Raiders shut out by two quality foes, but also get first win

MEDFORD GIRLS SOCCER

Thought to be a Great Northern Conference girls soccer title contender coming into the spring, the Lakeland Thunderbirds showed why on Monday in their dominating 9-0 win over the visiting Medford Raiders.

Sophia Myshchyshyn and Leah Wolfe both recorded hat tricks for Lakeland, who went on a six-goal spree in the game’s first 24 minutes to put the game out of reach by halftime. They scored three more early in the second half, but the Raiders were able to keep the 10th goal from scoring and prevent the TBirds from ending the game early.

“We anticipated Lakeland would be our hardest competition in the conference this year and they proved that,” Medford head coach Tanya Tessmann said.

The Raiders fell to 1-2 in the GNC and 1-6 overall, while Lakeland sits in a firstplace tie with Rhinelander at 3-0. The T-Birds are 6-1 overall. Lakeland is at Rhinelander tonight, Thursday.

Speed is the biggest difference between the teams, Tessmann said, while adding that a couple of Lakeland’s goals also were the results of well-placed kicks.

“Our defense played well,” she said. “Lakeland is just faster than us. They were just beating us. They played up high and our defense was able to get eight offsides calls. With them playing so high, we got those offsides calls, but there were other times where they were just faster to the ball.”

Josie Wentland got the scoring started off a Wolfe assist at 8:41. Myshchyshyn hit a perfect long ball at 11:45 for an unassisted goal to make it 2-0, then Maria Gironella and Taylor Heleniak scored 18 seconds apart at 12:15 and 12:33 to put Medford in an early 4-0 hole. Olivia Melka and Wolfe assisted on those goals. Wolfe got her first goal at 23:04, assisted by Heleniak, while Myshchyshyn connected again just 41 seconds later with an assist from Charley Cleveland.

“Myshchyshyn and Wolfe are both first-team all-conference players from last year,” Tessmann said. “We knew about both of them and that they were the players we needed to watch.”

Wolfe scored in the 46th and 48th minutes with assists from Wentland and Melka, Myshchyshyn capped the scoring at 54:10 with a close shot that was assisted by Heleniak.

Lakeland got off 39 shots, 29 of which were considered on goal. Medford’s Sophia Brunner had 20 saves. Lakeland had 12 corner kicks. The Raiders, generated next to no offense, giving All-GNC goalie Naomi Hamerla an easy shutout win.

Tessmann said Lakeland’s passing was sharp throughout.

“That’s something we want to do better, looking forward and just seeing the field better,” she said.

Lakeland won the JV game 6-0. Medford is looking forward to its return to Raider Field tonight, Thursday, for a Senior Night matchup with Antigo that kicks off at 7 p.m. The Raiders will be busy next week, starting with a 6 p.m. non-conference home game with Waupaca on Monday, a trip to Northland Pines Tuesday and a rescheduled home date with Amherst/Iola-Scandinavia on May 6.

Medford 3, Mosinee 0

Perfect kicking accuracy produced all three goals for the Raiders Thursday in their first win of 2022, a 3-0 shutout win at Mosinee in Great Northern Conference play.

Playing their first game on grass and also their first game in some truly spring weather, the Raiders took awhile to warm up but, once they did, they certainly put in their most complete effort of the young season. After a stretch of games in high wind, rain or snow, 54 degrees and sunshine was a welcome sight.

“After our Ashland game, we knew we needed to work harder at getting those first touches on throw-ins and goal kicks, and I think we did get more first touches than Mosinee,” Tessmann said. “It took us a little while to get into more of an offensive approach than a defensive approach like we’ve had in the previous games. We made the adjustments we needed at halftime.”

The game was scoreless until the 35:11 mark when persistence paid off for the Raiders. The play started with a throw-in from Kayla Szydel to Sierra Tessmann, who went on an offensive attack and then attempted to send a crossing pass to Gabby Brunner. Mosinee broke up the pass, but the ball found its way back to Tessmann. Her second passing attempt found its way past a couple of defenders to Brunner’s foot and she found the back of the net.

The offensive mindset in the second half resulted in two quick scoring chances. A handball in the center of the field just outside the box gave Medford a direct kick. Senior Lydia Pernsteiner lofted a perfect shot over Mosinee’s wall as well as goalie Jessica Brown and found the net at 42:20.

Not long after that, at 47:47, another handball gave Medford a direct kick just outside the box from the right side and Tessmann connected on another wellplaced high shot.

From there, the defense held. Sophia Brunner stopped six of Mosinee’s 19 shots that got on goal. Senior defender Caitlin Doyle added a key save at the 73:30 mark, getting to a direct kick that Brunner couldn’t reach before it found the net.

“She is so diligent at not only trying to clear those balls, but also making sure they go to the outside so they become throw-ins and not corner kicks,” Tessmann said. “Our defense never let them get much going, which was great for Sophia to give her a little more of a break.”

Gabby Brunner and Pernsteiner got off three shots each, while Tessmann and Nikki Poetzl put shots on goal as well.

The loss in its home opener dropped Mosinee to 0-2 in the GNC at the time and 1-2 overall.

Ashland 6, Medford 0

In a game moved back a day and also moved to Northland College’s Ponzio Stadium, the always-tough Ashland Oredockers got four goals from Hailee Wilson and shut out the Raiders 6-0 on Wednesday, April 20.

Wilson, who led the Great Northern Conference last year with 37 points on 14 goals and nine assists, scored three of her goals in the first half to put this game out of reach. Ashland is now a soccer member of the Heart O’ North Conference.

The teams played in a steady rain with the temperature dipping to 40 by game’s end.

“We knew this would be a tough game,” Tessmann said. “They were undefeated in our conference last year. I even debated rescheduling because we knew the weather wasn’t going to be good, but we thought it was important to get a game in before the Mosinee game. It was good to have our whole team back together. With spring break, we hadn’t played a game with our whole team in two weeks.”

Ashland got off 35 shots with 25 of them getting on goal. Sophia Brunner collected 19 saves.

“Though the score may not show it, I was impressed with our defense,” Tessmann said.

It took Ashland 23 minutes to get on the board, but that first goal started a three-goal flurry by Wilson in the last 17 minutes of the half. Her first two shots came on breakaways, though Tessmann credited Doyle for nearly catching up to her on both shots. Wilson buried a longer shot at the 36:10 mark.

The Oredockers put it away with three more goals in the first 23 minutes of the second half. Hannah Bochler got the first one just a minute off a play that started with a throw-in. Lilly Nye scored off an Ashland corner kick to make it 5-0 and Wilson got her fourth goal of the night in the 63rd minute.

Medford’s offensive pressure was better in the second half, Tessmann said, with Emma Eckert, Sierra Tessmann and Madison Clarkson getting shots and Pernsteiner putting two on goal. Pernsteiner had a shot skim the crossbar and deflect straight down to the turf without crossing the goal line.

“I felt our defense was strong,” Tessmann said. “Kelsey Jascor and Caitlin Doyle did a good job of clearing balls out toward the sidelines and corners.”