October 2, 2019 at 12:31 p.m.
Hodag soccer ties again
Hodag soccer ties again
The Hodags played to their fourth tie of the season Monday, and third in the last four games, as they finished level with Three Lakes in a 2-2 result at Mike Webster Stadium.
Rhinelander (1-7-4, 1-2-3 Great Northern) needed some late heroics to salvage a draw. Freshman Charlie Heck scored the tying goal in the 84th minute after a pair of Parker Trollan tallies put the Bluejays in the lead.
In the end, it was a result that was all too familiar for a struggling Hodag soccer team.
"It's becoming very familiar and very frustrating," coach Nathan Bates said. "Three Lakes showed up and they wanted it. It looked like our boys tonight were still at homecoming."
Equally frustrating for the Hodags is that they controlled play throughout the match, outshooting Three Lakes 36-8. However two defensive breakdowns allowed Trollan to run free on goal. He made Rhinelander pay on both mistakes - scoring in the 25th and 76th minutes.
"They have a fast kid up front. He's got some good ball-handling skills and can run real well with it. It got in their favor twice," Bates said.
Rhinelander came out strong as freshman Braden Mork found some space 20 yards away in the sixth minute and beat Three Lakes keeper Hunter Meistad to the right post to give Rhinelander a 1-0 lead.
That was all the offense the Hodags had to show for its efforts until the 84th minute when Heck launched a shot from right of the 18-yard box that hooked into the top left corner of the goal.
"Charlie Heck had an unbelievable shot from the outside," Bates said. "It blew my mind that it went in. Hat's off to him. That was a huge response in that moment of the game."
Charlie Heck had a similar look four minutes later that sailed wide right. He later tried to work some last-minute magic on a give-and-go with his older brother, Joseph, but Joseph Heck topped a hurried shot from the top of the 18 that Meistad was easily able to gobble up and clear to preserve the draw.
Rhinelander had a few chances go awry earlier in the match as well. Joseph Heck barely missed the right post in the 17th minute on a shot that hugged the ground from the top of the 18. Hugh Wiese got off a point-blank chance in the 37th minute that Meistad denied and the Hodags were unable to put a rebound back on an open Three Lakes net.
In a flurry of activity in the 67th minute, Wyatt Haverkampf just missed high for Rhinelander from the top to the 18, but Wiese stole the ensuing goal kick for the Hodags and his quick shot on goal was denied by Meistad.
Three Lakes had a couple of other chances as well in the second half. Just before putting Three Lakes head, Trollan had another chance in the 71st minute as he got even with the defense and had a shot from the 18 deflected wide left. The Bluejays were not able to create a scoring opportunity of the ensuing corner kick.
In the 84th minute, moments before Charlie Heck's equalizer, an awkward distribution from the defense back toward keeper Gavin Ostermann nearly let Three Lakes' Tahlon Stefonek get a 1-on-0 chance, but Ostermann was able to gather the ball and avoid disaster.
Afterward, Bates rued some of the same problems that have plagued Rhinelander much of the season.
"We just did not play together as a team," he said. "There was no communication on the field, unfortunately. Just lack of team. It's a team sport. You can't play as individuals. We had too many guys trying to dribble through everybody instead of making give-and-goes and making runs. It just didn't work in our favor."
Adding to the Hodags' frustration, Wiese was involved in a collision going for a 50-50 ball in the 88th minute. He left the game, did not return and was seen leaving the field on crutches. The severity of the injury was not immediately known.
"Not sure what happened just yet," Bates said. "I know he's got some shin injury going on. Hopefully he just hit real hard and he'll be back, but we'll find out more."
The Hodags travel to Lakeland tonight. Rhinelander's lone win of the season came at home against the T-Birds in a 2-1 victory Sept. 5 at Mike Webster Stadium.
"Lakeland, they always play against us tough," Bates said. "Hopefully the boys show up. That's all I can say. Hopefully we get some good practices in the next couple days and the boys show up. We're going to keep going forward and keep pushing. I'm not going to give up on them."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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