May 26, 2017 at 2:49 p.m.
Hodag soccer concludes perfect GNC season
Hodag soccer concludes perfect GNC season
Rhinelander honored its seniors in their final regular season home game and the seniors returned the favor, scoring seven of the 10 goals in the match. The Hodags also mixed and matched personnel in an effort to get new players on the scoresheet and give some of their workhorses a respite before the WIAA tournament opens next Thursday.
"Every kid on the roster played tonight," coach Dan Millot said. "We did give the majority of the playing time in the first half to our seniors and they did a nice job. I think they enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. I think you can tell as we stand here, there's a lot of happy faces and good-spirited fun going on."
Sydney Zettler, Anna Sturzl and Alayna Franson have done the bulk of the scoring for the Hodags this season. To be sure, they got in on the act Thursday - Sturzl scored twice, Zettler once and Franson put home the clinching goal in the 84th minute - but some different faces carried the Rhinelander offense. Shelby Kuehn scored twice and Shea Petersen scored in a rare varsity appearance. Even Abby Oettinger shed the goalkeeper's jersey in the second half and put home a goal.
Goals by Lauren Fabich, Petersen and Kuehn had the Hodags ahead 3-0 by the 20-minute mark. Albiona Sabani scored in the 27th minute, Franson found Sturzl on a cross for a goal in the 38th and Kuehn scored her second of the match in the 41st minute off a feed from Sturzl.
Zettler scored in the 52nd minute and Sturzl added her second 38 seconds later. Oettinger, shortly after giving way to Gwen Frederickson in goal, scored in the 57th minute of the match. In all, nine different players found the scoresheet Thursday night.
"I think that was the a testament to the unselfish play our team was trying to demonstrate tonight. We accomplished that," Millot said.
The Hodags also accomplished a perfect 14-0-0 season in Great Northern Conference play. It's the third time in Rhinelander's six-year GNC title run that the team has finished conference play without a loss or a tie.
"It's a testament to what we've been trying to accomplish in building a sustainable, solid program," Millot said. "I think we're there. It's a matter of replacing pieces of the puzzle every year to make sure that we stay competitive."
"One season is over and now we've got to prepare for the next one," he added.
The next season begins Thursday as the Hodags drew a 3-seed for the WIAA tournament and will host sixth-seeded Marshfield in a regional semifinal. Rhinelander defeated the Tigers 4-2 April 29 in Marshfield.
Green Bay Southwest and Pulaski - two of the three teams that handed Rhinelander losses this season - are the top two seeds in the regional. Rhinelander's path to a third WIAA state tournament appearance in four years will likely have to go through the Bay area.
"What we really need to do now is take our game up another two notches so that we can compete consistently with everybody else that plays in tougher conferences," Millot said. "That's really the ultimate goal is to get to the state tournament. In order to do that, we need to pick it up some notches."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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