Tough conference losses sandwich 2-1 win over Dons

MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER

The Medford Raiders’ defense of their 2019 Great Northern Conference cochampionship in boys soccer is in trouble just three games into the season.

Freshman Yaroslav Myshchyshyn scored four goals, including three in the first half, to lead the Lakeland Thunderbirds to a 5-0 victory over Medford Tuesday at Raider Field that dropped the home team two games behind conference co-leaders Rhinelander and Mosinee.

Playing their second game in as many nights and playing short-handed with three players out due to COVID quarantines, the Raiders still had several good scoring opportunities, especially in the first half Tuesday. Lakeland simply did a better job of cashing in its opportunities.

When Medford lost seniors Ty Baker and Colton Gowey to injury, the Raiders simply didn’t have the manpower to pull off a major comeback in the second half.

Lakeland improved to 2-1 in league play with its win and will meet Medford again tonight, Thursday, in Minocqua at 7 p.m.

The first sign this might not be Medford’s night came in the second minute when Myshchyshyn punched in his first score. The second bad break came at the 16-minute mark when Silas Wipf drew a yellow card as he tried to break up a scoring chance that was developing for the T-Birds. Myshchyshyn took advantage, aiming his direct kick at the upper right corner of the net and curving it in perfectly for a 2-0 lead.

The Raiders had the better of the action through the remainder of the half but, as was the case in their first GNC loss at Rhinelander Thursday, the ball just never found the net.

At 20:10, Gowey had a one-on-one shot at goalie Zach Muenzner and pulled his shot to the left. Quinton Tlusty put a shot right on goal just over a minute later. The Raiders got a pass right down the middle to Gowey at 28:50, but Lakeland broke up the run just in time. Kale Klussendorf got off a quality shot off a throwin at 31:45, but Muenzner made the stop. Another Klussendorf chance was broken up just over a minute later, then at 42:50, his hard shot from about 20 yards out hit the crossbar.

Myshchyshyn then delivered a knockout punch with 10 seconds left in the half to give Lakeland a 3-0 edge.

Medford had two good chances to build momentum in the opening minutes, but again, the ball didn’t find its intended target. Just after Baker left with his injury, Lakeland broke through the Raider defense and got a DJ Ratajczyk goal at 51:16. Myshchyshyn closed the scoring at 60:11.

After tonight’s game at Lakeland, Medford should be closer to full strength next week when it hosts Mosinee Tuesday at 7 p.m. and then visits the Indians two nights later.

Raiders 2, Dons 1

The Raiders got their week started Monday with a 2-1 non-conference win over a solid Columbus Catholic squad that had just come off a 4-3 win at Mosinee two days earlier.

All of the scoring took place in the first 17 minutes with Medford overcoming a 1-0 deficit with two goals three minutes apart.

Grant Olson put the Dons (2-1) on the board first by ripping a hard 20-yard shot that deflected off two Raider defenders and found the net. Kellen Delaney had the assist.

But that was all Columbus Catholic would get against Medford’s defense and sophomore goal keeper Jake Dassow, who made his varsity debut. Dassow wasn’t incredibly busy thanks to the work of his teammates, but he made a handful of saves when he had to.

“Jake Dassow remained calm back there tonight,” Medford head coach Nathan Bilodeau said. “The one goal they did get on us, it ricocheted off two of our guys. He dove this way and then it bounced that way. You’re going to have that. It was wet tonight and we scored both our goals when it was wet too.

“Dassow did great. He knew when to come off his line, knew when to punt it, knew when to grab it, was talking back there. It was good to see.”

Medford got its first offensive break when Owen Wipf was able to curve a corner kick past Columbus Catholic goalkeeper Wyatt Drexler in the 14th minute. Zach Rudolph followed in the 17th minute, scoring off a Wipf assist.

Rudolph, a sophomore co-captain, was in the middle of several scoring chances Medford had during the game.

“It was a great shot,” Bilodeau said. “It wasn’t just a fumbled goal, it was a great shot and it went in the back of the net and I think that will build confidence for Zach.”

Overall it was a solid outing in the first of three games Medford is set to play this week at less than full strength.

“It’s one of those things where if you’re faced with a challenge like that you have to make the best of it,” Bilodeau said. “I thought it provided an opportunity for the JV guys to get some playing time on varsity in a game that, it means a lot because every game means something, but from a conference perspective it doesn’t go on the stats sheet. We brought three guys up, all three of them (Mason and Adyn Gripentrog and Nick Kowalski) got to play and I thought everyone did really well. It’s great to see that because getting those younger guys opportunities to play up on varsity is going to set us up for a much better season next year.”

Hodags 1, Raiders 0

Returning to the site of last year’s conference championship clinching 1-0 win, the Raiders on Thursday fell 1-0 in a gut-wrenching defeat to the Rhinelander Hodags, who are now the early front-runners in the GNC title chase.

Hugh Wiese, a first-team All-GNC standout, got through Medford’s defense in the 80th minute for a one-on-one shot that goal keeper Brady Hupf deflected but couldn’t totally stop from going into the net.

Until then, Medford had controlled much of the action.

“That was heartbreaking because that was a game where, physically, we outplayed that team,” Bilodeau said. “We outpossessed that team. If we had a clock for possession, I know we’d beat team two to one. We just couldn’t find the back of the net. We outshot them three to one based on our stat sheet. We just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

One of Medford’s charges toward Rhinelander’s net wound up being a key and controversial moment in the game. About five minutes before Wiese’s goal, Klussendorf drew a red card for a collision with Hodag keeper Gavin Osterman.

That left Medford a man down for the remainder of the game and without Klussendorf for Monday’s game against Columbus Catholic. “It was a set play,” Bilodeau said. “We were about 30-40 yards out. We kicked it and it bounced right on the 18(-yard boundary). Kale kept his run and the keeper came out and they both kind of collided.”

Through four games, Rhinelander is undefeated, including a 3-0 mark in the GNC and has given up one goal. The teams will meet again at Medford in the regular-season finale Oct. 15.

Raider Ethan Swiantek sprints past Lakeland’s Tyler Tharman and makes a nice push up the right sideline during Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to the T-Birds at Raider Field.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS