November 15, 2021 at 7:53 a.m.
Team review: RHS boys' soccer
Hodags sputter offensively, slip to middle of GNC pack
Team review: RHS boys' soccer
Rhinelander ended up exactly at .500 - both overall and in the GNC - this season and was one-and-done in the WIAA tournament, its season ended by Medford for a second straight year.
While the Hodags had plenty of returning talent, a number of factors contributed to the average season. For starters, the GNC was as deep as it has ever been, with the conference holding four of the top five seeds its a WIAA Division 3 regional. The lone D4 school in the conference, Northland Pines, advanced to the sectional semifinals as well.
Meanwhile, for Rhinelander, an inability to put shots in the back of the net proved to be a major issue. The Hodags went from 3.0 goals per game in 2020 to 2.2 goals per game this year.
From the beginning of the season, when Rhinelander drew Wausau East and fell to Waupaca by a goal in a home invitational, the team's struggles in the attacking third were evident.
"In practice the finishing looks great and then we get out to the game and we're having some issues," coach Nathan Bates said following the event. "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."
Sure enough, Rhinelander's season came to an end in a similar fashion. The Hodags played Medford to a 1-1 draw in the tournament, but fell in PKs 5-4, despite having a chance to win in the sixth round of a shootout.
Here are five key storylines from the recently completed season.
Close calls
The Hodags found themselves in plenty of close contests this season. Ten of the team's 17 games were decided by a goal or less. Rhinelander was 2-3-5 in those games, and 2-2 in the four draws that were later settled by penalty kicks.
The Hodags were 2-5-6 in games decided by two goals or fewer.
After back-to-back one-goal wins to start conference play, Rhinelander fell to Lakeland 2-0 at home and then was blanked by Mosinee 4-0 on the road, digging the team into a hole in the conference from which it could not recover.
Rhinelander nearly avenged a loss to Mosinee late in the regular season, but a comeback fell short in a 3-2 loss at home. Then came the playoff contest at Medford. It was officially a tie for record keeping purposes, but felt every bit like the season-ended loss it was when the Raiders advanced in PKs.
"It's always tough to go double overtime and then into a shootout. Unfortunately, it fell the way it fell," Bates said afterward. "I can't be upset with any of the boys. They played their butts off tonight and I'm extremely proud of all of them.
Big moments
The road wins over Medford and Northland Pines early in the season felt like galvanizing moments for the team, but they were offset by a mid-season funk.
The lowest point came when Rhinelander lost a penalty kick shootout to Northland Pines at home, but the Hodags then bounced back to take Lakeland to penalties and win the shootout, 4-2. Up until that point, Lakeland was a perfect 7-0-0 in league play.
"Whatever happened tonight, the boys learned how to finish again and they had a helluva game," Bates said. "Lakeland played strong. We played strong and, in my opinion, that was the best we played all season. If we continue that way, we're going to have a strong run in the playoffs."
Troubles finishing
Ultimately, it again boiled down to finishing scoring chances this season for Rhinelander. The Hodags outshot opponents by nearly a 2-to-1 margin both overall (250-132) and in shots on goal (133-71) in league play.
Rhinelander took both the most total shots and shots on goal in league play, but its .072 goal-to-shot ratio ranked last in the conference.
"We've been working so hard on it, changing up personnel," Bates said following a draw and subsequent penalty kick loss to Northland Pines. "It's not a problem we're having with keeping pressure down on the opposing end of the field. A lot of the shots are good, but a lot of them are kicked right at the goalie. Placement is the biggest problem right now."
Statbook
In an odd quirk, senior Beau Howard led Rhinelander in goals this season with nine, but scored only two of those goals within GNC play. Braden Mork ended up the team's top scorer - both in GNC play and overall. He had 21 points overall on the season (8 goals, 5 assists) and had four goals and five helpers within GNC play.
Junior Shane Petrick, who was hobbled by a hip injury much of the season, still managed five goals while sophomore Mason Shinners had four goals off the bench of the Hodags.
Senior keeper Gavin Ostermann finished 6-6-5 in goal with a 1.45 goals against average and a .798 save percentage.
What's next
Rhinelander graduates only four seniors from this year's squad, but they include some of the team's most impactful players in Ostermann, Howard, defender Alex Huff and midfielder Tucker Frederickson - who recorded a team-high eight assists on the season.
"It's going to be tough," Bates said. "We're losing some top players and some really good team morale players in the program. We're going to miss Gavin and Huffy back on the defensive line, Tucker in the middle distributing and Beau Howard with his speed and his finishing. We're going to miss these guys."
Rhinelander will have some key pieces returning, especially with Mork and Petrick in the midfield, Shinners in the attack and back line players Charlie Heck, Leo Losch Matthew King and Neil Weigel. Andrew Henrichs will going Mork, Petrick and Shinners as the only players returning who scored multiple goals this season.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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