September 28, 2018 at 1:07 p.m.
Tied again: RHS and Lakeland draw 1-1, dimming Hodags' GNC title hopes
Tied again: RHS and Lakeland draw 1-1, dimming Hodags' GNC title hopes
The two sides played to their second consecutive draw Thursday night, a 1-1 gridlock at Mike Webster Stadium. Sam Hiller's 78th-minute tally canceled out a 52nd-minute strike by Rhinelander's Matthew Von Oepen as the Hodags' Great Northern Conference title defense was dealt another blow by the fifth-place T-Birds.
Following an emotional 1-0 victory over D.C. Everest on Tuesday in the Hammer Game, Rhinelander coach Dan Millot said his side came out a little flat against a conference rival.
"It is what it is. We had a little letdown. We had a huge game Tuesday night and I think Tuesday's more the type of team we really are," he said.
Much like the teams' 0-0 draw in Minocqua Aug. 30, the Hodags had the better of the stat sheet but were unable to come away with the win.
Von Oepen put Rhinelander ahead less than seven minutes into the second half, creating separation for himself following a series of moves near the top of the T-Birds' 18-yard box. From there, he struck a bullet of a shot to the top righthand corner of the goal that Lakeland goalkeeper Mason Holmquist could not reach.
"It was a great finish, turn and struck bar down," Millot said. "He worked his butt off tonight and I can't speak highly enough of him as a player. He just did well."
Lakeland drew level off a set piece with less than 13 minutes remaining in the match. Moments after Lakeland's Kyle Peterson received a yellow card for actions away from the play, the T-Birds served a free kick from the half line into the Rhinelander box for striker Brandon Boh, who possessed and slotted a ball through traffic to Hiller for a back-post finish that tied the proceedings.
"No one could get a foot on it," Millot said of the Hodags' defensive breakdown on a Mike Webster Stadium surface that was just as soft and slippery as it was two nights earlier. "The footing is treacherous and the ball just kind of skipped through there and they were able to get on the back end of it. (Rhinelander keeper) Josh (Randolph) definitely couldn't recover in time with the footing that he had. It was just unfortunate."
Both teams had chances to pull ahead over the final 10 minutes. Lakeland's best chance game on a Boh shot from outside the box in the 85th minute that Randolph turned aside. The T-Birds weren't able to pose a threat on the subsequent corner kick.
Von Oepen fired high on an open look in the 82nd minute, Nicholas St. Pierre shot right to Holmquist on an open look in the 88th minute and Freddy Wisner just missed the top righthand corner from 30 yards in the final seconds of the match.
"Lakeland is coming over its own adversity this season and they came out motivated tonight," Millot said. "You've got to give them credit, they never gave up. They were able to put in that equalizer. After that we had the better chances to win the game, but that didn't happen."
The Hodags outshot Lakeland 23-10 in the match. Holmquist made eight saves in the draw for the T-Birds and the T-Bird defense kept some heat off him against a Rhinelander attack that tried stubbornly to probe the middle of the field, to Millot's chagrin.
"We've got to move the ball around. We can't just try to dribble in the middle of the field because that's just not going to happen, especially in these types of conditions," he said. "We had a few decent crosses. One almost proved really effective, we had a missed header, but they've got to believe in it. They've got to believe in what we're trying to do as far as a system. Once they do that, we'll be better off."
The tie put Rhinelander's title defense in dire straights, and will likely prevent Rhinelander from winning the conference outright. The Hodags (3-1-2 Great Northern) have to win out their final four conference games, and will need first-place Northland Pines (7-0-0) to lose to either Mosinee or last-place Antigo just to earn a share of the conference crown.
"As far as the conference title goes, yeah, we need a lot of help, but we didn't help ourselves," Millot said. "It's just what it is. What we're looking at right now is to take the remaining conference games, and take the remaining practices, to get ready for the postseason."
The Hodags host Mosinee Tuesday and Northland Pines on Thursday.
NOTE: Despite the game against Lakeland moving from Thursday to Saturday due to a Lakeland scheduling conflict, the Rhinelander High School alumni soccer game will still be played as scheduled today, beginning at 12:30 at the RHS soccer fields. An alumni get-together will be held later this evening at Bucketheads Sports Bar. Contact Gunnar Millot (715-401-0891) for more information.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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