The Bluejay hockey team played an excellent half-game taking a 4-1 lead in Medford last Tuesday, but the Red Raiders surged back to take a 5-4 overtime contest after scoring the tying goal with just 1:02 left.
“Medford didn’t quit and they kept coming hard,” MHS coach Chase Nelson said. “We forechecked very hard and caused a lot of turnovers. It also wore out our top two lines and with a couple of our top forwards playing sick, we just ran out of gas. Once again we allowed some backdoor goals and that was the difference in the game.
“Stephen (Simon) played outstanding between the pipes. He kept the score as close as it was.”
Dylan Heller scored an unassisted goal with 8:03 gone in the 1st, but Medford tied it at 10:29. Heller gave the Jays a 2-1 lead on the power play with help from Lucas Kleinschmidt and Michael Baumann.
A pair of 2nd-period tallies made it 4-1. Nick Hoffmann scored just 48 seconds in with aid from Bryce Swiechowski and Heller. Heller filled his hattrick with an unassisted goal at 2:35, but Medford cut it to 4-2 a minute later.
Two Red Raider goals, at 4:06 and 16:58, sent it to overtime, where Cole Quednow ended it with 5:04 elapsed. Harrison Davis (1 g, 3 a), Jacob Kadlecek (2 g, 1 a) and Jed Ecker (2 g) paced Medford.
Saves-MHS-Stephen Simon 11-14-15-44. Medford-Carter Jamieson13-12-16-44.
Point whuppin’
The Bluejays traveled to Stevens Point for Saturday’s game with Pacelli, sans their coach, who was quarantined for exposure to whooping cough.
The Cardinals pulled out an 8-0 win after jumping out with three goals in the first and four more in the second.
“Pacelli is a team we can compete with,” MHS assistant Kevin Koss said. “We just had too many mental mistakes, and it was a complete lack of execution. We get them again in a couple of weeks at home, so hopefully we will have a better showing.”
Donny Sell (1 g, 2 a), Teagan Vezina (2 g), Carson Kedrowski (2 a) and Deven Durigan (2 a) led Pacelli’s attack.
Saves-MHS-Stephen Simon 11-17-5-33. SPP-Joe Fuller 10-3-4-17.