Raiders bust out with first-half flurry and rout Red Robins

MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER

After three shutout losses to start Great Northern Conference play, the Medford Raiders finally saw the ball find the back of the net just 6:08 into the game Tuesday and that sparked a first-half offensive onslaught that brought some positive vibes back and led to a 6-1 win over the Antigo Red Robins.

Scoring early was one spark, and another was the return of junior midfielder Aaron Schield, who missed the last five games after breaking his forearm in a 3-1 win at Appleton Xavier on Aug. 26. Schield had two assists in his return, while Gage Neubauer and Quinton Tlusty scored two goals apiece as Medford improved to 1-3 in the GNC and 3-4-1 overall.

“This was needed,” head coach Nathan Bilodeau said. “It kind of came at the right time to build some steam for the boys and get some wind in our sails and some positive momentum. You could just tell everyone’s attitude was a lot better tonight. It’s fun when you’re winning. Since we lost a couple of games, the emphasis now is on having fun. When we’re not having fun, we’re not playing well and it just kind of accumulates. Once we get back to playing our game and having fun, then success comes.”

Antigo has been the cellar dweller in the GNC, but the Red Robins won three of four games last week and came in with some momentum.

The Raiders quickly shut that down, taking the lead when Zach Rudolph headed in a corner kick from Schield. After near misses on shots by Tlusty and Silas Wipf, Rudolph sent a right-to-left pass to Kale Klussendorf, who found the net from about 20 yards out at 16:26. At 18:41, Schield sent another corner kick into a perfect spot, finding Tlusty who got the ball to settle and rifled a shot that go inside the left post for a quick 3-0 lead. “Aaron just brings a presence to the team that lifts everyone’s spirits because he’s a dynamic player,” Bilodeau said. “His soccer IQ is the best on the team. He just knows how to play, where to be, how to direct traffic. He’s communicating to everybody. He just brings a lot of confidence to the team and I think it elevates how we play.”

Medford kept the offensive pressure on with Neubauer scoring at the 23-minute mark after Schield lobbed another ball into scoring position. The Raiders got a transition chance at 27:35 and Rudolph fed Neubauer for the fifth goal of the half.

The action slowed after that, exposing some issues Bilodeau said the Raiders still have to work on. But the explosive first half built a cushion that Raiders simply weren’t going to give up.

“We only scored one goal in the second half because everyone’s mentality was I want to score a goal,” he said. “Then the formation breaks down because guys aren’t being disciplined in their positions and then you saw Antigo get more chances than you’d like. That’s the part where we need to stay disciplined.

“But on Senior Night, it was great to showcase the seniors,” Bilodeau added.

“We had all the seniors out there playing. We brought a couple of them up from JV, so that was good. They did well. It was a good night.”

Antigo’s Alex Samolinski put his team on the board by converting on a penalty kick 11:40 into the second half, but that goal was answered just 1:49 later at 53:29 by an unassisted goal from Tlusty.

“Their goalie (Frank McKenna) played really well,” Bilodeau said. “Hat’s off to him. He did a phenomenal job. Without that goalie, it would’ve easily been 10-0.”

Medford is back in action today, Thursday, with a 4:30 p.m. game at Northland Pines that will complete the first round of GNC play. The Eagles come in at 2-2 in league play with wins over Antigo and Mosinee and losses to Rhinelander and Lakeland. Round two of league play for Medford starts Sept. 23 at Rhinelander, who upset the Raiders 1-0 in the Aug. 31 opener.

“Three losses puts you behind the eight-ball a little bit,” Bilodeau said. “But if we can do what we did last year and say let’s not let that happen again and turn the ship around and start building a lot of momentum and peaking at the right time, that’s what it’s all about.”

Mosinee 3, Medford 0

Coming into the season, the Raiders felt Mosinee might be a team to watch and the Indians proved them right Thursday by earning a 3-0 shutout at Raider Field.

Medford’s scoreless drought surpassed 250 minutes over three-plus games in the loss and Bilodeau said just some simple defensive breakdowns allowed the Indians to score each of their goals.

“One was a penalty kick and the other two goals were set plays,” he said. “Those are just mental defensive breakdowns. Why aren’t we tracking? Why aren’t we positioning ourselves to be defensive? Why aren’t we marking on up guys? Why aren’t we doing the things we should be doing? We just stood around and watched on those set plays.”

The first Mosinee goal came at 16:54 when its top forward, Toren Holtz, curled a direct kick around a three-man wall and put the shot right on Medford goal keeper Jake Dassow, who bobbled it. Garret Donohue and Cole Holtz caught Medford napping and were both there for the rebound, which Donohue got.

Toren Holtz headed in a Cole Holtz corner kick at the 47:42 mark and a handball in the box gave Toren Holtz a penalty kick, which he buried at 53:39.

Mosinee beat Rhinelander 4-0 on Tuesday and sits at 3-1 in league play heading into a key matchup today at undefeated Lakeland.

Medford’s Quinton Tlusty (3) settles down the bouncing soccer ball off an Aaron Schield corner and eventually scores to give the Raiders an early 3-0 lead over Antigo Tuesday night at Raider Field. Medford ended a three-game slide with a 6-1 win.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS