September 21, 2018 at 12:44 p.m.
Hodags cruise past Antigo 9-0
Millot: Score 'not indicative of the play'
Hodags cruise past Antigo 9-0
Scoreboard aside, Hodag coach Dan Millot, said the contest left something to be desired for his side.
"We didn't play well tonight. 9-0 is not indicative of the play," he said. "If anything, I don't know how many shots we missed tonight, quite a few. If we take things seriously and concentrate on putting things away, it's probably over (early via the 10-goal mercy rule). Unfortunately we didn't do that tonight."
The Hodags had 52 shots overall, putting 29 of those on goal, as they controlled a match played in windy, damp and foggy conditions. Matthew Von Oepen scored four times, Anthony Kowalski added a pair of goals and five different players, in total, found the back of the net for Rhinelander.
Rhinelander (4-3-2, 3-1-1 Great Northern) started quickly, as Nicholas St. Pierre got a touch pass from Russell Benoy in the second minute and chipped in a shot from 15 yards to give the Hodags an early advantage.
Von Oepen scored the first of his four goals in the ninth minute, getting free thanks to a deep pass up the left flank by Freddy Wisner. Hugh Wiese added to the lead in the 22nd minute, drilling a shot from the top of the 18-yard box into the upper righthand corner of the net. Von Oepen then worked his way around three defenders in the 30th minute, scoring on the breakaway to give Rhinelander a 4-0 advantage it carried to halftime.
Von Oepen finished his scoring haul early in the second half. He was on the receiving end of a Benoy pass into the box for a breakaway goal in the 50th minute and scored again from just inside the 18 in the 62nd minute.
Hunter Hicks scored in the 72nd minute, followed by a pair of Kowalski finishes to round out the scoring. Kowalski deflected a Benoy shot into the goal in the 75th minute and scored again following a turnover in the 88th minute.
The Hodags spread the wealth around Thursday night with five players recording goals and another four recording assists.
"It's always good to get different kids scoring," Millot said. "I think with any team it's important that you show variety in your scoring and you don't have people just marking one player all the time."
Despite all of that, Millot said his team was not as crisp and focused as he would have liked it to have been on Thursday against the GNC's perennial back-marker.
"I would have liked to have played the game and I would have liked for our guys to take things seriously and work on things," he said. "I'll be open, that's one of the things we're struggling with this year, the intensity of our team and how serious some of our players take it. We're either going to fight our way through that and we're going to come out as a better soccer team and better players, or we're going to die by that. We've got some soul-searching to do."
The Hodags switched things up in the back Thursday night, giving freshman Gavin Ostermann his first career start in goal, while allowing starting keeper Josh Randolph an opportunity to play in the field.
Ostermann, in a one-off start, was officially credited with one save in the match, but his night was not all that uneventful. Antigo mustered some pressure, especially in the first half and tallied 14 total shots, only one of which finished on goal.
"He did a real nice job," Millot said of Ostermann's play. "There were a few times in the first half where he came out of the box and challenged balls and cleared them. I always get worried about that with young keepers, whether or not they judge the ball properly and whether or not they're going to make the right move, but he stepped in and did a fine job for us. This experience is good for him."
Rhinelander returns to action Tuesday night when it hosts former Wisconsin Valley Conference rival D.C. Everest in the annual playing of the Hammer Game at Mike Webster Stadium.
"D.C. Everest, they're a tough team," Millot said. "I know they're doing well this year. For us, it's going to be about stepping up to the competition, stepping up to the challenge."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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