WIAA GIRLS HOCKEY - Hayward ends season Raiders feel was better than record showed
WIAA GIRLS HOCKEY
Saturday in Superior, the Central Wisconsin Storm and the eight-school Hayward Co-op will play for the WIAA girls hockey sectional championship. Those also happen to be the last two opponents the Medford Raiders faced this season in games that demonstrated the struggle the program faces in a sport dominated by large co-ops.
A week after losing 11-0 at home to the Storm in the regular-season finale, the Raiders’ season ended with at 15-0 loss at the Hayward Co-op Thursday in a WIAA regional final. The Hurricanes didn’t waste time blowing the game wide open, scoring eight first-period goals while outshooting the Raiders 23-3 in the period.
With running clock in effect the rest of the way, the Hurricanes scored five goals in the second period and two more in the third. The third-seeded team in the sectional, the Hayward Co-op (20-5-1) knocked out two-seed Superior 4-3 in two overtimes in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal. Meanwhile, the top-seeded and defending state champion Storm (21-4) shut out the fourth-seeded Wisconsin Valley Union 4-0 in its semifinal Tuesday.
Reese Sheehan, the state’s secondleading scorer in the regular season, scored four goals and had five assists in Hayward’s win over the Raiders. Abby Elliott added four goals and three assists, Olivia Webster scored two goals and had four assists and Sophia Marino scored twice.
Hayward wound up outshooting the Raiders 42-11. Goalie Chloe Pipkorn ended a successful first season in the position with 27 saves. Both teams were scoreless on two power plays.
The Raiders finished 2-14-1 in varsity games and 6-15-2 overall including JV games. According to head coach Tasha Schmidtfranz, the finish shouldn’t reflect on how much improved hockey the Raiders played in the 2024-25 season.
“The last two games definitely just stink,” she said. “It’s so frustrating to see those high scores, knowing that we are actually playing some better hockey, as a team, than we have in the past. We did outshoot our opponents in eight of our 17 games. We scored more goals this season than we have in the past five years.”
The loss marked the final game for six seniors, most of whom have kept up the fight for four years of varsity hockey. They include Emily Kiselicka, Tori Konieczny, Talyn Peterson, Carly Koski, Grace Schmidtfranz and Megan Schaefer.
“The group of seniors graduating this year are a group of skilled and dedicated players, most have been playing hockey nine-plus years. This group of ladies have been looked up to by their teammates and young female athletes that have a passion for hockey.”
The team’s wins this year came against the Northland Pines Co-op and Houghton-Hancock, Mich. The team tied the Stoughton Co-op in a double-overtime thriller and lost to the Icebergs by one at their rink and the team was mere seconds away from beating the Beloit Memorial before losing in overtime.
“I would like to say that I am incredibly proud of the entire team this season.” coach Schmidtfranz said. “Medford is one of the smallest hockey teams in the state, and these ladies time and time again prove that they do not give up. Many officials have told me after the game how impressed they are by the ladies’ determination through the entire game, despite the score. Our skating, passing and shooting have all improved throughout the season. This group of ladies worked well on and off the ice. Our record doesn’t reflect a win, but we won. We won at achieving our personal goals and persevering against strong teams, playing our best game and continuing to develop throughout the entire season. I could not be more proud of this season, the entire team, every player, and the support of the community.”
