ALL-GNC GIRLS SOCCER - First-team nods for Peterson, Schaefer top Medford’s soccer awards

Cracking the upper third of the Great Northern Conference girls soccer standings isn’t happening yet, but the Medford Raiders continue to command some respect for their play with, for the third straight year, six players earning awards in the voting for the 2025 All-GNC teams.

The team’s senior co-captains, Talyn Peterson and Megan Schaefer, both earned spots on the All-GNC first team, capping three years of recognition for each. Peterson repeated as a first-team selection after getting a second-team spot in 2023. Schaefer moves up after getting honorable mention the past two years.

They were able to dent a first team otherwise dominated by Lakeland and Rhinelander, the 2025 conference cochampions who both went 9-1 in league play this spring and allowed just two goals to conference opponents.

Medford senior forward Shayla Radlinger got her first All-GNC soccer honor with a second-team spot. Juniors Mallory Richter, Chloe Kapitz and Bayley Metz all earned honorable mention for the first time.

The awards follow a 5-5 season in the GNC, good for a third-place tie with Northland Pines. Medford finished 6-12-1 overall under fifth-year head coach Tanya Tessmann.

Lakeland and Rhinelander both had four first-team selections, while Northland Pines also snuck senior Grace Plank on to the list of the conference’s 11 best players, according to its six coaching staffs.

Eight of those 11 were unanimous choices, including Peterson; Plank; Lakeland’s Bobbi Lee, Landry Lenz and Cale Quade, and Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich, Vivian Lamers and Mia Tulowitzky.

Lee and Lamers shared the Co-Offensive Player of the Year award, while Lenz and Tulowitzky were named the Co-Defensive Players of the Year. Lakeland’s Stephanie Hartzheim and Rhinelander’s Nathan Bates completed the sharing of the co-leaders by being named the Co-Coaches of the Year.

Schaefer scored six GNC goals and had three assists for 15 points, while Peterson had a goal and three assists for five points. Radlinger actually led Medford in conference scoring with 17 points on seven goals and three assists. Richter had five goals and four assists for 14 points, while Metz had six goals and an assist.

Radlinger was part of a three-way tie for fourth among the conference’s goal scorers with Rhinelander’s Ella Miljevich and Lakeland’s Karsyn Dyre, while Schaefer and Metz tied Lakeland’s Cale Quade for seventh. Radlinger tied Dyre for fifth in conference scoring, Schaefer tied Lakeland’s Lexi Gindorff for seventh and Richter tied Quade for ninth. Richter’s four assists tied her with Plank for eighth in the league statistics.

Peterson scored her goal and had an assist in Medford’s 8-0 win over Antigo on May 27 and had two assists in the team’s record-breaking 16-0 win at Antigo on May 6.

But, again, her primary role for the Raiders was stopping other teams from doing the scoring. Her speed and scrappy, physical play set the tone for Medford from the middle of the field to the back line protecting first-year starter in goal, Peyton Boelk. That leadership has long been respected by GNC coaches.

Defense is also where Kapitz played a key role. The junior centered a young freshman back line and cleared several balls out of the box and out of trouble during the season.

Schaefer has similar traits as Peterson with a willingness to play with some physicality in the middle of the field and she adds a strong leg to make her a scoring threat. She had four goals and two assists in the win at Antigo, scored a goal in a tough 3-2 loss at Northland Pines to start conference play on Apri 17 and also scored in the second win over Antigo.

Schaefer joined Lakeland goalie Ava Evenhouse and Ella Miljevich in filling out the first team. She had eight goals and three assists overall, scoring off a Peterson assist in a 3-1 loss at Waupaca April 10 and scoring once in Medford’s season-opening 5-0 win over Merrill on April 3.

Radlinger served as Medford’s striker and took advantage of her scoring opportunities with three goals in the win at Antigo, two goals in the home win over the Red Robins and two scores in the team’s 80 home win over Mosinee on April 29. She had a key assist on the first goal of Medford’s 3-2 comeback win over Northland Pines on May 13, a game the Raiders trailed 2-0 in the first few minutes.

Radlinger finished with seven goals and six assists overall.

Richter and Metz were most often found outside on the wings, where they could use their speed to create scoring opportunities. They figure to be relied upon heavily to lead Medford offensively next spring.

Richter scored three goals and had two assists in the Antigo road win and had a goal and an assist in the home win over Mosinee. She scored once in the home win over Antigo. Metz scored off a Schaefer assist in the loss at Pines and then scored twice in the home win over Mosinee. She had two goals in win at Antigo, scored the tying goal at home against Pines and assisted Kodi Rappe on the lone goal of Medford’s 1-0 win at Mosinee on May 20.

Metz added two assists in the Merrill non-conference win.

Lamers was the GNC’s leading scorer with 37 points. She had 16 goals and five assists. Lee scored 11 goals and had five assists for 27 points, tying Ella Miljevich. Miljevich led the league with 13 assists. Sophie Miljevich scored nine GNC goals and had 11 assists for 29 points.

Rhinelander took the early GNC lead by beating Lakeland 1-0 on the T-Birds’ home field April 22. But Lakeland returned the favor with a 2-0 win in Rhinelander on May 29 to earn the title share.

Unfortunately, it was a tough postseason for the GNC, who got no one into sectional play. Rhinelander lost at home to Waupaca and Lakeland lost at home to Ashland in Division 3 regional finals, while Northland Pines lost at home to Regis-McDonell in a Division 4 regional final.