fensive zone and wasn’t going ….

fensive zone and wasn’t going to give it up until he got his shot, which he banged off Niehoff’s left side and into the net.

The fourth goal of the opening period was a thing of beauty. Tucker Phillips won a face-off to Niehoff’s right, pushing the puck to Kaden Kennedy. Kennedy crossed the puck across the ice to Doyle right at the doorstep and the freshman got his first varsity goal with 1.7 seconds left.

“It’s great plays like that where you can see we’re starting to get that passing,” Kree said. “Sometimes it takes games like this to get guys to realize how to move the puck, how to start moving their feet and start finding the open lanes and skating lanes. It’s starting to come together. We’ve had two good practices in a row. I think the Antigo game (Thursday) was a good little wake-up call that guys needed to start practicing harder. Now that they’ve had two good practices in a row, we’ve had two good games in a row. So I think it’s definitely something to build from. There’s a lot of season left to go.”

Sophomore defenseman Gavin Phillips got his first two goals in the second period. The first came on a slap shot from the blue line at 6:30, assisted by his twin brother Tucker. Bull’s shot from inside the blue line found the net at 13:34, assisted by Cade Wellman and Shane Kiselicka. Phillips then hit the top shelf on a breakaway at 14:30 to make it 7-0.

Kiselicka assisted on Bull’s third goal 1:25 into the third period. The Raiders were slowed down for a stretch by five penalties. Chequamegon took full advantage of a five-on-three situation, getting goals on each penalty from Will Krause at 12:32 and Angelina BeBeau at 13:46.

But, fittingly, Medford’s seniors got those goals back when Schafer scored an unassisted short-hander at 14:09 and Kennedy scored with eight seconds left off a Schaefer assist.

“They all contributed very well,” Kree said. “Noah was skating hard and played a good game. He worked on his positioning a lot more. It was neat in the last two minutes. With a penalty, our four guys out there were the seniors.”

Medford outshot Team SEaL 34-20. Talan Albers had 18 saves. Niehoff had 18 saves in two periods while Tonya Dul had six saves on nine shots for Chequamegon (0-3) in the third period.

Medford’s new-found momentum comes at a good time as the Raiders will get a stern test tonight, Thursday, from Great Northern Conference rival Tomahawk, who comes into the Simek Center at 4-1, having scored nine or more goals in each of its wins.

“They are a very good team from the looks of it with their scores against other teams,” Kree said. “That will be a true test.”

On Saturday, Medford will travel to Spooner for an 11:30 a.m. contest with a potential sectional opponent. The Raiders will resume GNC play at Waupaca Dec. 14.

Viroqua 8, Medford 1

A couple of injuries threw some significant monkey wrenches in Medford’s plans Saturday in an 8-1 home loss to the Virquoa Co-op.

The Raiders started the game without Albers, who badly bruised his glove hand while taking a shot from teammate Cameron Bull in practice the night before. That forced Doyle to get an emergency start in goal. Then, midway through the first period, the Raiders lost Gavin Phillips to a shoulder injury, further wreaking havoc on the Raiders’ planned offensive and defensive lines.

That being said, Kree felt the Raiders put together their best effort of the season’s first four games.

“It really sucked for today because they played such a great game,” Kree said after the loss. “Pretty much all cylinders were firing. We had a good breakout for most of the game. Our positioning was a little off kilter at times, but they played so hard. They were skating fast. We had great puck movement in the offensive zone, generating chances. We just couldn’t get anything to fall until the very end.”

The first period ended with Viroqua leading 3-0, but it certainly did not feel like the Blackhawks had dominated play.

The Blackhawks outshot Medford 15-11 in the period, but Medford had its chances. Bull put a hard shot on goal right off the bat. Harris just missed the post after taking a centering pass from Schaefer at the 2:50 mark. Cole Pernsteiner put a shot on goal at 4:30. Welllman’s pass found Logan Koski’s stick in the slot at 6:33 but Koski’s shot deflected goalie Landen Moen’s shoulder. Kennedy put a good shot on goal 11 minutes in.

“All of the chances were good looks,” Kree said. “It wasn’t like we just got a shot to the net. It was a shot to the net with a rebound opportunity or it was a pass across the slot for a one-timer. A lot of good chances. Sometimes they just don’t fall. You’re going to have scoring droughts. We have to keep shooting. Eventually we’ll get to a point where those chances will go in and we’ll be on a scoring streak.”

Viroqua got its first goal at 5:01 when Landen Burke snuck a shot past Doyle’s glove on the short side. Jack Dahl cut through the slot and took a perfect pass from Landen Starr to score the second goal at 10:07. Gavyn Hanson gathered a loose puck and hit the five-hole for third goal at 13:21.

The game fully got away from Medford in the second period when the Blackhawks scored four times to go up 7-0. Burke scored twice to cap his hat trick, while Collin Simson and Hanson added goals. Burke got his last goal with 1:21 left in the period on a power play.

Ryder Steele hit the top shelf on a breakaway goal 1:19 into the third period. Tucker Phillips broke the shutout with 1:47 left in the game when his high shot deflected off the end of the glove of Moen and trickled into the net.

Doyle finished with 30 saves while Moen had 23. Kree said Doyle’s .789 save percentage in the game was quite good, considering he hadn’t practiced at the position.

“(The injuries) messed it totally up,” Kree said of the team’s planned line rotations. “We were trying to run three D but we can’t run three D because we just get too tired and there’s just not enough size. I cycled Kaden back because he has the most experience. He’s played defense before. I’m hoping it’s nothing extended. Gavin’s a really good player. He plays a physical game. He can dig the puck out and he can get it up ice like all of our defenseman can.”

Antigo 10, Medford 3

Eli Kassler had the night of his life Thursday, scoring eight goals to lead the host Antigo Red Robins to a 10-3 win over Medford in the Great Northern Conference opener for both teams.

Kassler scored six goals in a row to turn a 4-2 game into a 10-2 game before the Raiders got a Schaefer goal at 10:43 in the third period to end the night on a high note. Kassler also had two assists against the Raiders, who were playing a bit short-handed again following penalties assessed at the end of the team’s Nov. 28 loss to the Pacelli Co-op.

“Eli’s a great player,” Kree said. He’s got good handles, good puck control and he’s got a great shot and he showed it. All he did when he’d come at our defensemen was he’d do one simple forehand to backhand or a backhand to forehand move around our defensemen. We would just lazily poke out at it and just lost him.

“Ultimately it’s about stepping up and playing the body and the puck rather than stepping up and playing the puck with your body.”

The Raiders hung tough in the first period. Owen Dickman scored for Antigo off a Kassler assist 2:43 in, but Schaefer answered off a Pernsteiner assist at 4:42 to tie it. Kassler scored off a Dickman assist at 7:52, but Tucker Phillips lit the lamp 45 seconds later off a Schaefer assist to tie it again. But Kassler got a shorthanded goal with 26 seconds left in the period and that goal, plus Dickman’s goal 2:34 into the second period, changed the momentum for good.

Kassler scored at 5:22, 6:47, 10:19, 12:33 and 14:56 to make it a 9-2 game going into the third period. He got his last goal, another short-hander, 6:54 into the third.

Albers finished with 30 saves for Medford, who was whistled for seven penalties in the loss. Nolan Bunnell had 22 saves for the Robins, who killed off four Medford power plays.