October 21, 2020 at 12:01 p.m.
Hodag soccer primed for deep tournament run
RHS to host Antigo Saturday night in WIAA regional final
Hodag soccer primed for deep tournament run
Fast forward one year and the GNC champion Hodags have 11 wins, and the No. 1 seed, and are anxious to make a deep postseason run.
"We're confident we can take it as far as we can go," senior captain Joseph Heck said after the Hodags clinched the GNC title last Tuesday against Mosinee.
Rhinelander opens its tournament run tomorrow night at Mike Webster Stadium, taking on Antigo in a WIAA Division 2 regional final match. The Hodags are potentially three wins away from the first WIAA state tournament appearance in team history and have a trip to Milwaukee firmly on their minds.
"I honestly believe that our kids have a very good opportunity this year to go quite a long way in this tournament," coach Nathan Bates said. "I have faith in my boys. I've been having faith in them since last year, and they're still really a young team."
There is reason for optimism. Rhinelander was the only team in its sectional to be ranked in last week's Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll, checking in at No. 9 in Division 2. The Hodags dropped out of the rankings following a 7-0 loss to Medford on Thursday night - and Medford moved into the No. 10 spot - but that result comes with an asterisk.
Rhinelander, with nothing to play for in its final regular season game, rested a number of starters, deciding instead to try to get fresh for the postseason run.
That strategy has allowed a few of Rhinelander's players 12 days between meaningful games - an unusual luxury following a jam-packed regular season that saw the team cram a 13-game schedule into a window of 31 days.
Bates said his side is using the extra time to its advantage.
"We're going to use this week to work on some things that we still need to perfect a little bit better," he said. "We're also going to take some easy days for some of the kids that have been nursing some injuries over the last couple of weeks. It's a good time for them, right now, to take a little break and, at the same time, work on some different things at practice that we need to perfect before going into the regionals."
The Robins come in after winning their first playoff game in program history, defeating Hayward Tuesday on penalty kicks after the sides played 110 minutes of soccer to a 2-2 draw.
Rhinelander defeated Antigo twice during the regular season, 4-0 in the season opener Sept. 15 and 5-1 in the rematch Oct. 8.
"It's the best program I've seen out of them in the three years I've been able to evaluate them," Bates said. "They do have some good attackers on the team and they do have some talent. The boys have to go out there and they can't underestimate them and put them away. That's going to be our game plan."
Though the Hodags are heavily favored tomorrow night, Heck said the team still needs to show up and play. Rhinelander can look no further than the 1-1 tie it had with Antigo last year, which was Antigo's first non-losing result in GNC play since 2011.
"We can't take any game lightly because there's been upsets all around," he said. "It's a crazy year. We're just hoping we can go as far as we can."
Should the Hodags get past Antigo, a rematch with Medford likely awaits next Thursday at Mike Webster, assuming the Raiders can get past Lakeland tomorrow afternoon in the other regional final match. The last time the two teams met in Rhinelander, the Hodags prevailed 1-0 back on Sept. 17. Hugh Wiese scored the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute with Medford playing a man down. Kale Klussendorf was sent off with a red card in the 75th minute following a dangerous collision with Rhinelander keeper Gavin Ostermann.
That victory was critical for Rhinelander, as it essentially wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the bracket over Medford and helped put the Hodags in a position where last Thursday's rematch with the Raiders held no consequence.
The Hodags are hoping their remarkable turnaround season continues. A young side struggled last year in Bates' first year as head coach. The team went 3-8-6 overall and finished fourth in the GNC. Compare that to this year's 11-2-0 regular season mark with many of the same players. The difference, the team says, boils down to experience and chemistry.
"Last year we had the talent. We were just all new, a whole new team. We had to take some time to build it up," Heck said. "We've been at it over a half year right now, practicing, these core guys. We have some great players and we've got great potential this year."
Added Bates, "Our team has a very good relationships with each other. They're friends on the field, friends off the field, which is a big part of having a successful team."
That chemistry appears to be playing out in the statistics, as the Hodags have two of the top four players in assists in the conference - Shane Petrick (7) and Wiese (5). In all, the Hodags have notched 20 assists on 26 goals in conference play this year, compared to only six assists on 11 goals last year. Meanwhile, the defense has been solid. Take away last Thursday's seven goals allowed by a majority of JV players at Medford and the Hodags would have the top-ranked defense in the GNC, conceding only eight goals in its first nine conference games.
Add it all up, and the Hodags are looking to make it to the sectional level for the first time since 2017, and perhaps further. The last time Rhinelander reached a sectional final on the boys' side was 2008.
"I think the kids, if they want to put their mind to it - and they put in the effort they've been putting in - I don't see any reason why we can't make a run to state if the boys choose to do so," Bates said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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