Tough night for Raiders in Altoona

MEDFORD BOYS HOCKEY

The Regis-Altoona-McDonell (RAM) hockey co-op set the tone quickly with a 25-shot first period and easily handled the Medford Raiders 10-0 Tuesday in a non-conference contest played at Altoona.

The RAM squad scored four goals on those 25 first-period shots and ended the game with a four-goal third period in its first game of the season. Eleven days after starting the season with a close loss to Antigo, the Raiders fell to 0-2.

Medford gets a rematch with Antigo tonight, Thursday, to open Great Northern Conference. The home opener starts at 7 p.m. at the Simek Recreation Center.

Dallen Robinson had two of the firstperiod goals, including the first one at 3:48 and the third at 8:21. He also had two assists on the night. Evan Gustafson had two goals, including the second one of the opening period, which came at 6:45. Evan Eckes had the assist on that one and he scored RAM’s ninth goal 7:53 into the third period.

Nate Spencer scored the fourth goal of the opening period at 15:03. Elijah Schmidt, Brandon Wagner, Tristan Gardner and Ben Biskupski added goals for the home team. Gustafson’s second goal came 4:11 into the third period on RAM’s only power play of the night.

Medford’s Talan Albers saw 47 shots in goal and stopped 37 of them. Alex Erickson got the shutout for RAM, stopping all 16 shots put on goal by the Raiders, including nine in the third period.

Medford was was unable to convert on two second-period power plays.

After tonight’s home opener, Medford is back on the road Tuesday, visiting the Chequamegon Co-op for a 6 p.m. face-off in Park Falls. The Raiders return to GNC play on Dec. 8 at Tomahawk. The puck drops at 7 p.m. for that one.