September 23, 2020 at 1:12 p.m.
Hodag soccer keeps rolling, clips Northland Pines 6-1
Hodag soccer keeps rolling, clips Northland Pines 6-1
Braden Mork and Hugh Wiese each scored twice Tuesday night as the Hodags defeated Northland Pines 6-1 at Mike Webster Stadium.
In four games, Rhinelander has already surpassed its win total from last year's 3-8-6 campaign. The Hodags are now 4-0-0 this year, including one victory each over last season's co-Great Northern Conference champs - Medford and Northland Pines.
"Hopefully we can keep the momentum going throughout the season. They're playing good ball," Rhinelander coach Nathan Bates said.
The Hodags scored twice in the first 16 minutes and then dropped the hammer on the Eagles around halftime. Wiese scored with 2:01 remaining in the first half to give Rhinelander a 3-0 lead at the break. Wiese and Mork added goals in the opening 1:12 of the second to put the game well out of reach.
"The kids played well. They came out on top right away, put a couple of goals in right away and then we kind of slowly got a little bit lazy," Bates said. "At half, we picked it back up again. The kids got fired up and we just put them away."
Tucker Frederickson added a goal and a pair of assists for the Hodags. He got the scoring started moments into the fifth minute as his shot from the top of the 18 slipped through the hands of reigning GNC defensive player of the year - Northland Pines goalkeeper Colby Kruse - and into the back of the net. Mork added a strike from roughly 30 yards out in the 16th minute to put the Hodags up 2-0.
Wiese was on the end of a Frederickson service for a score in the 43rd minute and then scored again just 15 seconds after halftime as he took the second half kickoff right down the field for a score.
Less than a minute later, Mork finished again from long range off a pass to the middle by Frederickson.
Beau Howard finished off the scoring for Rhinelander in the 85th minute, getting loose on a through ball by Charlie Heck and then beating Kruse one-on-one from 12 yards out.
"The kids were on fire up top tonight," Bates said. "We had a good passing game going, some good strikes from outside. Braden Mork had a huge night, a couple from outside the 25, hit a couple down. Beau had a beautiful follow-up shot. The kids were clicking."
Pines became the first team in four games to score against Rhinelander's defense. Owen Uebe got free on the right flank and finished off a service by Sam Warner in the 51st minute.
"The defense had one little mistake back there tonight with a communication breakdown and Pines was able to get one in on us," Bates said. "All and all we held them to very few shots the remainder of the game."
After tying for the GNC title and qualifying for the WIAA Division 4 state tournament last year, Northland Pines (0-3-0) is off to a rocky start with a young roster that includes only two seniors. That's something Bates can relate to after the Hodags' up and down 2019 with a young side. After the game, Bates went over to the Northland Pines team huddle and offered a few words of encouragement.
"They're a classy team. The coaches are fantastic. Mark (Pinski) and Rodney (Sternhagen) are great guys and Pines has a very classy team," Bates said. "I really enjoy playing ball against them. I was telling the kids to keep their heads up a little bit. They're a young team but they have a lot of potential. They pass the ball very well. Their communication is good. I told them we had a similar situation last year with a rebuild year. I said, 'You guys got what it takes, you just need to start gelling together as a team.'"
Rhinelander outshot Northland Pines 25-6 for the match and had a 14-4 edge in shots on goal. The Hodags and Eagles were set to meet again Thursday in Eagle River in the back half of the week's home-and-home series.
The Hodags host Ashland tomorrow night in a non-conference match at Mike Webster Stadium before taking on Lakeland in a home-and-home next week. The Thunderbirds stunned a Medford squad depleted by illness and injury 5-0 on Tuesday night in Medford.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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