T-Birds pounce on scoring chances; 1-2 week for soccer

MEDFORD BOYS SOCCER

The Lakeland Thunderbirds didn’t dominate possession of the soccer ball, but they took advantage of scoring chances when they got them and buried the Medford Raiders Tuesday 6-1 in one of the few blowouts so far in this Great Northern Conference season.

Three T-Birds scored two goals apiece in one of two key games played in the league Tuesday. The league leader going into the night, Rhinelander, tied Mosinee 1-1 and lost the penalty-kick shootout 5-4. The Hodags still hold a one-point lead over Lakeland by getting the tie, but Mosinee now sits just two points back.

The loss put Medford (2-2 GNC, 3-3 overall) four points back and likely needing a win over Mosinee tonight, Thursday, to stay in contact with the frontrunners heading into the second half of league play, which starts next week.

“It really didn’t feel like a 6-1 game,” Medford head coach Adam Derr said of Tuesday’s loss. “They capitalized on our mistakes and they put a lot of those chances they had into the back of the net. Sometimes that happens.”

The T-Birds’ scoring machine, senior Yaroslav Myshchyshyn, scored his two goals in the first half to help stake Lakeland to a 3-0 halftime lead.

Derr said the Raiders’ halftime talk centered around staying positive, trying to set the second-half tone by getting an early goal and then working their way back into it one goal at a time. Medford got the spark it needed to start the second half, scoring just 2:31 into it. Michael Meyer took a free kick from 36 yards out and it found Adyn Gripentrog, whose perfect header from 10 yards out got inside the right post.

But, after Gripentrog’s score, it didn’t stay 3-1 for long. At 48:32, Medford’s Spencer Rau deflected a pass near the outside edge of the goalie box, but unluckily, it went right to Dominic Gironella, who banged it home. Gripentrog dribbled into a triple team, Myshchyshyn stole the ball and pushed it ahead to Bernard who stuck his second goal of the night at 65:36. Gironella closed the scoring at 71:15, connecting on a left to right shot from 22 yards out.

The game’s biggest what-if came early when Gripentrog had a chance to put Medford up 1-0. First, his pass hit a running Dayne Jacobson in stride down the left side. Jacobson’s hard shot was saved but led to a corner kick that Aidan Ball took. Gripentrog snuck in from behind the pack camped in front of the net and got to Ball’s kick first. He had an open look at an open left side of the net but the ball unfortunately hit the post and bounced out at the 6:20 mark.

“Aidan Ball played a fantastic game,” Derr said. “Actually all three of our mids played really well. Adyn Gripentrog had a great game. Michael Meyer was fantastic in the middle and Aidan Ball played great.”

Derr said Jacobson’s speed along the left side also gave Lakeland trouble, so much so that Lakeland’s defenders made it a point to keep the ball away from him from the middle of the first half on.

At 12:35, Medford goal keeper Cale Schulz made an easy save on Myshchyshyn’s direct kick, but Myshchyshyn converted just over a minute later at 13:49, getting his left foot on the ball in a possession battle in front of the net and booting it inside the left post.

A long pass by a T-Bird defender zipped right through the middle of the field to Cameron Bernard at 15:30 and he got a breakaway one-on-one chance with Schulz that he converted to make it 2-0. Oren Slemmons lobbed a pass to Myshchyshyn who added a back-breaking goal with just 1:06 left in the 40-minute half that stretched Medford’s deficit to three.

“We got out of position defensively at times and kind of left Cale out to dry,” Derr said. “When he didn’t have those one-on-the-goalie situations, he made some big saves. It’s tough when you’re going one-on-one, especially with their striker.

“The guys worked. I was proud of how they played,” he added. “The scoreboard was unflattering, but I don’t think we played that badly.”

Lakeland won the JV game 7-0. Tonight’s game with Mosinee kicks off at 7 p.m. at Raider Field. Medford is then off for a week before hosting Rhinelander in another 7 p.m. game Sept. 21.

Waupaca 3, Medford 1

A 1-1 game throughout the second half turned against Medford quickly in the final moments with host Waupaca scoring twice in a 37-second span to earn a 3-1 non-conference win.

Liam Bloedow got the tie-breaking goal with 5:24 left in the game, assisted by Ryan Mace. The Comets didn’t wait long to get more pressure on Medford’s defense, getting an insurance goal from Mace, assisted by Nate Lemkuil.

Bitten a little by sickness and injury, Derr said the bench was short Saturday and that may have had an impact on the last 10 minutes.

“We were right there with them in that one too. From the 68th through 72nd minutes, we really felt like we were going to pull that one out and win it. But after that, I think maybe our legs started to go a little bit. We got out of position and boom, boom balls were in the back of the net.”

Bloedow also scored the game’s first goal, which was assisted by Adam Mace 22:13 into the first half. Gripentrog evened things up at 33:39, assisted by Alex Gonzalez.

Neither defense allowed much until Waupaca broke through late. The Comets had a modest 6-3 edge in shots on goal.

Waupaca won the JV game 6-0.

Medford 3, Antigo 1

Jacobson scored twice, Ethan Emmerich got his first varsity goal and Schulz had eight saves in Medford’s 3-1 home win over the Antigo Red Robins Thursday.

The Raiders got two goals in the first half and added the third one late to put away the pesky Red Robins, who Derr said seem to be improved this season as they try to end their program’s dubious winless streak in the GNC that dates back to its last win, a forfeit, in 2011.

“That wasn’t the Antigo of the past,” Derr said. “They played well, they were well-organized and they didn’t give up or quit. They kept at us.”

Antigo’s strategy of playing a high defensive line caused some issues for Medford in the early going. Still, the Raiders got a goal from Jacobson at 10:36 off an assist from Gripentrog. Emmerich’s goal came at 32:37 with his shot deflecting off a Robin into the back corner of the net.

“I thought we played a really good first half,” Derr said. “We had to make some adjustments. Antigo played a really high defensive line which resulted in a lot of offsides calls against us. We struggled for awhile figuring out how to beat that.”

Medford still ended up getting 20 shots off with 13 of them being in goal. Medford’s strong offensive pressure carried into the early moments of the second half, but Derr said he saw fatigue setting in with his team late in the game with some of the players also having played in Medford’s first JV game of the season, also a 3-1 win.

“I could see some of the guys were a little gassed,” Derr said. “We also had a couple of minor injuries in the second half, so we were doing a lot of subbing.”

Derr credited Oliver Koffler in particular with being the “super sub” of the half, coming in at multiple points and playing multiple positions. Jacobson capped a pretty play with his second goal with just over seven minutes left in the game. Antigo got its goal just over a minute later at 73:52 with Garrett Kufner getting the deflection goal off a free kick from Nolan Bunnell.

That was the only shot to get by Schulz, who also stopped a penalty kick during the win.

“He’s really grown into the position,” Derr said. “He’s played really well for us. We’re very happy with where he’s at.”

Medford finished with 20 total shots, 13 of which were on goal.

“Once you figure it out, the spaces are there (to beat a high defense),” Derr said. “It was something our guys weren’t used to. It’s just about changing the angles of your runs, knowing how to pass and where to pass the ball to. We did a good job once we got used to it.”