October 12, 2020 at 7:59 a.m.
Hodag soccer downs Antigo 5-1, cliches share of GNC
Hodag soccer downs Antigo 5-1, cliches share of GNC
It took one year longer than he had hoped, but Rhinelander is back on top of the Great Northern Conference.
Hugh Wiese scored twice on Thursday and the Hodags defeated the Antigo Red Robins 5-1 at Listle Field. The win clinched at least a share of Rhinelander's GNC-leading seventh conference title, and the team's first championship since 2017.
"I'm pretty pumped. The boys are pretty pumped. They're excited to see how far we can take this," Bates said afterward. "Following up in (longtime head coach) Dan Millot's footsteps here. He had a heck of a program and me and Adam (Wiese) and the coaching staff that we have now, we have a great group of kids. Our JV squad's doing equally well. They're undefeated in the conference this year and I think we have a few years of good soccer to come."
As for the game itself, the Hodags controlled things from the outset, outshooting the Robins 25-3. Matthew King put the Hodags ahead early in the first half and Hugh Wiese tacked on a goal to give Rhinelander a 2-0 lead at the break.
Especially after a slow start on Tuesday at Mosinee, which saw the Hodags' trailing 1-0 at halftime, Bates said it was key to get a couple of goals on the board early to take away some of the pressure in a clinching scenario.
"They knew how important it really was," Bates said. "They came out there to play a championship game. That's what our attitude was coming into this - tonight was for the championship and they definitely showed it."
Wiese scored again early in the second half, and the Hodags added goals from Joseph Heck and Beau Howard. Alex Samolinski scored late for Antigo against the Rhinelander reserves, heading in a corner kick from Trevin Walbeck.
Rhinelander controlled the match statistically, tallying 17 shots on goal. Only two of Antigo's three shots finished on frame in the match.
"The team communication and our passing game was outstanding," Bates said. "We moved the ball very well. We had a lot of good things happening with good passing and good shooting tonight. It was fantastic all around, the kids played a heck of a game tonight. Tonight was probably one of the better games we've had all season, the way they looked."
Rhinelander (9-1-0, 7-1-0 Great Northern) remained two games ahead of Mosinee and Medford thanks to their win, with only two games left in the conference schedule. The Hodags play both of those teams this week and would clinch the conference title outright with any result other than two regulation losses.
"We're going to be on our home turf and we want to finish it," Bates said, looking ahead to tonight's match against Mosinee. "We don't want to share this title. We're going to go in and we have the attitude that we're going to finish them."
Rhinelander played Three Lakes last night in a match that concluded after deadline. Tonight's match will start at 7:30 p.m. The Hodags travel to Medford on Thursday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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