MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY - Raiders do what they can with Spartans, fall 3-0 to Tigers
MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY
The Medford girls hockey team did the best it could while welcoming the state’s top-ranked team to the Simek Recreation Center Saturday and falling to the Superior Spartans 8-0.
The Raiders stayed out of the penalty box for the most part, committing just two minor penalties, and held the Spartans to a respectable 34 shots on goal.
But they knew breaking through against Superior’s defense was going to be tough, and it was, as they only got three shots on goalie Kaylie Nault.
Zayleah Leonhardt had 26 saves for the Raiders, who fell to 3-10 with the loss. Superior improved to 17-1 and held its spot atop this week’s Wisconsin Prep hockey. net girls state rankings.
Superior’s leading scorer for the season, senior Autumn Cooper, did the most damage Saturday, scoring two goals and adding three assists for the Spartans. Seven different players scored for the Spartans.
Superior outshot Medford 15-2 in the first period and took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Makaela Reinke got the first one just 2:06 in and was assisted by Cooper and Gabryel Olson. The Raiders were able to hold the deficit at 1-0 until the visitors struck twice in a span of 92 seconds late in the period. Cooper scored at 14:09 with assists from Olson and Michaela Geissler. Isabella Thompson made it 3-0 at 15:41 with an Ella Larson assist.
Four goals in the second period put the game away. Olson got the first one of the period at 6:46 with a Cooper assist. Katelyn Stamper scored at 8:03, followed by Cooper at 11:20 and Kenlyn Thimm off Cooper’s third assist at 16:39.
Madelyn Bachand closed the scoring with 1:22 left in the game.
The Raiders hit the road for their next four games. That stretch starts tonight, Thursday, when Medford heads to Eagle River for the second time in 11 days for a match-up with the Northland Pines Co-op. The next three games take the Raiders to the southeastern corner of the state with games at Hartland Arrowhead Jan. 26, Brookfield Jan. 27 and Beaver Dam Feb. 2.
Tigers 3, Raiders 0
Offensive opportunities weren’t lacking Thursday, but all 29 of Medford’s shots on goal were denied by goaltender Sydney Magnuson in the Black River Falls Co-op’s 3-0 home win over the Raiders.
Magnuson stopped 10 Medford shots in the first period, 11 in the second and eight more in the third to collect her first shutout of the season. The Tigers shut out their second straight opponent while improving to 10-6. Leonhardt was nearly as good for the Raiders. She stopped 24 of 25 shots she faced through two periods. But the Tigers wore down Medford’s defense in the third and got 21 shots on goal in the final 17 minutes, including two goals that put the game out of reach.
The Raiders nearly got out of the first period with a scoreless tie, but Tiger Zowie Hunter found the back of the net with 48 seconds left with help from a Payton O’Neill assist. Medford successfully killed one power play in the period and was unable to take advantage of one in the second period.
Hunter struck again 45 seconds into the third period and then capped her hat trick at the 10:09 mark, getting a Klarissa Canfield assist on the game’s final goal. The Raiders did successfully kill off two more Tiger power plays in that period.
