MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER - Chances were there; Raiders unable to cash in and fall 1-0 to Merrill

The first week of competition featured two of the toughest tests Medford’s boys soccer team may see in the 2025 regular season.

On Tuesday, the Raiders got in their first full 80-minute battle where anything can happen and came out on the short end of a 1-0 decision to their new Great Northern Conference foe Merrill.

In their first GNC game since a brief two-year stay ended in 2009, the Blue Jays got a first-half goal from Jackson Pierce and then fought off some fairly consistent pressure from Medford in the second half to secure the one-score win. Merrill improved to 1-1 overall.

Medford fell to 0-3, but is hoping it found some things to build from, especially in the second half.

“The first week was tough,” Medford head coach Adam Derr said. “The first half (Tuesday) was tough. I thought the guys started slow, but the intensity in the second half picked up. We lacked a bit of quality. We have to connect on our passes. We have to get the ball to the players in the red. We had way too many turnovers on easy balls.”

Medford goal keeper Eric Paul had 11 saves, including nine in the first half. He got one with his shins at point-blank range at the 11:13 mark when Merrill was able to thread a pass to Caleb Gennrich on the left post. Paul had another at 26:30 when he was able to slide in front of Pierce’s hard, low shot from the right side of the field. He also grabbed a Pierce header off a corner kick just before the half expired.

The Pierce goal came at 25:41. From the left side of Merrill’s formation, Erik Grunenwald pushed a ball ahead to James Crockford. With Paul aggressively coming out of the net, Crockford sent a touch pass to the right and Pierce had an easy tap-in.

Medford had a few chances in the first half. Carter Ziehlke had two good looks sail just over the crossbar. So did a header from Nathan Schuld off a Lucas Mahner corner kick at 29:30.

One of Paul’s second-have saves stopped a Pierce breakaway at 44:40. From there, the best chances went to Medford. Schuld had another header go a foot too high at 60:10. At the 77-minute mark, Judah Wipf’s through ball set up Schuld for a chance to put a hard shot on goal, but a Merrill defender blocked it. With 40 seconds left in the game, the Raiders had a great chance off a long throw-in by Colton Long. Schuld chased it down in the left corner, brought it in along the baseline and put a centering pass right in front, where it was deflected by Merrill just wide of the left post.

Merrill goal keeper Matthew Holloway dropped the ensuing corner kick, but Medford was unable to pounce on it and the Blue Jays were eventually able to clear it and run out the clock.

“We had a couple of chances,” Derr said. “We controlled most of the game, especially in the second half. We just need a little bit more quality. I think we have to have that little extra fire. I think everybody is disappointed and hopefully that starts coming out more.”

Schuld led Medford with four shots. Ethan Jones put one on goal as well.

“Their goalie made a mistake down at the end of the game and the ball goes off the post and out,” Derr said. “You just need that little bit of luck. I was disappointed in the first half, but I was really impressed with how the guys stepped up in the second half.”

Medford will try again tonight, Thursday, to get its first goals and first win of the season when it hosts Northland Pines in GNC play at 7 p.m. The Raiders are off to Antigo for a 4 p.m. game on Tuesday and then are right back at home Sept. 11 to face rival Rhinelander at 7 p.m.

Bulldogs 8, Raiders 0

Two days after opening with a 5-0 loss to a strong Rice Lake squad, Medford faced an even tougher foe Thursday, falling 8-0 at New London in nonconference play. The Bulldogs, fresh off an 8-0 win over Rhinelander in their opener, buried Medford with a six-goal first half. They ended the game via the eight-goal mercy rule at 61:42.

New London got 27 shots off in the first half alone. Paul had 15 saves. He finished with 24 total. New London had 43 total shots. Levi Zuleger added a non-goalie save for Medford. Oliver Koffler, Ethan Emmerich and Schuld each had a shot for the Raiders with Schuld getting one on goal.

“They’re really good,” Derr said. “They’re big. They have a big squad. It was tough. We didn’t play especially great, but they’re a good team.”

New London took a 2-0 lead within the first 10 minutes. It was 3-0 when a threegoal blitz in a span of 2:32 put it out of reach just before halftime.

The Bulldogs scored their last two goals 1:16 apart to end it.