MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY - Union surges in 2nd period; Raiders win twice at Mosinee, take Pines to OT

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

The Medford Raiders answered an early goal by the Wisconsin Valley Union Tuesday, but they couldn’t stop a five-goal run by the visitors who broke open the home opener at the Simek Center and skated away with a 7-2 win.

Six different players scored goals for the Union, who improved its early-season record to 2-1.

The Raiders, coming off a strong outing in the JV portion of the Central Wisconsin tournament and an overtime battle at Northland Pines last week didn’t quite have the defensive energy it had in those games, according to head coach Tasha Schmidtfranz.

“We got some shots on goal so the offense was good,” she said. “We definitely have to move our feet a little more. That’s what we did last week. We were hustling way better. We’ll keep working at it.”

It took the Union just 43 seconds to get on the board, scoring on an unassisted goal by Jenna Jones. But senior Megan Schaefer was in the right spot at the right time at the 5:22 mark. Camped near the post to the left of Union goalie Kylin Wright, Schaefer punched in the rebound off a shot by Zayleah Leonhardt to tie the game at 1-1.

It stayed that way until the 9:35 mark of the period when, just after Medford killed the only Union power play of the game, Wisconsin Valley’s Maya Hernandez crossed a shot over the left wrist of Medford goalie Chloe Pipkorn and just inside the left post.

It stayed 2-1 well into the second period. Medford was unable to score on an early power play. Then goals by Kendall Baneck at 5:35 and Brynn Baneck at 7:41 made it 4-1 and swung the momentum for good. Jai Dee Menge added another one at 13:24 to give the Union a 5-1 lead going into the second intermission.

Lila Cuff scored 3:25 into the third period before Leonhardt shot the puck past Wright at 5:23. Jones started and finished the game’s scoring, getting her second goal of the night at the 8:33 mark.

For the first time this season, the Raiders were outshot. Pipkorn stopped 25 of the 32 shots she faced, while Wright had 18 saves on 20 shots. Wisconsin Valley was scoreless on four power plays.

Medford continues a nice early homestand next week when it hosts the always-tough Hayward Co-op at 6 p.m. on Tuesday then hosts a two-day quad Dec. 13-14. The Raiders will face the Brookfield Glacier Co-op at 7 p.m. on day one.

2-0 in JV tourney

As they have done several times in the past, the Raiders entered the JV portion of the Central Wisconsin Storm’s Thanksgiving weekend tournament and they pulled out two thrilling wins Friday and Saturday in Mosinee.

Medford won the Saturday’s title game 5-4 in overtime over the Storm, getting the game-winning goal from Grace Schmidtfranz 2:41 into the eight-minute suddenvictory period. Leonhardt and Kara Kennedy had the assists. The goal capped a comeback from a 4-1 deficit that started in the second period.

Lilyana Kujawa put Medford on top 6:28 into the game with help from a Madison Mattke assist. But the Storm got two goals before the end of the first period and added two more to start the second.

Leonhardt’s unassisted goal 6:27 into the second period got the rally started. She scored again 3:32 into the third with assists from Kennedy and Schaefer to cut the Storm’s lead to 4-3.

Kennedy tied the game at 7:24 using assists from Mattke and Leonhardt. The teams went scoreless over the last 9:36 of regulation to send the game to the extra period, though Medford tried its best to win it before then, outshooting the Storm 21-3 in the period.

Pipkorn had 19 saves for Medford, while Taylor Simonson had 42 for the Storm, including five in overtime.

On Friday, the Raiders scored three third-period goals to overtake the Eau Claire Area Stars 4-3. Leonhardt scored all four of the team’s goals and Pipkorn had 21 saves. The Raiders outshot the Stars 38-24.

Leonhardt’s unassisted goal 51 seconds into the game gave the Raiders a quick 1-0 lead. The Stars got goals from Serena Carlson and Peyton Kolshaw to take a 2-1 lead 1:48 into the second period. Medford put 12 shots on goal in the second period but got nothing past the Stars’ goalie Amelia Thul.

But Leonhardt broke the seal 1:11 into the third with assists from Schaefer and Schimdtfranz to start her run toward a natural hat trick. She scored unassisted at 6:29 and again at 9:02 with assists from Emily Kiselicka and Schaefer to give Medford a 4-2 lead. The Raiders held on from there despite a goal at 13:31 from Kolshaw.

Pipkorn had 21 saves in the win. Thul had 34.

Pines 4, Medford 3

The Raiders began the year emphasizing an improvement on offense and it showed in the first half of the team’s first game Nov. 26 in Eagle River.

Unfortunately, the puck stopped finding the net midway through the second period and the host Northland Pines Co-op rallied for a thrilling 4-3 overtime win.

Eagle Avery Renkes got the game-winner 3:09 into overtime with Pines on just its second power play of the game. She scored unassisted to give the Eagles their fourth straight close win over Medford since the start of last season.

Offensively, Medford did what it wanted, holding the puck in its offensive zone and creating shot opportunities. The Raiders outshot the Eagles 35-16. They had a 28-7 advantage in shots through two periods.

While Eagle Reese Retallick got the game’s opening goal, unassisted, at 8:46, Medford ended the first period by holding a 2-1 lead. Victoria Konieczny got the team’s first goal of the season at the 10:02 mark, beating Eagle goalie Lucy Nowak with assists from Kennedy and Leonhardt.

Schaefer put Medford in front with 1:34 left in the period with help from a Grace Schmidtfranz assist.

Schaefer’s second goal of the night, which came at the 6:16 mark of the second period, put Medford on top 3-1. Leonhardt and Konieczny had the assists.

The momentum swung in the third period as the shots evened out with each team getting seven on goal. The Eagles put two of them in to send the game to overtime. Mia Tulowitzky’s unassisted goal at 3:46 made it 3-2 and Ella Koca tied it at 5:07, assisted by Lilly Beitler.

Pipkorn, playing the position for the first time, had 12 saves in the game, including one in overtime. Nowak finished with 32 saves for Pines. Medford was unsuccessful on three power play chances.

Zayleah Leonhardt carries the puck away from Medford’s net during Tuesday’s home opener. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS