Late goal shoots Comets past Raiders in high-scoring battle

MEDFORD BOYS HOCKEY

BY MATT FREY

SPORTS EDITOR

A long Saturday of hockey at the Simek Recreation Center got off to an exciting start with Waupaca outlasting the host Medford Raiders 6-5 in the seventh- place game of the Great Northern Conference meet, which closed out the regular season for all eight league teams.

Zack Gusmer’s goal with 2:28 left broke a 5-5 tie and allowed Waupaca to avenge a 7-5 loss the Raiders gave them on the same ice back on Dec. 19. The Comets not only won the seventh-place game of the conference tournament but broke a tie with Medford in the overall standings to claim seventh place in the final standings.

The loss dropped Medford to 7-14 in what was overall a well-played game.

Medford head coach Galen Searles noted a couple of tough breaks and a couple of ill-timed penalties in the later stages were likely the difference.

One of those bad breaks came on the decisive goal as Raider goalie Talan Albers easily made an initial save on a shot by Comet Dylan Smith, but then the rebound got kicked around by several players before the puck leaked out to Gusmer in the slot and he buried an open shot to cap Waupaca’s comeback from a 4-2 second-period deficit. Despite being under the weather, senior Miles Searles had a big day for Medford, scoring three goals and earning an assist. Two of his goals came with the Raiders short-handed, including one that tied the game at 5-5 with 5:44 left. Defenseman Cameron Bull carried the puck from end to end and then directed a centering pass to Searles, who was all alone in the slot and he perfectly placed his shot low to the stick side of Comet goalie Gavin Hafferman.

Searles’ other short-hander tied the game at 2-2 with 44 seconds left in the first period as he picked off an errant Waupaca pass at center ice and was able to skate in unscathed on Hafferman, beating him with a nice fake that gave him an easy open shot.

Then, 10:17 into the second period with Medford on a power play, Searles was credited with a deflection on an Isaac Schaefer slap shot from the blue line that gave the Raiders a 3-2 lead. Bull also got an assist on that goal. Just 1:18 later, Kaden Kennedy cleared the puck out of the defensive zone, sending it to Tucker Phillips at center ice. Phillips did the rest skating in hard on Hafferman and poking the puck past him for a 4-2 Medford lead.

But that momentum lasted just 14 seconds. Waupaca controlled the puck out of the ensuing face-off and brought it into the offensive zone. Adam Mace’s shot went high but it bounced off the glass right to Ryan Mace at the crease for the goal at 11:49. Waupaca tied it on a power play 3:13 into the third period when Gusmer was able to push a wrist shot through traffic and into the net. Ryan Mace and Isaac Abhold were credited with the assists.

Just 10 seconds later, the Comets took a 5-4 lead when Adam Mace pushed through a couple of Raiders and snuck a shot just inside the post on the stick side.

The back-and-forth game started with Medford’s Connor Gowey scoring 3:45 in.

Searles backhanded a post to Gowey in the slot and his pinpoint accuracy put the puck just inside the post on Hafferman’s glove side.

Sawyer Bohm answered by slipping one under Albers’ glove at the 5:10 mark with an assist from Elliot Bartel. Bartel put Waupaca up 2-1 at 8:38, eventually getting the goal in a rebound scrum in front of the net. Liam Bloedow and Bohm got the assists.

Albers had 38 saves, including 19 in a busy second period. Hafferman had 23 saves for the Comets.

Medford was sent to the penalty box seven times, including three times in each of the last two periods. Waupaca scored one power play goal and gave up two short-handers. Medford was one for five on its power plays.

The Raiders begin WIAA Division 2 post-season play tonight, Thursday, as the sixth seed in the Amery sectional. They’ll be at third-seeded Rice Lake (617) for a 7 p.m. regional final. The winner will likely get a tough sectional semifinal matchup Tuesday at second-seeded Amery. The Warriors (19-4) open tournament play tonight against seventh-seeded Spooner (4-11).

In the rest of Saturday’s action at the Simek Center, second-seeded Mosinee clinched the GNC’s tournament and overall championships with a 6-3 win over top-seeded Lakeland. Rhinelander edged Antigo 4-3 in the third-place game and Tomahawk outscored Northland Pines 6-3 in the fifth-place game.

Medford's Isaac Schaefer gets a jump on Waupaca's Ryan Mace is skating to a loose puck during Saturday's seventh-place game of the CNC tournament, which the Comets won 6-5.

NAKEITA PETZNICK/THE STAR NEWS