August 31, 2015 at 2:48 p.m.
Hodags go undefeated at home invite
Hodags go undefeated at home invite
The Hodags, a side featuring six new starters and a load of underclassmen, went undefeated over the weekend in a home invite at the Hanson Lake Soccer Complex.
The Hodags started the tournament Friday with a 1-0 victory over Wausau East and returned Saturday to down Ironwood, Mich. 3-0 and Tomah 3-1.
"When you can go 3-0 - and truthfully coming into this tournament I was hoping to go at least 1-2 - that's good," RHS boys' soccer coach Dan Millot said. "I think there are some surprises. We're getting some good time and good things from some young players that haven't played (varsity) before. Matthew Van Oepen is stepping up huge as a freshman. I think Jonus Sabani is stepping up, Reeve Craig, a first-year player. These kids are just stepping up and they complement some of our veteran players."
The results against Wausau East and Tomah - a pair of teams in Rhinelander's sectional bracket - were especially encouraging. Millot said the first weekend of competition showed some of the Hodags' strengths and weaknesses.
"We learned what kind of shape we're in and actually we have a few players that are in pretty good shape, which I'm pleasantly pleased with," he said. "I learned that with some of our inexperienced player, we've got to learn that we've got a few more speeds of the game we've got to figure out. Right now some of our players are just playing straight ahead, full speed, full throttle all the way down and we've got to work on that finess part of the game with them."
Rhinelander 1, Wausau East 0
The Hodags opened the season with a win, but it was far from easy.
Devin Oleinik scored in the 21st minute and the Hodags held on from there, defeating Wausau East 1-0 on Friday.
Rhinelander won despite being outshot 21-12 overall and not recording a single shot on goal in the second half.
"In these types of games you have to manage the game," Millot said. "You have to play within yourself. I thought that the kids stayed composed. Wausau East is a good team and I think, player for player, on paper they're probably a better team than we are. I thought that today we played a good positional game, which we need to continue to improve on. We took advantage of some scoring opportunities that we were given. I'm sure we were outshot at least 2-to-1 and sometimes it happens."
Reeve Craig assisted Oleinik's goal. The junior midfielder made a run up the far side, hurdled a defender and flicked the ball along to Oleinik who shielded an oncoming defender and struck a shot from inside the penalty area to the low left corner.
"We're going to have to be a team of opportunities that are presented to us," Millot said of the goal, which came on a 2-on-1 breakaway. "We were able to take advantage of that and those two put it together and they did a nice job."
From there, East controlled the play but misfired on several opportunities to equalize the match. Nikhiel Biswas missed a couple of good looks, firing high on a shot in the 28th minute after beating defender Joseph Schmitz and missing wide right on an open look from the right flank in the 72nd minute. Adam Schneider had a clear look at goal for East in the 85th minute, but sent his shot from 15 yards sailing over the crossbar.
When East was on target, Mueller was up to the task. That included three shots from free kicks by Jason Xiong in the final 15 minutes of the match. The last came in the 90th minute as Xiong sent a rainbowing shot toward the top of the goal from East's side of the half line with the wind at his back.
In all, Mueller made 15 saves and recorded a shutout in his first varsity start.
"I thought Adam, his first real varsity game in goal, stepped up and did a good job for us," Millot said. "He made some really smart decisions coming out for balls. He was in good position and we're just going to look to improve on that. I don't know how big he is, 6-2 or 6-3, but that kind of height helps and it's good to have."
Rhinelander 3, Ironwood 0
Saturday morning's match against Ironwood was another in which the score line was not a true indicator of the game.
Oleinik, Sabani and Gunnar Millot all scored in a 3-0 victory over the Devils, but the Hodags left countless scoring opportunities on the table. Rhinelander controlled the box score, outshooting Ironwood 41-4, but the Hodags put only 15 shots on goal.
"One word - finish," Millot said of what the Hodags didn't do against Ironwood. "The word that I would add to that would be just simple composure. You have to be composed inside the box to finish that and the kids know it. They know it and they know it's something that we'll work on at practice. We'll put them under some intense finishing drills to see if they can relax inside the box and finish those types of things."
The Hodags had four quality scoring chances that were either sent off target, deflected or saved before breaking through in the 20th minute. Oleinik stole the ball from an Ironwood defender roughly 25 yards from goal, dribbled in on a breakaway and found the left side of the netting. After that, it was another slew of missed opportunities for the Hodags until the finally put the game away with a pair of goals midway through the second half. Sabani sent an Alec Lowry corner kick toward goal in the 67th minute. Sabani's initial shot was saved, but the rebound caromed back to him and he finished the second opportunity. Five minutes later, Gunnar Millot struck a bullet from 20 yards that found its way home.
The Hodags allowed only two shots on goal in the match. Mueller stopped both of them.
Rhinelander 3, Tomah 1
Statistically, Rhinelander and Tomah played a fairly even match, but a pair of early finishes were the difference as the Hodags secured a 3-1 result.
Oleinik extended his scoring streak to three match, taking a deep through ball from Gunnar Millot and striking a composed finish inside the box despite two Tomah defenders nipping at his heels.
"Devin's doing a real nice job for us," Dan Millot said. "He's definitely more acclimated to the position this year than he was last year. I think he's also feeling a little bit healthier. He is struggling with a quad issue right now, as is J.P. (Jacob Piasecki). We're just going to see how those injuries pan out, but, going back to Devin, he's definitely stepping up and he's one of the people where it's the speed thing. Everything is not straight ahead. We've just got to relax, move the ball and good things will happen."
Gunnar Millot made it 2-0 in the 17th minute, tucking a shot from 25 yards just under the crossbar. The score held until the 60th minute when Tanner Dechant found space inside the Hodags' penalty area and struck a shot past Mueller. Rhinelander's was swift in its response as Oleinik tapped a pass to Craig, who tapped in a shot from the right edge of the 6-yard box.
Rhinelander outshot Tomah 16-14 overall, but the Wolves had a 10-5 advantage in shots on goal. Millot said one of the issues Saturday afternoon was how quickly the Hodags gave up possession.
"If we can't connect more than two or three passes in a row, we're in trouble," he said. "With the way we want to press high, if we give the ball over at the wrong time, we're just putting too much pressure on our back line and our goalie to not let people score. We just need to do a better job of possessing the ball."
Still Mueller was able to come up with a number of athletic save and his defense bailed him out a time or two. In the 70th minute, Mueller left his box to clear a ball, but his kick struck a Hodag defender and trundled back toward the Hodag net. Cody Vinger sprinted to clear the ball from the goal line and preserve the two-goal lead.
Despite the scare, Mueller was impressive in his varsity debut, stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced over the weekend.
"Adam is doing a really nice job for us," Millot said. "I'm happy. He's in pretty good position. He covers the goal quite well and I think he's also pleasantly surprised."
Lakeland ahead
Now Rhinelander dives head first into the Great Northern Conference slate with a key matchup Tuesday night at Lakeland. The Hodags and the Thunderbirds split the conference championship last year and both teams are gearing up for another title run, despite losing a number of seniors off of last year's teams.
"It is big. Our conference is up for grabs this year and I think we just need to step out on the pitch and make sure that we control the game.
Millot said Lakeland will be a strong test Tuesday.
'They've got some dangerous players and they have two starting players who aren't playing right now, but I hope those players can return," he said. "With that it's going to be a good game. Regardless of the skills of our two teams, it always seems that it's the emotion that takes over in those game and we just hope we can keep ours in check."
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in the soccer bowl in front of Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.