April 2, 2018 at 12:50 p.m.
Team preview: RHS girls' soccer
Another conference title, deep playoff run goals for talented Hodag side
Team preview: RHS girls' soccer
"We can't even think about that right now," coach Dan Millot said, referring to the potential for the team's first state tournament berth since 2015 now that it has dropped down to Division 3 for the WIAA tournament. "We need to take care of one game at a time. Our first goal is to secure conference and our second goal is to make a deep run in the playoffs."
Before the Hodags can think about any of that, they have some questions to answer. Though the Hodags return the conference's player of the year in Alayna Franson, and three other all-conference recipients, there are a number of holes to fill in all aspects of the starting 11.
One of the biggest questions is nothing new, as the Hodags will be on their fifth starting goalkeeper in five years. Abby Oettinger held down the starting job last year, but graduated early. Now, Millot says the team has a four-way battle for the starting job between last year's JV keeper, senior Jada Appling, and three young challengers - freshmen Houston Mathwig and Kahlie Arneson and sophomore Lisa White.
"The goalkeeping competition is excellent," Millot said without committing to a starter. "We've got girls that are working hard. That will only benefit the goalkeeping position in general, the competition."
Keeper is not the only position the Hodags have to replace. Sydney Zettler is gone after finishing her career with the second most goals scored in RHS history. Albiona Sabani is also gone after anchoring the back half of the midfield last year and Lauren Fabich's graduation leaves questions in the middle of the Hodags' defense.
"The dynamics are going to change a great deal on our team," Millot said. "We have some players that are really stepping up to play, some veterans from last year. At the same time we have some veterans from last year that are really struggling to get their feet wet this year. They might find themselves in different positions. We're revamping the defense. We're revamping most of the offense as well."
Luckily for the Hodags, there will be no shortage of girls on the squad who can score, led by Franson whose 72 points (23 goals, 26 assists) led the GNC. She scored 27 goals and recorded 33 assists in all competitions last year.
Players joining her in the attack will include fellow senior Anna Sturzl (13 goals-6 assists) and sophomore Izzy Haverkampf (11-2). Sturzl was a first-team all-conference player last year while Haverkampf received honorable mention.
"We'll have some of the best offensive firepower in the conference coming from several different positions," Millot said. "It's going to be important for teams to stop us as much as it's going to be for us to stop other teams."
Junior Brooke Mork, back following a back injury that cost her the latter half of girls' basketball season, is slated to anchor the defense this year. Millot said the other three positions on the defensive line are up in the air at present.
"From there, it's truly wide open. We have some young players we might throw into those other three positions," he said. "We've got to understand that we're playing a team defensive concept and the team is really the strength of our defense. Being able to shut down the other team's attack as a team this year is going to be critical. We can't rely on the back four to get things done. It has to happen front to back. We need to step up and support one another."
Other returning varsity players include sisters Payton and Kenedy Van Zile, Maddie Meyer, Emma Roberts, Grace Heck, Jaden Olski and Madi Losch.
Last year the Hodags romped to another GNC title, scoring 91 goals in league play while conceding only six. Ashland, Northland Pines and Lakeland all finished with eight conference wins a season ago. Millot said all three teams have improved and will be gunning for the Hodags' crown.
"Northland Pines will be a vastly improved team from last year," he said. "You've got Lakeland that has talent. Then Ashland, one player can make the difference and they've got Kaylee McPeak up top and she's just a good soccer player. It was neck and neck last year between her and Alayna Franson for conference player of the year."
The Hodags open the season opener at Lakeland on Thursday has been postponed, alleviating a somewhat daunting three-game stretch to start the season. The Hodags are set to face Green Bay Southwest and Seymour Friday and Saturday in Green Bay, kicking off a stretch of nine games over the first 21 days of the regular season.
"We need to play well under fire. It's going to start out with a conference game, not having a chance to basically practice outside," Millot said. "I'm going to put 11 solid soccer players on the field. Their ability, their knowledge, their speed hopefully will carry us through."
A drop to D3 means a change in opponents for the Hodags come tournament time. No longer will the team see powers like Pulaski and Green Bay Southwest. Instead the Hodags' bracket includes the like of Amherst, Mosinee and New London. Lakeland, which moves to the other side of the D3 sectional draw this year, walked through a similar bracket last year all the way to the sectional finals before falling to Rice Lake.
"Just because we're going to D3 doesn't mean we're lacking competition in the playoffs," Millot cautioned. "There are some very tough teams in the playoffs ... We have to have a different mentality. We have to understand we can't take any of our opponents for granted because they are coming after us."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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