MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY - Raiders get even, bring home 2-1 win from Beaver Dam
MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY
Four weeks after being shut out by the Beaver Dam Co-op and its fine goaltender Emily Smedema, Medford girl’s hockey team got even Friday, sneaking two shots by Smedema and getting outstanding play from its own goalie in a 2-1 road win.
The Raiders snapped a seven-game skid behind 37 saves from sophomore netminder Zayleah Leonhardt and two goals from their top scoring line. Medford never trailed while evening the score, so to speak, following the Golden Beavers’ 5-0 win in Medford back on Jan. 5.
“It was a very close game,” Medford head coach Tasha Schmidtfranz said. “Z had some amazing saves and ultimately we played our positions, hustled and had great shots on goal. A very fun game which rewarded the hard work the ladies have been putting in.”
Leonhardt stopped all 10 shots Beaver Dam put on her in the first period and the Raiders killed off their only penalty. Senior Jaylin Machon put Medford on the scoreboard with her fourth goal of the season 3:45 into the game with an assist from Tori Konieczny.
The home team tied the game in the second period on an unassisted powerplay goal from Ali Stanul at the 2:51 mark. Beaver Dam outshot the Raiders 17-6 in the period, but Leonhardt and the defense only allowed that one goal, keeping the game tied.
Three minutes into the third, Konieczny scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season with a Machon assist to put the Raiders in front. They stayed there behind 11 Leonhardt saves in the period.
Smedema, who has a season save percentage better than 93% for the 10-10-1 Beavers, had 17 saves.
Now 4-13, the Raiders will conclude their regular season tonight, Thursday, by hosting the Viroqua Co-op (2-18-1) at the Simek Recreation Center at 5:30 p.m.
As expected, the Raiders drew the sixth seed in the six-team WIAA sectional bracket and will begin tournament play Thursday, Feb. 15 at the third-seeded Hayward Co-op (14-8) at 4:30 p.m. The Hurricanes beat Medford 8-0 on their home ice way back on Nov. 28.
The top two seeds in the bracket, to no one’s surprise, are Superior-Northwestern (19-3-1) and the Central Wisconsin Storm (16-3-1). Those two teams played to a 1-1 tie Saturday in Superior. The Spartans also beat the Storm 3-2 in the Culver’s Cup championship in Madison Dec. 29. Those two teams have first-round byes. The other game next Thursday has the fifth-seeded Northland Pines Co-op (4-12) visiting the Wisconsin Valley Union (7-14) in Stevens Point.
