MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY - Storm surges past Raiders, 11-0

MEDFORD GIRLS HOCKEY

The last game on home ice for six seniors was a tough one Thursday for Medford’s girls hockey team, who were knocked out by a first-period flurry of goals and were shut out by one of the state’s top co-ops, the Central Wisconsin Storm, 11-0.

Gabi Heuser scored four goals for the second-ranked Storm, who improved to 20-3 with the win before heading into a Saturday with the top-ranked Bay Area Ice Bears, which they lost 3-0 in Green Bay. Taylor Simonson stopped all seven of Medford’s shots on goal.

Emma Brandt got the Storm’s first goal just 27 seconds in with an assist from Heuser, but the real punch came when the Storm scored three goals in a span of 93 seconds, starting with Heuser’s first goal of the game at the 4:18 mark of the first period. Jayden Yirkovsky had the assist.

Sophie Bohlin scored unassisted at 5:06 and Michaela Gerum scored with an assist from Mataya DePuydt at 5:51. Brandt’s second goal of the period with 1:49 left to make it 5-0. Heuser had the assist. Central Wisconsin had a 21-3 advantage in shots on goal in the period.

Heuser put the running clock into effect just 28 seconds into the second period, taking a pass from Yirkovsky and then sprinting to the other end for a breakaway goal. Bohlin’s shot from the blue line was deflected by Heuser in front of the net at 7:55 to complete her hat trick. But Heuser added one more at 14:46, just seven seconds into a power play, with assists from Ava Rode and Gerum, making it 8-0.

Taylor Freidel scored off Mara Meverden’s centering pass 2:19 into the third period. Medford had one good scoring chance in the period just over minutes in, but Simonson stopped a breakaway shot by Kara Kennedy. Kate Saari scored from the crease area with one second left on a Storm power play at 12:47. Friedel had the assist. Madeline Kelter closed the scoring at 14:32, taking a centering pass from Ava Whitmore. Meverden also had an assist.

The Storm put 39 shots on goal with Raider goalie Chloe Pipkorn stopping 28 of them. The Raiders had three power plays in the game. The Storm only had two but converted on both.

Now 6-14-2 overall, the sixth-seeded Raiders will head to Hayward today, Thursday, for a WIAA regional final against the third-seeded Hurricanes Coop. Medford will be facing another of the state’s top co-op’s, who was ranked fourth in the state last week. The Hurricanes beat Medford 9-0 back on Dec. 10 and are coming off a 3-2 win at third-ranked Superior last Thursday.

Tonight’s winner will be at secondseeded Superior Tuesday for a sectional semifinal starting at 7 p.m. Superior also hosts the sectional final March 1 at 11 a.m.