April 5, 2019 at 12:36 p.m.
Team preview: RHS girls' soccer
New coach, same expectiations for Hodags
Team preview: RHS girls' soccer
For the first time since its inception back in 1995, Dan Millot will not be patrolling the tactical area. His longtime assistant, Richard Kotula, has taken charge of a program that had a good season in 2018 - but was tantalizing close to a great one.
One-goal losses to Ashland and Rice Lake cost Rhinelander a seventh straight Great Northern Conference title and a third trip to the WIAA state tournament, respectively.
Kotula said this year's squad is ready to write the next chapter in Hodag soccer history.
'The girls are ready. They want to play," he said. "The mood is very positive. They have high hopes, high goals this year and they want to accomplish those goals. I can see in the approaches they have for every practice, they are very goal-oriented to succeed this season. In the gym, they are practicing hard."
The Hodags finally got on the pitch last night, traveling to the Milwaukee area for a tough two-game swing that began with Hartford and continues this afternoon at Pewaukee.
The games mark the first time the team has been able to practice or play outside this spring, though Kotula said he anticipates his squad will be up to the challenge.
"Our girls have a lot of chemistry. They've been playing together for a long time. Even though we haven't been playing outside, I'm pretty confident if we stepped on the field today, we would get back to it rather quickly because of the experience we have together," he said.
Aside from the new coach, the biggest question for the Hodags is who will put the ball in the back of the net following the graduation of senior 1-2 punch Alayna Franson and Anna Sturzl. The two combined to account for nearly half of Rhinelander's goals last year - scoring 47 between them.
The most likely candidates are junior Izzy Haverkampf (14 goals last season) and sophomore Ella Schiek (11). The team also anticipates junior Kenedy Van Zile will play more of a factor in the attack after primarily playing a defensive midfielder's role a season ago.
"Alanya and Anna were great, but they were only two. This year, we're looking for depth and for multiple scorers," Kotula said, noting that RHS alum Lucas Wegehaupt has joined the coaching staff this season and is primarily working on scoring with the players.
While there are questions up front, the Hodags allowed only one goal in Great Northern Conference play a season ago, and most of the key contributors from that defensive unit return.
Brooke Mork and Gwyneth Lowry both earned second-team all-conference honors last year for their roles in the Hodags' defensive backfield and senior Payton Van Zile is back after receiving honorable mention a season ago. Other notable players in the back for the Hodags include Madi Losch, Rachel Steffen, Grace Heck and Emma Hjelle.
"Our defense is coming back with multiple experienced players," Kotula said. "My vision is we're going to bring a struggle for the opposition to attack through us."
The defense will be working to keep the heat off sophomore goalkeeper Kahlie Arneson, who was 6-4-0 with a 1.50 goals against average in an injury-plagued freshman season that saw her sidelined twice due to concussion protocol. Junior Lisa White will be Arneson's backup.
All of that has the Hodags primed for another run at a Great Northern Conference title. Though Ashland lost five first- or second-team All-GNC picks from a season ago, including both the league's offensive and defensive players of the year, Kotula said the road to a conference title still runs through Ashland.
"We have to beat Ashland," he said. "That's definitely a team we enjoy playing because that's a great team. They lost some seniors last year, but they still have some powerhouse players on their team. The other team to beat is (Northland) Pines. They didn't really lose a lot of players and a lot of their scorers are still out there."
Lakeland, with an incoming crop of talented freshmen, could challenge the conference's best teams as well, Kotula added.
"We can't really overlook the other teams either," he said. "You don't really know the strength they can gain and what kind of strategies they change. We're going to take it a game at a time and play our game."
After a one-year dip to Division 3, the Hodags are back up in D2 this season in a 15-team bracket that spans from New Richmond to La Crosse to Shawano.
The Hodags will be playing a few sectional opponents during the regular season, including matchups against former Wisconsin Valley Conference rivals Marshfield, Merrill and Wausau East.
"The girls are hoping for a good postseason run," Kotula said. "Their goal is to not only do well in the season, but also have a deep run in the postseason. They want to play home (for the playoffs). That means we need to have a good season to accomplish that goal."
The road to that goal started last night. Kotula said a couple of strong non-conference tests downstate is exactly the type of early-season test his team needs.
"We're very excited about those two games because they'll be tough opponents," he said. "We did that on purpose. There's two reasons for is - one we want to start strong and we also want to play."
After today, the Hodags don't take the field again until Friday at Wausau East. The Hodags home, and Great Northern Conference, opener is set for April 16 against Wausau Newman.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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