MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY - Raiders find their offense while winning 2 of 3

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

A stretch of four tough games in the season’s first two weeks had Medford’s girls hockey team spending a lot of time in their defensive zone, but that changed in the team’s most recent three games.

Unfortunately for the Raiders on Tuesday, their efforts on the offensive zone went unrewarded as the Northland Pines Co-op used three transition opportunities led by their top skater Taylor Heleniak to snatch a 3-1 win at the Simek Recreation Center.

Starting in the latter stages of the first period and continuing through the second and into portions of the third, the Raiders forechecking was solid, allowing them to hold the zone on several occasions and create opportunities. But Pines’ defense and goalie Jenna Uhrine stood up to the challenge, denying 22 of Medford’s 23 shots on goal.

“We’re trying. We’re hustling,” Medford head coach Tasha Schmidtfranz said after the team dropped to 2-5 overall. “We have nothing to hang our heads about tonight. We had good chances. The chances were there. I think it was pretty fair between the offense and defensive zone. We just didn’t quite connect. It happens. We’ll get them next time.”

The Eagles wound up outshooting Medford 36-23, but Medford goal tender Zayleah Leonhardt was positioned perfectly to stop most of the shots she saw, especially when she had defensive support. She finished with 33 saves, including 17 in the second pe- riod alone.

It was the breakouts where Pines struck and struck quickly.

Heleniak got her first goal 10:04 into the first period. A Medford shot sailed wide and caromed around the boards right to Eagle Mallory Schmidt who sent a pass to the streaking Heleniak near center ice. Heleniak did the rest, beating Leonhardt low to the stick side.

As Medford was starting to build offensive pressure late in the period, a bad break put them down 2-0 as Heleniak was in the right place at the right time at 15:31 to scoop up a loose puck and beat everyone else to the other end. Pines outshot the Raiders 11-8 in the period with some of the Raiders’ best chances including a Tori Konieczny shot that hit the crossbar, a one-on-one chance for Grace Schmidtfranz that Uhrine denied and a well-placed centering pass at the 13:40 mark that Schmidtfranz just couldn’t quite redirect.

Schmidtfranz did get Medford’s goal, however, in the second period. The unassisted score came in the midst of a scrum in the crease with her and a couple of Eagle defenders. Megan Schaefer got the initial shot on net. The physical play at the net resulted in Schmidtfranz and Pines’ Lilly Beitler getting coincidental minor penalties, but the goal stood with 3:41 left in the period.

Medford’s offensive momentum waned in the third period when the Raiders spent a good chunk of the time killing penalties. They had one late power play and got shots on goal from Kelli Petrick and Schmidtfranz that didn’t find the net.

“Our shots on goal are coming up, so that’s always good to see,” Tasha Schmidtfranz said. “We’re creating some chances.”

Pines got its insurance goal with 2:07 left by quickly transitioning from a faceoff in Medford’s offensive zone. Schmidt sprung the puck out to Heleniak, who found Reese Retallick for the goal.

The Raiders are back on home ice tonight, Thursday when they host Chippewa Falls-Menomonie at 6 p.m.

“We’ll just keep working at it,” Schmidtfranz said.

Sweep in Michigan

On Saturday, the Raiders renewed acquaintances with their friendly rivals from Houghton-Hancock, Mich. and swept the annual doubleheader 3-0 and 10-1.

“Saturday was very good,” coach Schmidtfranz said. “We really hustled. We had 60 shots on goal in that second game. That’s pretty impressive.”

The first game was well-played by both teams with just one penalty being called. That was an interference call on Medford late in the second period. Otherwise, Medford outshot the Copper Country 19U girls 38-15 and got three of those shots past goalie Naudia Meneguzzo to pick up the win.

Petrick got the first one 14:13 into the opening period with Rivalee Stokes and Ava Hartl getting credit for the assists. Medford outshot Copper Country 19-5 in the period.

The Raiders made it 2-0 just 57 seconds into period number two. Jaylin Machon got the goal with Petrick getting the assist. Makenna Wellman’s goal 11:15 into the period with an assist from Konieczny closed the scoring. Medford had an 11-5 edge in shots in the second period, but the Houghton-Hancock team held an 8-5 advantage in the third.

Leonhardt got the shutout win with her 18 saves. Meneguzzo had 32 saves in the loss for the home team.

Medford’s depth wore down the hosts in game two, using a 60-14 advantage in shots and a six-goal explosion in the third period to win 10-1.

Leonhardt had a big game for the Raiders, getting credit for the win in net with 12 saves in two shutout periods. Then she got her first high school hat trick with three of the six goals in the third.

Leading 4-0 going into the last 17 minutes, the Raiders gave up their only goal of the day when Baylie Bourdeau beat Wellman 39 seconds in with Sophia Blake getting the assist.

At 6:34, the Raiders started their gameending tear. Grace Schmidtfranz got the first one with an assist from Hartl. Leonhardt got her first one 42 seconds later at 7:16 with a Petrick assist. Petrick also assisted on Konieczny’s goal at 12:21 that made it 7-1.

That started a late flurry that broke the game wide open. Machon scored unassisted at 13:35, Leonhardt used a Kara Kennedy assist to score at 15:34, then with 44 seconds left in the game, Leonhardt clinched her hat trick with a Stokes assist.

Wellman made one save in the period as Medford had a 23-2 edge in that category in the period. Medford had the only power play of the game, in the second period, and did not score on it.

Schmidtfranz had the game’s first goal 1:57 in with a Wellman assist. Konieczny’s unassisted goal made it 2-0 at the 10:26 mark.

Hartl made it 3-0 by scoring 5:34 into the second period and Stokes got her first varsity goal at 13:48 to make it 4-0.

Meneguzzo had 50 saves for the hosts.

Medford’s Grace Schmidtfranz launches a shot on Northland Pines goalie Jenna Uhrine, who makes the first-period save during the visitors’ 3-1 win at the Simek Center. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS