MEDFORD GIRLS SOCCER TWO GAMES, TWO SHUTOUTS - Raiders creating scoring chances, start 1-0-1

MEDFORD GIRLS SOCCER

TWO GAMES, TWO SHUTOUTS

The first key to a higher-scoring soccer offense is creating opportunities that can lead to good shots and potential goals.

The Medford Raiders did that in their first two games of the new girls season. Unfortunately on Tuesday, they were unable to get any of their shots into the back of the net in a 0-0 tie at Amherst/ Iola-Scandinavia.

The Raiders got off 21 shots with 10 of them being directly on goal, but the Falcons’ Ella Thompson was up to the task, saving all 10. Medford’s defense has also been strong in the first two nonconference games, collecting two shutouts in a 1-0-1 start.

“In the last 10 minutes we really put it together,” Medford head coach Tanya Tessmann said. “Even their coach after the game said in the last 10 minutes they were doing everything they could to try to hold on. They were happy to get out with a tie. We were happy with the tie because it’s better than a loss, but we’re not satisfied.

“Even though we had a good number of shots and didn’t score, they weren’t bad shots,” Tessmann added. “If they missed the goal, it wasn’t by much. Maybe a foot or two.”

Tuesday’s matchup added to the list of thrillers the two teams have played in recent years. Medford won last year’s game 2-0, but the second goal came very late. The Falcons won 1-0 in 2023 and the teams played WIAA Division 3 tournament games that went to penalty kick shootouts in 2021 and 2022 with Amherst winning both.

“No matter what season it’s been, they’re always tough games,” Tessmann said. “We’ve always been pretty evenly matched.”

Peyton Boelk had two saves in her second varsity start in goal for Medford, but she was tested more than she was in Thursday’s win over Merrill, which Tessmann was happy to see.

“She definitely had some more action,” Tessmann said. “There were times where she had to come out and make a few stops before Amherst could turn those plays into potential shots or goals. We were excited to see. It was also exciting to see her talking out there and communicating.”

The first 40 minutes featured a couple of good chances for both teams. Medford’s Kodi Rappe had the first quality shot in the 12th minute. It went just wide. Greta Seidel and Amelia Pernsteiner got the ball out of danger in the 16th minute when Amherst had a direct kick. Boelk got a save off a corner kick in the 29th minute and she made one of those key plays aggressively coming out of the box at 37:50.

The home team had a couple of more chances early in the second half. Boelk came out to make a play on one chance, then the post saved Medford on another in the 48th minute.

The momentum turned after Megan Schaefer got off a couple good shots a little more than 15 minutes into the half. Schaefer got off another good shot off a Mallory Richter pass in the 69th minute, but it went just high. Caidyn Zenner had a shot on goal in the 71st minute and Shayla Radlinger and Layla Petersen had shots on goal in the last five to six minutes.

Schaefer finished with a team-high eight shots and Radlinger and Petersen had three each.

“I was really happy with our wings, Bayley Metz, Mallory Richter and Audrey Ruesch,” Tessmann said. “ They are moving well and holding up considerably well. It’s early in the season and they’re doing a lot of running. They are really good with their moves and turns.”

Medford heads back to Hwy 10 today, Thursday, for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff at Waupaca, a team the Raiders beat in the regular season last spring and then tied 1-1 in WIAA tournament play. The Comets won the shootout.

The Raiders go to defending sectional champion Rice Lake at 7 p.m. on Tuesday before opening Great Northern Conference play April 17 at Northland Pines. That game starts at 4:30 p.m.

Medford 5, Merrill 0

In the season opener Thursday, which was switched to Medford, the Raiders took advantage of a young Merrill team that hadn’t practiced outside yet and dominated in a 5-0 victory.

The Raiders held Merrill to two shots, making for an easy starting debut for Boelk, and put almost constant pressure on Merrill’s defense and its freshman keeper Alexa Staskiewicz, especially in the second half when the Raiders scored four goals to break the game wide open.

“Honestly I had no idea what to expect going in,” said Schaefer, a senior captain. “We haven’t had that many practices outside and it’s like a whole new team. But I was very impressed. Our offense was really good tonight. We did well working together.”

The Raiders had spent a lot of time in the first week and a half of practice trying to install a new formation that features two strikers.

“In the first half, with the new formation, it felt like we were on top of each other quite a bit,” Tessmann said. “We would have players coming off the field saying, ‘I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing.’

“In the second half we were able to spread it out a little bit more and that’s what we talked about at the end of the game was everyone trusting each other,” she added. “The forwards have to trust the mids, the mids have to trust the defensive mids and the defensive mids have to trust the back line. When we can do that, then we’re not running around wasting energy and play a little bit harder soccer.”

Four different players scored goals, including three who scored their first-ever varsity goals.

Petersen, a varsity newcomer, got the first goal at the 20:15 mark after Medford wasn’t able to convert on a penalty shot when Schaefer hit the crossbar, Rappe put a hard shot on goal and Schaefer sent another good shot just high in the early going, Petersen got a breakaway chance after picking up a deflected long ball kicked by Schaefer. Staskiewicz blocked the first shot with her knees, but the ball bounced right back to Petersen, who tucked the ball well inside the far post.

The halftime adjustments didn’t take long to pay off.

Rappe, another newcomer to the varsity, got her first goal at 42:23. She took a centering pass from the left side from Metz, took one dribble and kicked a 10-yard shot that bounced through Staskiewicz’s save attempt. Rappe struck again at 46:12 as Richter pushed a ball back to Schaefer, who sent the ball toward the net where Rappe deflected it in.

“Everyone was just hustling to every ball,” Schaefer said. “Sometimes I feel like we get caught lacking but tonight we were on point and just going to it. That was really good to see. We have two strikers now instead of just one. It was good. I like it.”

“The big thing is we wanted to be patient,” Tessmann said. “Communicate and be patient looking for opportunities and not just shooting the ball up the field. On the sidelines we could hear talk from the other side yelling for the ball and that’s what we loved. Voices that have been quiet in past years, hearing them tonight in the first game was good. Of course we can always do more, but they on the field also said they heard each other. That was one of the positives about tonight.”

At 52:29 Zenner took a throw-in from Metz, took a few dribbles and lofted a leftfoot shot that found the upper left corner. Schaefer got the first goal of her senior season at 54:18 with a low and hard 22yard right-to-left shot that got inside the far post.

Schaefer took 11 shots and also sent in nine of Medford’s 11 corner kicks. Radlinger was active with eight shots and Mallory Richter was seemingly everywhere in the second half and got off five shots.

“I know (Radlinger) wanted to put one in the back of the net,” Tessmann said. “It’s easy to get a little frustrated but she was doing her job great up there. She was talking, she was helping direct. She was pulling defenders when she was moving a lot and that opened up other space. We want to keep seeing that. Megan had a lot of shots. Mallory Richter out on the wing, I think she played a great game. The wings were doing good getting up there, talking, and we were getting the shots. Bailey, Audrey Ruesch and Mallory out on the sides, they’re learning too with the new formation. We want them to get back (defensively) fast but still playing up too.”

Tessmann said she also was impressed with the opening performances of defender Greta Seidel and Kate Gierl, who made a few second-half runs offensively.

Medford also won the JV game 1-0. Abbie Marzinske scored the goal.

Medford’s Mallory Richter dribbles out of the corner and away from Merrill’s Avery Hoock during the second half of Thursday’s 5-0 non-conference win. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS