, Gowey scored once and had an assist in Medford’s close 5-4 loss at Northland Pines on Feb. 7 and had a goal in the team’s 6-5 loss to Waupaca in the seventh- place game played Feb. 11 at Medford’s Simek Recreation Center.
Gowey had five hat tricks this season with three of those actually being fourgoal games. He had a monster game in Medford’s 12-2 win at the Chequamegon Co-op on Dec. 6, scoring four times and notching four assists. He scored four times in a 9-4 non-conference win at the Shawano Co-op on Jan. 10 and he had three goals and an assist in Medford’s 8-5 win over the Merrill Co-op in the consolation game of the Merrill tournament on Jan. 14.
Gowey and senior linemate Miles Searles played a big role in the Raiders’ offensive improvement this season. After Medford averaged 2.4 goals per game while scoring 54 total goals in 2021-22, the Raiders jumped to 89 goals this season for an average of 3.9 per game. Searles had 28 goals and 20 assists this year but did not crack the All-GNC honors list, something that’s rarely been easy for the Raiders to do. Medford finished 7-16 overall this winter and 1-9 in GNC games under fourth-year head coach Galen Searles.
Mosinee won the GNC championship, combining a 6-1 round-robin record with the tournament championship. The Indians beat top-seeded Lakeland 6-3 in the title game played at Medford and then beat Lakeland again, 2-1, in a WIAA Division 2 sectional final on Saturday to earn a spot in this weekend’s Division 2 state tournament in Middleton. The Indians (21-6) are the second seed and were set to face third-seeded Oregon (16-11) today, Thursday, in a 12:15 p.m. semifinal at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena.
Rhinelander and Tomahawk tied for third in the round-robin portion of the GNC schedule at 5-2. The Hodags wound up beating Antigo 4-3 in the third-place GNC tournament game played in Medford. Tomahawk, who was upset by fifthseeded Antigo in the first round of the GNC tournament, beat Northland Pines 6-3 in the fifth-place game.
Tomahawk’s Chris Bembinster was named the league’s 2022-23 Coach of the Year. Lakeland senior goalie Max Masayesva was the lone unanimous choice among the conference coaches for the All-GNC first team and the lone repeat first-teamer from a year ago. He is also a repeat winner of the co-Player of the Year award. He shares the award this year with Mosinee junior forward Grant Kuklinski. Kuklinski had 16 goals and 34 assists during the regular season, including nine goals and 16 assists in GNC round-robin and tournament play.
This year’s All-GNC first team features just two seniors and three juniors and a sophomore. Antigo senior Landon Nelson, Mosinee junior Gavin Obremski, Rhinelander junior Joey Belanger and Antigo sophomore Eli Kassler fill out this year’s first team.
