MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY - Raiders nearly skate past Glacier, get shut out at Arrowhead

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

MATT FREY

SPORTS EDITOR

Medford’s losing streak reached seven over the weekend, but the Raiders’ twogame Milwaukee-area road trip ended with their best performance in this tough stretch of girls hockey in a 3-2 loss Saturday morning to the Brookfield Glacier.

The Brookfield Co-op (7-10), which has 22 schools listed to it by the WIAA, used two power-play goals to tie Saturday’s game and then won it on Deah Toska’s goal with 4:15 remaining in the 17-minute third period to escape with the win.

Both teams created several scoring chances in the third period. The Glacier outshot the Raiders 20-13 in the period and got the tie-breaker with assists from Emma Lawrence and Katie Schwar.

The Glacier has now won all five meetings all-time between the programs but they’ve all been competitive contests.

This one looked like it just might go Medford’s way early. Despite the early wake-up call for a 9 a.m. start after playing the night before, the Raiders came out firing, getting a goal from Tori Konieczny just 2:36 in. Kara Kennedy had the assist. Konieczny then struck again at 14:19 with an unassisted score that put the Raiders up 2-0.

Playing with a lead for the first time since beating the Stoughton Co-op on Dec. 29, the Raiders unfortunately couldn’t carry the full momentum into the first intermission. Just 11 seconds after Konieczny’s second goal, the Raiders found themselves short-handed due to an interference penalty and the Glacier scored 20 seconds into the power play. Ella Vranak got her team on the board with an assist from Payton Dykstra.

The period ended with Brookfield holding a 10-8 edge in shots and Medford holding a 2-1 lead on the scoreboard.

The Glacier outshot Medford 16-9 in the second period and took advantage of the Raiders’ only penalty in that time, getting a Julia Irvine goal at 9:46 off a Schwar assist.

Zayleah Leonhardt racked up 40 saves in net for Medford, while Macy Blooming had 28 for the Glacier.

There were just five penalties in the game. Brookfield was two of three on its power plays. Medford couldn’t convert on the two it had.

The Raiders, now 3-13, will take another southern trip Friday, when they visit the Beaver Dam Co-op for a 7 p.m. faceoff. The Golden Beavers won the teams’ first meeting of the season 5-0 on Jan. 5.

After WIAA seeding takes place on Sunday, Medford will wrap up its regular season on Feb. 8 by hosting the Viroqua Co-op in a game that starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Simek Recreation Center.

Arrowhead 5, Medford 0

Kat Friel stopped all 14 shots put on her by the Raiders Friday and Bella Hamel scored twice in the Hartland Arrowhead Co-op’s 5-0 shutout win.

The Arrowhead Co-op, which includes five Division 1 schools, put Medford in a quick 2-0 hole in the opening period with Hamel’s goals. She got her first one just 1:29 in with assists from Alexa Jarvis and Rowan Smith.

Twelve seconds after the goal, the Warhawks were penalized for roughing, but instead of Medford taking advantage, Hamel got control of the puck and skated in for a short-hander at 2:33.

Arrowhead (11-9) outshot the Raiders 16-2 in the second period and got an Amelia Altmann goal at 7:45, assisted by Rae Lahr.

Kendall Dickenson’s power-play goal with a Sara Kopf assist made it 4-0 at the 4:05 mark of the third period. Ahna Ruppenthal got the game’s last goal at 9:01, assisted by Altmann and Andrea Harvey.

Leonhardt had 40 saves in the defeat. While the wins haven’t always been there, she’s been solid in her first full-time season between the pipes with a 4.8 goalsagainst- average and an .864 save percentage.

Zayleah Leonhardt