September 30, 2020 at 12:35 p.m.
Hodag soccer edges Lakeland 2-1, reclaims share of conference lead
Hodag soccer edges Lakeland 2-1, reclaims share of conference lead
Andrew Henrichs recorded his first career varsity goal in the 77th minute on Tuesday night, which proved to be the difference as Rhinelander edged Lakeland 2-1 in a battle of the GNC's second-place teams at IncredibleBank Field.
Rhinelander was undefeated in conference play until last Thursday, when it stumbled with a 1-0 loss at Northland Pines. Tuesday's win, coupled with Mosinee's 5-1 loss to a finally healthy Medford side, moved Rhinelander into a tie for first with Mosinee atop the GNC at 4-1-0 in league play.
"We're going to try to keep it that way. We're going to try to make sure the kids bring it home," Rhinelander coach Nathan Bates said. "It's always a tough game. Lakeland always brings the game. We have a pretty good rivalry and the kids seem to play really hard when we play each other."
Shane Petrick also scored for the Hodags, who overcame an early 1-0 deficit in yet another close contest against the Thunderbirds. Four of the last six matches between the teams have ended in ties, and the other two contests have been decided by a single goal.
Henrichs, a sophomore, netted what proved to be the game winner on a long range shot from roughly 45 yards on the left wing. He sent a low, bounding shot just inside the left post past Lakeland keeper Collin Quade for Rhinelander's first lead of the evening.
"He had a good touch with it, beat one guy out and just beautiful placement," Bates said of Henrichs' winner. "It was a great shot and it's a pretty good confidence builder for him on top of it. He had a really good game, actually. He fed the ball on the side and he played tough. He did a great job tonight."
Rhinelander had to dodge a few bullets down the stretch to preserve the victory. Hodag keeper Gavin Ostermann, who tallied eight saves in the contest, stopped a pair of long-distance free kicks by Mac Haling and Yaroslav Myshchyshyn over the final 13 minutes of the match. Ostermann also got just enough of the ball to break up a Chandler Saval breakaway in the 84th minute, and allowed his defense to clear the ball away.
Myshchyshyn, a freshman who entered the night second in the GNC in scoring, recorded Lakeland's lone goal off a counterattack in the 12th minute. He was there on the back post for a deep cross by Bo Peterson and finished off the breakaway to give the T-Birds an early lead.
"We came out and had to switch some things around. Yaroslav, like we knew, was going to be deadly and, right off the start, there he was," Bates said. "We knew he was going to do it. After a while we decided to make sure he wasn't so deadly the rest of the game. Then you had Chandler come in for Lakeland and he had a couple of good looks but, all and all, we were able to shut them down in the second half."
The Hodags misfired on a couple of golden chances to draw level in the first half, both of services from sophomore Charlie Heck. He found a streaking Beau Howard inside the Lakeland box in the 21st minute, but Howard's one-touch shot rolled just left of the left post. It was a similar story in the 39th minute when Petrick got loose and just missed left on a shot across the net from the right side of the box.
Petrick got another chance in the 51st minute and pulled the Hodags even. Hugh Wiese had the service this time that put Petrick on a breakaway through the Lakeland defenders.
With Quade out to challenge the breakaway, Petrick chipped a shot over him that dropped in just underneath the crossbar.
"The minute we got back (tied), the boys got another second wind, per se," Bates said of Petrick's equalizer. "They played tough. Both teams played tough til the very, very end."
Rhinelander had a 24-17 edge in total shots for the match. Both teams recorded nine shots on goal. Bates credited his team for gutting out the win down the stretch, despite a short bench.
"I didn't sub once throughout the game. My kids played a full 90 minutes," He said. "They were getting tired, but it's hard to change momentum in a tight game like this by subbing in. We kept the kids playing and they played a full 90 minutes. The kids played awesome."
The same two teams were scheduled to meet Thursday in Rhinelander in a game that concluded after deadline for today's edition.
Regardless of the result, it sets up a huge matchup between Rhinelander and Mosinee this coming Tuesday in Mosinee that will likely be for the conference lead.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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