Unlucky night for Raiders; year ends in 2-1 heartbreaker

WIAA DIV. 3 SOCCER REGIONAL FINAL

Inches, maybe even millimeters, were all that separated the Medford boys soccer team from a second straight WIAA regional championship Saturday night.

But the key breaks in an intense, wide-open, back-and-forth Division 3 battle went Lakeland’s way as the Thunderbirds avenged their 6-0 loss to the Raiders in the 2020 regional final with a heart-stopping 2-1 win in Minocqua.

Yaroslav Myshchyshyn scored both of Lakeland’s goals, one in each half, to give the top-seeded Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead that seemed insurmountable as the game got to the 77-minute mark.

But in the final three minutes, Medford alertly took advantage of a Lakeland miscue and got a Gage Neubauer goal off an indirect free kick. Neubauer nearly added a beautiful assist on a long lob to Quinton Tlusty. Unfortunately, Tlusty’s laser shot with 45 seconds left hit the crossbar and bounced out into the field of play.

It was the second crossbar shot of the night for Medford as Neubauer hit the other one in the first half. The 16-2-3 TBirds exhaled as they looked forward to a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal matchup with third-seeded Mosinee that will be held tonight, Thursday. Medford’s up-and-down season, which ended on a definite upswing, concluded at 8-8-2.

“When you have a shot like that, you’re not talking inches, you’re talking millimeters, just enough to change the direction of the ball,” Medford head coach Nathan Bilodeau said. “Instead of it hitting and coming out, it needs to hit and go in. It’s a game of inches at times. That’s the reality.”

While the final score made the game look like a defensive battle, offensive pressure and scoring chances were numerous for both teams. But goal keepers Jake Dassow of Medford and Carter Quade of Lakeland and their teammates were up to the task for the most part.

In fact, Medford nearly went three full games without scoring a goal against Lakeland this year until the Raiders alertly jumped on their opportunity at the 77:19 mark.

Quade made a save, put the ball on the ground and slowly prepared to kick it. As Raider Gerardo Estrada Rodriguez charged at him, Quade picked the ball back up in an attempt to punt it. Picking the ball back up, however, is not allowed and results in an indirect free kick. Before anyone from Lakeland knew what was happening, Estrada Rodriguez put the ball down just in front of the net and pushed a pass to Neubauer for the easy goal.

“Absolutely that was a heads-up play by Gerry and Gage,” Bilodeau said. “It’s not a penalty kick, it’s an indirect kick and somebody has to touch that ball before it goes into the back of the net. For them to even figure out what was going on was excellent. Gerry put it down and tapped it to Gage and it was an easy goal. That’s what you have to do.”

The irony is Lakeland beat Medford 1-0 on a similar play in their Sept. 30 matchup. Myshchyshyn scored off a direct kick before Medford had its defense set up for that game’s only goal.

“That just takes a lot of experience,” Bilodeau said. “Gerry is our foreign exchange student. He has a tremendous amount of soccer experience. Heads up play for him to put the ball down and make a pass right away before the Lakeland defense could even get set.”

Medford’s first-half scoring chances included a couple of Zach Rudolph headers off corner kicks, one of which actually went to the turf and nearly bounced over Quade and in, a nice centering pass from Tlusty to Neubauer whose hard shot got blocked and the crossbar shot from Neubauer at the 16-minute mark that Quade pinned where the bar meets the net. The officials ruled it did not go far enough in to consider it a goal and the teams played on.

“I’m proud of the guys for coming out swinging the way they did,” Bilodeau said. “I think we really caught them offguard. I felt like we were really in control, especially in that first 15-20 minutes. We were playing really hard, playing really physical and also playing our game. It’s one thing to come out being aggressive and fast, but maintaining control is also important with passing and keeping possession. We did all of the right things.”

Lakeland got the game’s next big break at the 31:45 mark in the first half. A questionable foul call on Medford gave Myshchyshyn a direct kick from 25 yards out. The shot slipped through Dassow’s fingers and in for a 1-0 Lakeland lead.

Dassow, however, shook off that one quickly as he notched two big-time saves at the 33:20 mark, rejecting a point-blank shot by Myshchyshyn and the rebound by Bo Peterson.

Medford came up empty on a series of corner kicks and free kicks early in the second half and paid for it when Myshchyshyn got an easy rebound after Dassow made a tough save on a Peterson bullet at 57:17. Quade saved a wicked shot from Rudolph at 65:50 and a Kale Klussendorf header at 66:20. Aaron Schield’s 35-yard free kick went high at the 68-minute mark.

“It was a really intense match,” Bilodeau said. “Everyone played their hearts out. That’s what I told them. I couldn’t have asked anything more out of any of you because you gave it your all. Everyone gave 100% for 100% of the time and that’s all I can ask for. Just a couple of unlucky moments there that ended up not in our favor. That’s the way it goes sometimes.

“Lakeland is a phenomenal team, they’re well-coached, they’re well-organized, they’re composed. They possess well. That’s something we work toward as well. That’s why I think those matches are so close because those teams play so similar.”

The game was the final one for the six-member senior class of Tlusty, Neubauer, Gabe Felix, Brayden Machon, Klussendorf and Sam Blair, who led the team to a strong second half of the season after the Raiders started 0-3 in the Great Northern Conference and 2-4-1 overall. The rest of the junior-dominated roster should be back and Bilodeau said that group has high expectations.

“I told them after the match I’m really proud of the way this team came together,” Bilodeau said. “I’m proud for two reasons. One, they never gave up on that game. They never quit. We were down two goals but they never quit. And I’m proud of them because they never quit on the season. It’s hard to come back from three losses. I felt like we really turned the corner and we started to play really good soccer after that. It takes a lot for a team to come back from that.

“Everybody learns something from that match,” the third-year coach added. “Take that into next year that every kick you take, every shot you take is potentially game changing. Having just that half-second of composure to maybe take a little off your shot or place it a little bit better or whatever, that’s the stuff we learn from. Hopefully this group coming into next fall learns from this and says I don’t want to lose a game like that again. How do we put ourselves in a better position? A lot of the guys are already asking when off-season starts. That tells you they’re committed and devoted to next year. They already want to get going on it.”

Medford’s Sam Blair dispossesses Lakeland star Yaroslay Myshchyshyn during the first half of Saturday’s regional final match.

MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWSMATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS