October 4, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.
Hodag soccer draws against Northland Pines, falls in PKs
Hodag soccer draws against Northland Pines, falls in PKs
The Hodag offense again struggled to put the finishing touches on its attacks and played Northland Pines to a scoreless draw at Mike Webster Stadium. Rhinelander's woes finding the back to the net continued as it misfired on three penalty kick chances, and Northland Pines won a shootout 3-1 to secure an extra point in the league standings.
Though Rhinelander moved to third alone in the GNC standings with the result, and Medford's 1-0 loss at Lakeland, the Hodags fell 11 points adrift of Lakeland with only three matches remaining. With only nine points possible to gain, Rhinelander was mathematically eliminated from conference championship contention.
"I'm not disappointed with the boys," Rhinelander coach Nathan Bates said. "I'm disappointed we didn't win the game, obviously. But, at the same time, I cannot be disappointed in the way they played, because they played a really good game tonight."
Thursday's game marked the second consecutive time Rhinelander has been shut out, and the fifth time in 13 games this season that the Hodags have failed to record a goal.
Rhinelander once again owned possession and many of the offensive statistics - outshooting Pines 10-3 in shots on goal, and 18-11 overall - but had no goals to show for its efforts.
"We've been working so hard on it, changing up personnel," Bates said. "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."
Rhinelander's placement woes were underscored in the penalty kick shootout as Tucker Frederickson and Shane Petrick both put shots straight on Northland Pines' goalkeeper Patrick Roth for routine saves while Matthew King's chance in the fourth round rang off the right goalpost. Charlie Heck was the only Hodag to covert in penalties, tucking a shot to the low left corner. Pines placed three shots inside the left post, beating keeper Gavin Ostermann. Ryan Muench's success in the fourth round clinched the shootout for the Eagles.
"That really shocked me, some of our best shooters and they kicked them right at the goalie tonight," Bates said. "I don't know why. I'm kind of at a loss for words. I don't know what to say about it."
Rhinelander had a few good chances throughout the night, but was unable to get a solid strike on the ball whenever it had a chance to go 1-on-0 with Roth. Beau Howard got behind the defense, but rushed a shot from 25 yards wide left in the seventh minute. Andrew Henrichs got on the back post for a deep cross by Braden Mork in the 37th minute, but chipped a shot straight to Roth as his momentum was carrying him away from the goal. Will Quinn could not get to a Neil Weigel cross in the 56th minute when he had an open look on the back post.
Charlie Heck had a header attempt off a corner kick in the 74th minute, but a Pines defender was able to nod the ball out of bounds and the Hodags did not threaten on the subsequent corner. Roth stopped a long range shot by Heck in the final minute to see the game to penalties.
"The boys actually played a really, really good game tonight," Bates said. "They controlled the game. (Pines') goalie had some good saves. He had a lot of saves this evening. I thought we had some pretty decent looks. Honestly, I think it was one of the better games we played all season when it came to possession and attacks."
Ostermann recorded three saves for Rhinelander in contest, which will be considered a tie for overall record purposes.
The Hodags (5-5-3, 3-3-0-1 Great Northern) have a tough week ahead as they play the top two teams in the conference back-to-back, beginning with a road match at Lakeland this evening. Rhinelander is back home Thursday to face Mosinee.
"Same thing as always, we're going to grind it out and do our best," Bates said. "That's all we can do, keep practicing hard. Hopefully the playoffs are better than what we have going on right now."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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