MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER - Medford encouraged by efforts in losses at Shawano, Mosinee

A tough three-game week for Medford’s boys soccer team ended with two more shutout losses, but it also ended with optimism thanks to good showings against two solid teams.

On Saturday, Medford traveled to defending WIAA Division 3 sectional champion Shawano and fell 3-0 in a game that turned on one key play in the first half. Shawano improved to 8-2-1 with the win and is 5-0-1 against Great Northern Conference teams.

The turning point came in the 24th minute when a handball in the box call resulted in a penalty kick that put Shawano on the board. A minute later, the Hawks scored again for a 2-0 lead. Knowing the Raiders wouldn’t have an easy time scoring, that was enough to put the game out of reach and dropped the Raiders to 0-7-2 overall.

“It was a game we know it was going to be tough to win,” Medford head coach Adam Derr said. “But that penalty kick really changed the momentum. Our guys played well. I thought we really showed that we can compete against a quality team.”

Shawano took 25 shots and put 15 on goal, while Medford was limited to three shots, one of which got on goal. The key handball call was one Derr and the Raiders didn’t agree with, but their argument was denied, as one would expect. The resulting quick goals wound up being a good teaching point.

“That was a big part of our conversation at halftime,” Derr said. “When we get scored on, we have to try to come back, put the pressure on them and try to get that goal back. We can’t put our heads down and get scored on again like that.”

Shawano really put it out of reach in the 46th minute with what Derr said was just a pretty play with a perfect passing crossing pass getting to the foot of a cutting Hawk just before Medford goal keeper Eric Paul could get there.

“That was just a 100% hustle play by them,” Derr said.

From here on out in the regular season, it’s a six-game second-half stretch in the Great Northern Conference schedule. The Raiders lost three games in the first half by a goal and tied two others to get into shootouts. With the team approaching full strength at the varsity level, really for the first time this season, Derr said there is still plenty to accomplish.

“Getting our guys back from injuries and other things has been a big boost,” Derr said. “We’re a much deeper team now. We have a couple of more guys we can count on to give us quality minutes. Our younger guys have done a good job up to this point stepping up, working hard, doing what they can and getting good experience. Now to get guys who are experienced and just physically stronger back definitely helps us.”

Medford’s second round through the GNC starts with a rare Friday game at Merrill that starts at 7 p.m. at Jay Stadium.

Merrill won the first game 1-0 back on Sept. 2. The Raiders go to Northland Pines Tuesday for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff. The Raiders and Eagles tied 1-1 on Sept. 4 with the Eagles winning the shootout.

Medford hosts Antigo at 7 p.m. on Oct. 2.

Mosinee 1, Medford 0

Lightning delayed the start of Thursday’s game in Mosinee by a half an hour an lightning struck figuratively in the 65th minute with the Indians’ standout forward Shawn Sowadski scoring the only goal in a 1-0 final to wrap up Medford’s first round of GNC play at 0-4-2.

The weather made for some slow, wet conditions on the grass field at Edgewood Park, but the Raiders, who have historically had some troubles on grass, played what Derr called their best game thus far.

“I thought we outplayed them,” he said. “We played very well.”

Offensively, Medford made some things happen with 13 total shots, seven of which were on goal. The on-goal percentage went down at the end of the game with a couple of long desperation shots to try to get some late magic. Derr said in the first half, Medford got off seven shots, six of which were on goal.

“We had a lot of good scoring opportunities,” he said.

The game was played two days after Medford lost 6-0 to GNC-leading Lakeland, who is ranked 10th in Division 3 in this week’s Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association rankings. Mosinee came into the game holding down second place in the GNC.

“I thought our guys reacted very well after the Lakeland game,” Derr said. “Lakeland was tough. They’re a good team. But I thought the way we played at Mosinee was a boost to our morale. It showed we can play with anybody in our conference.”

Sowadski took advantage of one defensive breakdown to score the goal. Dribbling in from the right side, he beat a couple of defender while cutting to the middle and got off a shot that Derr said got through a couple of defenders’ legs before setting inside the post.

“It was an unfortunate break,” he said. Mosinee took 22 shots with 14 on goal. Paul had 13 saves, most of which Derr said were routine.

With a 3-0 win over Merrill Monday, Mosinee completed the first half of the GNC season at 5-1.