September 28, 2020 at 8:24 a.m.
Pines stuns Hodag soccer 1-0 in rematch
RHS bounces back vs. Ashland
Pines stuns Hodag soccer 1-0 in rematch
Sam Warner scored the game's only goal in the 48th minute and the Eagles stunned the Hodags 1-0 in the back end of a home-and-home series Thursday night in Eagle River.
It was one of those nights for the Hodags, who outshot the Eagles by a 2-to-1 margin. Bates said Rhinelander had the better of play most of the match, but was unable to put anything home.
"You can never underestimate a team," Bates said. "I've been coaching long enough where we'll beat teams in a tournament. We'll go out there and walk all over them and, then you get in the championship with them, and it's a different team.
"That's all it was. The kids came out slow and (Pines) caught them off guard."
Warner's goal came from a scrum in the box that happened to bounce home through the congestion.
"It was in the box, it was a bobble for the ball and it went in," Bates said. "It was just a mishap. It wasn't anything spectacular. It just happened."
Meanwhile, Bates questioned a couple of calls that did not go Rhinelander's way in the second half. He said Hugh Wiese was taken down on a play in the box that was deemed not enough to award a penalty kick. He also said that Wiese scored on a breakaway, that was negated when play was whistled dead for a Northland Pines injury.
"Hugh had a breakaway and the kid went into him to get the ball. Hugh kept going and the kid hit the ground, and (referee) Manny (Gutierrez) blew a whistle and said he called it for injury," Bates explained. "It was inside the 18-yard box. He had a breakaway and shot, the whistle was blown after the shot and he called the goal back on us.
"The game shouldn't have come down to those missed opportunities. The boys were just off their game. In the first half they came out real slow and Pines came out hard."
Rhinelander outshot Pines 22-10 overall, and 10-5 in shots on goal. It was Rhinelander's fifth game in 10 days to start the regular season, and Bates said the fatigue appeared evident for his side.
"The kids looked tired. I'm not making excuses for them. They had an off night tonight," he said. "They just looked tired. I think it definitely could have had an effect. We've been practicing every day. We've been playing three games a week. The kids, they're just tired."
Hodags 9, Ashland 0
Rhinelander took out its frustration from Thursday's loss on the back of the Ashland net Saturday.
Beau Howard scored three times, and five different players scored in a 9-0 rout of the Oredockers at Mike Webster Stadium.
"I think the boys were a little upset with themselves and they came out tonight with intensity the whole game," Bates said. "They wanted to prove a point tonight. What happened (Thursday at Northland Pines) is not going to happen again. They were pretty on fire. They came out hard."
Wiese scored twice for Rhinelander, and got things going in the 14th minute, dribbling in off the left end line following a corner kick before finishing from the top of the six-yard box.
Howard got on the end of a Braden Mork cross to the outside, attacked up the right flank and scored on the 16th minute, Shane Petrick scored in the 23rd minute off a service to the top of the 18 by Mork, Howard scored again on a breakaway in the 25th minute and Petrick scored again off an impressive shot from 30 yards out in the 40th minute to give Rhinelander a 5-0 lead at halftime.
Wiese scored again in the 50th minute, Howard finished his hat trick in the 56th minute, Mork added a goal to his two assists in the 68th minute and Tucker Frederickson capped off the scoring, putting a corner kick off the hands of Ashland keeper Owen Corbine-Neils and into the back of the net.
"We were really using the lines tonight with our through balls, spreading out the defense," Bates said. "We had a lot of good feeds, lot of good rips, the kids were on target tonight."
Rhinelander finished the night outshooting Ashland by a 46-8 margin. Rhinelander had 23 shots on goal while the Oredockers managed only one shot that Hodag keeper Gavin Ostermann had to prevent from going into the net.
Conference race
Rhinelander's loss at Pines and Lakeland's second win in three days over a medically-depleted Medford side continued to jumble the GNC standings. Mosinee moved into sole possession of the conference lead with a 4-0 mark, followed by Rhinelander and Lakeland at 3-1. Pines and Medford sit tied for fourth at 1-3.
Rhinelander (5-1-0) takes on Lakeland in a home-and-home series this week beginning tonight in Minocqua and continuing Thursday in Rhinelander. Medford and Mosinee also play twice against each other this week.
"We still control our own destiny. We're down one game. It's not the end of the world," Bates said. "Mosinee, we'll have them (twice on the schedule). We control our own destiny. It's up to the boys. If we go out and win at Lakeland next week and we take it to Mosinee, it's their conference."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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