STRONG START TO SECOND HALF

Raiders hope win over Hodags is spark for a big finish

A mid-season week off gave the Medford Raiders a chance to reset, study film and regroup in an effort to make a run in the second half of the soccer season.

That run got off to a fine start Thursday with a 2-0 upset of the Rhinelander Hodags, who came to Raider Field sitting in first place in the Great Northern Conference.

They were knocked out of the top spot thanks to Medford’s most consistent offensive 80-minute performance of the fall. The Raiders’ passing was on point, they were able to use their speed to make several good runs and they capitalized on two of those opportunities to hand the Hodags their first outright conference loss.

“They worked hard in practice,” Medford head coach Adam Derr said. “We watched some film. We had a plan going in and I think we executed pretty well. We tried to force some stuff in the beginning of the game, but they kept at it and instead of forcing things they started making the right pass and the right play and it came together. We could’ve had a couple more chances.”

Senior Dayne Jacobson factored in both goals. He assisted on Grant Neubauer’s goal late in the first half and then put the game away with an unassisted goal with 6:51 left.

Medford improved to 3-3 in the GNC and 4-4 overall with the win.

“The big thing was playing on the outsides and then playing it centrally after that,” Jacobson said. “The center always has so many people bunched up there it’s hard to go through. When you play it from the outside, you pull their players outside, bring it in and it’s easy goals.”

“It was finding the open space, taking a look at the way the last game against Rhinelander went (a 1-0 loss) and figuring out where those spaces were that we could exploit,” Derr said. “The guys were making the right runs into those spaces and the passes were there. We showed a lot more composure in the middle of the field. Adyn Gripentrog tore it up. There were a handful of times where he could’ve made that first pass and he took a second look around and made a better pass. Having that creativity and keeping the other team on their toes, I think that’s how we scored.”

For most of the first half, the only real scoring chance was an opportunity Rhinelander had in the seventh minute when Will Quinn’s free kick was deflected just over the crossbar. But as the half progressed, Medford started getting closer. Neubauer had a bouncing shot at the 16-minute mark that Hodag goalie Barak Rappley had no trouble stopping. A Gripentrog header off a Michael Meyer corner kick went wide and Jacobson put a hard, low shot on goal that Rappley deflected out of bounds at the 33-minute mark. Rhinelander then cleared the ensuing corner kick.

But at 35:44, the Raiders struck when Jacobson gained control of the ball in the left corner, worked around a Hodag defender and centered a pass in front of the goal where Neubauer redirected it. The ball snuck under Rappley and inside the post for a 1-0 lead.

“On that play, I saw (the defender) coming at me,” Jacobson said. “I knew he can’t turn around in the time, that I can go forward and pass him so I took the extra touch, played it in. I just got really lucky, got a pass to other players and Grant had a really nice finish, put it in the corner of the net. You can’t do much to save that one.”

Goal keeper Cale Schulz made a key save on a Hodag opportunity about a minute later, allowing the 1-0 lead to stand at halftime.

“After losing to them first time 1-0, putting that first goal in was such a mood booster. It was crazy,” Jacobson said.

Medford had opportunities to double its lead early in the second half. Jacobson’s drop pass to Meyer led to a shot that was just high. A nice passing connection from Meyer to Dom Fennell to Jacobson resulted in another high shot. Jacobson put a shot on goal at 45:05 off another well-executed run.

Then it was Rhinelander’s turn. Matthew King’s header off a corner kick just missed the post and another hard Hodag shot hit the crossbar, bounced straight down and did not cross the goal line at 64:05.

Jacobson got his capper at 73:09, weaving his way through traffic and lining a low bullet that got inside the left post.

“They wanted to put a goal in,” Jacobson said. “They were antsy. I knew if I just kept it close to me and swerved in and out of them that I could get past them. I just got a lucky shot on the goal and put it in.”

“Definitely we needed this,” Derr said. “We’ve had some tough games and the guys were feeling a little down. We needed a big win. I think we’re better than our record showed.”

Now the Raiders got another week off after the win, which they hope doesn’t slow the momentum this win built. Medford is on the grass at Northland Pines today, Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. before transitioning into October with a busy week that includes a 10 a.m. Saturday home game with Rice Lake, a 7 p.m. home game Monday with Marshfield, a 4 p.m. road game at Antigo Tuesday and a 7 p.m. home game Oct. 5 with the new GNC leader Lakeland.

“There’s more conference games to come,” Jacobson said. “We’re hopefully going to keep climbing in conference and taking out the teams we lost to, beating them just by watching film and outplaying them.”

Medford’s Layla Petersen swims to a third-place finish in last Thursday’s 100-yard breaststroke during the Raiders’ 101-69 win at Colby-Abbotsford. Medford is home today, Thursday, in a battle for second place in the GNC with the Ladysmith Co-op.NATHANIELUNDERWOOD/TRIBUNE-PHONOGRAPH