Better second time around against Tigers

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

The Medford Raiders haven’t had many chances to show what they can do in a girls hockey season that’s had almost as many postponements or cancelations as games.

But Tuesday’s second meeting of the season with the Black River Falls Co-op provided hard evidence of the strides they have made in nearly two months of practices.

The Tigers got their first four goals from Zowie Hunter and were never in any serious trouble in taking a 6-1 win during Senior Night at the Simek Recreation Center. But the Tigers certainly got more resistance from the 0-5 Raiders than they did on opening night Nov. 23, when the young Raiders had their deer-in-the-headlights moment in an 11-0 loss.

Black River Falls improved to 6-8 Tuesday in their 14th game of the year.

“It was way better,” Medford co-head coach Jenna Wieting said after the loss. “(Goalie) Alyssa (Brandner) had more practice. That was her first game ever in the first game that we played them. The team as well has come a long way. Our first and third periods, I thought were really good. The second was a little bit weaker. That’s where they scored most of their goals.”

Brandner, in her third start in net, had 28 saves, including a handful of one-on-one saves in breakaway opportunities. The Raiders limited Black River Falls to 34 total shots on goal, down from 43 in the first meeting, which had much more running-clock time.

While the Raiders were officially credited with nine shots on goal, there were moments of pressure in front of the net and a handful of shots that went just wide of the net.

“We were doing a much better job in this game of getting to the net and giving ourselves opportunities than we have in other games,” Wieting said. “Hopefully we can keep doing that. It wasn’t like they skated around us, which is what they pretty much did the last time that we played them.”

Hunter was the one Tiger who did have her way with the Raiders. Her first goal came just 1:11 into the game on a rare penalty shot after Medford’s Delaney Hraby was called for a delay of game by covering the puck in the crease, a no-no for anyone but the goalie.

“You just learn and don’t do it again,” Wieting said. “We covered it up in a panic and that happens trying to help your goalie knowing that we do have a more inexperienced goalie. I think those defensemen have a tendency to jump in there.”

Hunter converted another one-on-one chance with Brandner, stealing the puck and skating in uncontested for a short-handed goal at the 10:22 mark of the period that made it 2-0. That’s how it stayed until the Tigers took advantage of a power play opportunity early in the second. Hunter got the goal again, sliding the puck underneath Brandner with assists from Hannah Long and Annelise Swiggum at the 1:43 mark. The sophomore’s fourth goal for Black River Falls came at 6:48 when she was able to jam in the puck on Brandner’s stick side from point-blank range. Payton O’Neill had the assist.

Lexie Hagen made it 5-0 at 8:47, just 14 seconds after Black River Falls went on a power play, firing the puck high to Brandner’s glove side off a Bridget Canfield assist.

After Hagen scored 35 seconds into the third, the Raiders broke the shutout at the 7:32 mark when freshman Alisyn Gruny got her first career goal off an assist from Hraby.

“Our third line really did a stellar job tonight,” Wieting said. “Every line did a good job, but I feel like it was good that you can’t really tell much of a difference who’s out there between the first line and third line. The third line really stepped up with Emily Kiselicka at center, Carly Koski at one of the wings and then we kind of rotated out that other opposite wing with some of the other girls, but they all did well. A really good job by those girls.”

The Senior Night festivities honored Kyla Kennedy, a four-year starter with the program and Milou van de Boogaard, a senior exchange student this year from the Netherlands.

Medford’s game tonight, Thursday, was postponed with no available officials, but the Raiders should finally hit a busy stretch of games in the next week.

They’ll attend the Hartland Arrowhead Quad this weekend, meeting the host Arrowhead Co-op Friday at 5 p.m. and the Brookfield Glacier Co-op Saturday at 11 a.m. On Monday, defending state champion Chippewa Falls-Menomonie is here for a 6 p.m. face-off.

A Dec. 16 postponement with the Northern Edge Coop has been set for Thursday, Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Simek Center.

“We have a good stretch coming,” Wieting said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

Medford’s Jaylin Machon skates toward the crease and gets off a shot during Tuesday’s second period.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS