WIAA DIV. 3 BOYS SOCCER - One of season’s best soccer efforts not quite enough in 4-2 loss

WIAA DIV. 3 BOYS SOCCER

The post-season ended Thursday in the opening game for Medford’s boys soccer team, but the Raiders went down swinging.

Playing what head coach Adam Derr said was certainly one of their best games of 2023, the sixth-seeded Raiders came out on the short end of a high-scoring 4-2 battle at third-seeded Shawano in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal.

The game featured end-to-end action with plenty of shots for both teams and a scoring flurry at the end with three goals scored in the last three minutes.

“We played well, they played well. It was an exceptional game,” Derr said. “If you’re going to go out, you want to go out playing your best soccer and we did that. We played our best soccer.”

Unfortunately, Shawano’s Warner Beyer played the role of spoiler for the Raiders by scoring the Hawks’ last three goals. The last two ended Medford’s attempt to come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit.

Medford cut that deficit in half early in the second half. But it never got the equalizer while ending its year at 6-9-1. Shawano finished 11-10 after falling 4-3 at second-seeded Lakeland in Saturday’s regional final.

While Medford didn’t have a lot of games on grass this season and had struggled offensively when it did, Derr said the Raiders were on point with their passing in this one.

“Shawano had a little more of a tendency to play the long ball,” Derr said. “We worked the ball up the field and passed the ball well. We passed the ball as well as we have all season. I felt we worked the ball extremely well. We just couldn’t find that final ball enough.

“It rained a little during warmups, but their field was really good,” Derr added. “The grass was a good length and with it being a little wet, the ball zipped around pretty good. It was moving quick.”

Medford finished with 17 shots, five of which were considered on goal. Shawano had 21 shots, nine of which were on goal.

“In some ways the game was a microcosm of our season,” Derr said. “We played really well. We controlled stretches of the game. We made a couple of mistakes and when we did, we got punished.”

Shawano’s first goal came in the 27th minute from George Buerman. The Raiders were unable to control a long ball and it got into enemy control for an easy tapin. Beyer got his first goal of the night right before the half to make it 2-0.

“But we came off the field at half feeling pretty good,” Derr said. “(Senior) Aidan Ball said in our meeting that was probably the best 40 minutes we’ve played all season. After the game, the other coach said we probably outplayed them for 30 of the 40 minutes and we did. We played really well.”

Medford’s belief paid off with a goal just 1:14 into the second half. Senior Adyn Gripentrog got it, firing a beautiful shot from the top of the 18-yard penalty box.

From there, Derr said the action went up and down the field but the defenses did enough to keep each side from scoring.

That was until Beyer booted one in at 77:02 to make it 3-1.

“He is quick,” Derr said of Beyer. “He punished us.”

The Raiders didn’t quit, getting one right back at 78:22. Gripentrog and Grant Neubauer worked the ball into position and Dayne Jacobson was able to punch the ball into the back of the net with a head shot and keep hope alive at 3-2.

But, Shawano penetrated Medford’s defensive third off the ensuing kickoff and scored just 13 seconds later.

“Adyn and Dayne have been responsible for a lot of our offense all year and they stepped up again,” Derr said. “Overall I thought defensively we played better than we have been. We made a couple of mistakes. Unfortunately, this isn’t basketball. One mistake can kill you.

“Anthony (Walt) Seidel had one of his best games that I’ve ever seen him have,” Derr said. “He was a big part of the defense playing well. Walt and Dom Fennell on that right side did a fantastic job. They were the ones working that right side, getting the ball to Adyn and Dayne.”

Dayne Jacobson