October 19, 2018 at 12:32 p.m.
Soccer: RHS beats Clintonville 6-2 in tourney opener
Soccer: RHS beats Clintonville 6-2 in tourney opener
The Hodags got a pair of goals from Hunter Hicks and defended home turf Thursday afternoon with a 6-2 victory over Clintonville in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal game at the RHS soccer fields.
Rhinelander moves on to the regional final round tonight at Waupaca.
The Hodags got by the Truckers despite not playing their best soccer, said RHS coach Dan Millot.
"We played a much better half than we did the first half, still some sloppy moments in the second half," he said. "We had to make a few adjustments to what was happening and we did that. It definitely wasn't good soccer tonight, and if we can beat Clintonville 6-2 not playing good, I'd like to see (what we could do with) us playing some good soccer."
A pair of Hicks goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half helped the third-seeded Hodags establish control, and a couple of penalty-kick goals in the last half hour helped secure a comfortable win over the sixth-seeded Truckers.
Nicholas St. Pierre parlayed a Clintonville turnover into a goal in the seventh minute, but Rhinelander didn't strike again until the 37th minute, when Hicks was in position for a point-blank chance off a Matthew Von Oepen pass along the end line.
Austin Baird answered for Clintonville 49 seconds later, cashing in on a 2-on-1 chance set up by teammate Matthew Morse, but Rhinelander restored the two-goal advantage in the 41st minute on a strong shot by Hicks from the top of the 18-yard box that appeared to graze off a Clintonville defender before deflecting off the bottom of the crossbar and across the goal line.
"Hunter Hicks was ripping some shots tonight," Millot said.
Martin Hoger headed home a Daniel Ritchie cross in the 53rd minute to give Rhinelander a three-goal advantage. Morse answered for Clintonville in the 59th minute, but the Hodags put it away moments later when Von Oepen converted a penalty kick after Clintonville committed a handball foul in the box.
"I think in the second half, what you saw was us stop waiting to take shots," Millot noted. "We started to get the ball off our foot a little faster."
Rhinelander's reserves got into the scoring act late in the contest. Sophomore Jacob Ostrander was tripped from behind in the Clintonville box with just more than a minute to play and senior Justin Prasnick converted the penalty kick for his first goal of the season.
"I think when our kids came in that wanted to play they played," Millot said. "We didn't lose anything when kids came off the bench tonight. We need that to happen as well. Kids have got to be ready to play."
The Hodags controlled play with a 34-7 edge in total shots. Josh Randolph made four saves in the victory for Rhinelander.
Next up for Rhinelander is a date with Waupaca tonight in the regional final round. The second-seeded Comets advanced with a 2-1 victory over Medford Thursday evening. Waupaca is 11-7-2 on the season and finished third in the North Eastern Conference with a 5-2-1 league mark.
"Waupaca, I don't know a lot about them," Millot said. "They've played a lot of close games this year. I think it's just going to be a close game."
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Waupaca High School.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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