August 30, 2021 at 9:22 a.m.
Win, lose and draw: Hodag soccer splits first three games
Win, lose and draw: Hodag soccer splits first three games
The Hodags defeated Hayward 3-0 in the Hodag Dome on Thursday night but went winless in their home invite on Saturday at Mike Webster Stadium, falling to Waupaca 3-2 before playing Wausau East to a 0-0 draw.
Rhinelander outshot all three of its opponents, but put only 40% of its shots (40 of 100) on goal. Only five found the back of the net, which coach Nathan Bates said would be a point of emphasis moving forward.
"In practice the finishing looks great and then we get out to the game and we're having some issues," he said. "We're not having issues pressuring the ball on this end of the field. We're just having troubles putting in the back of the net right now. We'll definitely be working on that quite a bit."
Rhinelander 3, Hayward 0
The Hodags dominated Hayward Thursday night, outshooting the Hurricanes 49-1 overall in a 3-0 victory. Beau Howard scored twice for Rhinelander, which was also the benefactor of an own goal.
"The boys looked good," Bates said afterward. "They put in a lot of work in the offseason. They look, in my opinion, like they did at the end of last season for sure. They look great. I'm super proud of them. It's a great group of guys and I think we're going to have a great season."
The Hodags struck first in the 25th minute as Hayward defender Jon Kosterman inadvertently kneed the ball into the back of his own net while trying clear a cross sent into the box by Rhinelander's Shane Petrick.
Another Petrick cross helped make it 2-0 in the 37th minute as he sent a ball into the box, which Howard picked up on one hop and then finished from roughly 12 yards.
"Shane's deadly out there, but he floats all over," Bates said. "We can put him in the center, put him on the outside, put him right, left, wherever he wants to go. He's got a great foot for crossing the ball."
Howard made it 3-0 in the 48th minute, picking up a loose ball at the edge of the attacking third, sprinting past the Hayward back line and converting the breakaway chance.
Rhinelander possessed the ball for much of the game, with its midfield and defense making it difficult for the Hurricanes to make any advancements toward the Rhinelander goal. Hayward recorded its lone shot in the 17th minute, which was easily gobbled up by keeper Gavin Ostermann.
Ostermann played the first 40 minutes before giving way to backup Cooper Radke, who did not see a shot the entire second half.
"The defense was working well. They are a big contributing factor to the offensive pressure we're able to put on teams. They did a great job of doing it tonight," Bates said. "The boys moved the ball well, changed it up a lot. People are floating all over the place. They know how to work together as a team."
Waupaca 3, Rhinelander 2
The Hodags were on the wrong end of an own goal in Saturday's first game and could not overcome the concession of two late first-half scores in a 3-2 loss to the Comets.
A Waupaca cross bounded the wrong way off defender Leo Losch's head and into the back of the net at the 34-minute mark and Max Gusmer finished a Bryce Boldt cross in the 37th minute.
Rhinelander twice got to within a goal in the second half. The Hodags outshot the Comets 12-7 over the final 40 minutes, but were unable to net the equalizer.
"We came out pretty tired this morning," Bates said. "We had an own goal on ourselves. It happens, but otherwise, the second half, I feel we had the better of the game. Waupaca's a super tough competitor. It would have been nice to end up in a shootout with them or, obviously win, but it's OK, the kids still looked really good."
Howard scored his third goal of the opening week as he and Petrick worked the give-and-go to perfection on a 2-on-1 breakaway in the 53rd minute. Howard nearly tied it less than a minute later, as he bounced one over keeper Zack Mondello, but Mondello was able to recover and pluck the ball out of the air just before it crossed the goal line.
Waupaca restored the two-goal margin in the 65th minute as Boldt dispossessed defender Charlie Heck near the top of the 18-yard box and converted the breakaway.
"Bryce is a strong competitor, watching him play in the travel league," Bates said. "He's a great player and he's a threat on any team he plays on. We knew that coming into this."
Braden Mork scored from 40 yards away with nine minutes to play to bring Rhinelander back to within one. Mondello then stopped a Howard chance in the 73rd minute off a well-placed touch by Petrick. Rhinelander had one more chance in the final minute after a Waupaca foul, but Mondello plucked Tucker Frederickson's direct free kick chance from 45 yards and the Hodags were unable to make another run at goal.
The Hodags finished with a 22-21 edge in total shots and a 13-10 edge in shots on goal against a Waupaca team that is in its half-sectional bracket for the WIAA tournament.
Rhinelander 0, Wausau East 0
Despite a 29-7 edge in shots, the Hodags were unable to get the ball past Lumberjack keepers Eli Pagel and Connor Smith in a scoreless draw.
The majority of the pressure came in the second half of the contest - with Rhinelander amassing 20 shots, but only five on frame. Mork tried to catch Wausau East napping on a free kick in the 45th minute, but the Lumberjacks recovered to make the save. Frederickson then had a hard shot turned aside in the 50th minute. Andrew Henrichs saw a hard shot from 25 yards punched over the crossbar in the 54th minute and Mork rang a shot off the crossbar in the 61st minute.
Mork had one more chance on a hard shot from 25 yards in the 78th minute, but East made the save and then covered Matthew King's rebound opportunity.
"It was frustrating because we were in front of their net the whole entire game and just couldn't put one away," Bates said.
The game officially counted as a draw for season record purposes, but a penalty kick shootout took place after regulation, with Rhinelander winning 5-4.
Ostermann denied Louis Palmer's shot to the right post in the third round of the five-player shootout. Frederickson, Mork, Heck, Mason Shinners and Petrick all converted their chances for the Hodags.
Ostermann needed only two saves in regulation to record the shutout.
Rhinelander (1-1-1, 0-0-0-0 Great Northern) begins conference play at Medford this evening.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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