April 4, 2022 at 9:02 a.m.
Hodags go 1-2 in opening tourney
RHS downs Shawano after DeForest, Hayward defeats
Hodags go 1-2 in opening tourney
The Hodags looked re-energized Saturday afternoon as they walked over Shawano 6-1 in the final game of a three-game event in the Hodag Dome. The victory came on the heels of an 8-1 loss to DeForest on Friday night and a 1-0 loss to Hayward Saturday morning.
Bates said the message to his team following the Hayward game was simple -have fun.
"You could tell the way they were playing the first two games. They were playing nervous," he said. "We could see it in just the way they were reacting to the ball, their facial expressions and how they were handling themselves. The last game they played like they do at practice. They went out there and had fun. They were playing relaxed. They were playing as a team like we've been working so hard on."
Overall, Bates said the team got what it wanted out of the games, in which 22 different players saw action.
"We had some good things happen. We had some bad things happen. I saw some good stuff that I've been seeing at practice," he said. "Preseason games are good. We figured out some things in the three games that we had and we're going to build off those in practice this week. Hopefully we got the pregame jitters out of the way having three games in the last two days and we can continue to move on and build on what we saw this weekend."
DeForest 8, Rhinelander 1
The Hodag back line had a difficult time slowing down Rylan Oberg and the rest of the Norskies' attack Friday night.
Oberg, a sophomore, recorded three goals and two assists while Maya Pickhardt and Payton Flowers each scored twice in an 8-1 romp.
Lilly Neuman put DeForest ahead in the seventh minute, converting a 2-on-0 chance from Oberg, and it was all Norskies from there.
"You play big teams like that, you're going to learn quick," Bates said. "We knew going into the game how big of a team DeForest is and how good they are. It doesn't disappoint. We knew that they have Oberg and a couple of the other girls on their team are stout and returning from last year. We also knew how quick they are. They played well. They didn't disappoint."
Goals by Oberg in the 13th and 17th minutes gave DeForest a 3-0 lead that it took to halftime. Senior McKenna Brown made a run through the Norski defense off a service from Audrey Schiek and converted a breakaway chance for Rhinelander in the 42nd minute. But Oberg completed her hat trick in the 48th minute and Pickhardt and Flowers alternated goals from there, accounting for the final margin.
Bates said DeForest's speed had his defense on its heels most of the night.
"The defense had some hiccups tonight. Their team played basically offsides the whole game. They tried to get us on that and the defense fell for it," he said. "Our defense made the mistake of dropping back because hey were scared that they were making runs. It worked out in their favor a lot of times."
DeForest was whistled 12 times in the match for having an attacker behind the last defender at the time of a pass, and had two goals disallowed due to offsides violations. Still the Norskies outshot Rhinelander 23-6 in the match and 16-2 in shots on goal.
Hayward 1, Rhinelander 0
Though the defense played better, Rhinelander's offensive struggles continued Saturday morning against the Hurricanes. The Hodags mustered only two shots on goal for the match and Brooke Quast's conversion from the penalty spot in the 21st minute stood as the game's lone tally.
"The second game I was really disappointed," Bates said. "The girls did not come out and execute anything that they had been doing so well at practice. I was actually at a loss for words. I didn't know what really to say."
Schiek committed a foul against Hayward's Greta Schmitt just inside the left boundary of the penalty area midway through the first half and Quast fired the ensuing penalty kick to the top left corner of the goal. It was Hayward's first shot on goal following an opening 20 minutes that were controlled by the Hodags.
Momentum swung Hayward's way following the conversion, however, as the Hodags struggled for quality chances. Rhinelander's best flurry occurred midway through the second half, but a sustained build up in pressure resulted only in a hurried shot off frame by Ava Lamers in the 56th minute. Hayward goalkeeper Brooke Brennan then stopped a chance by Leah Jamison from 25 yards in the 58th minute.
Overall, Hayward outshot Rhinelander 19-9 in the match.
"I know a lot of it, the girls said they were super nervous and they were playing rushed," Bates said. "We could see that in the play. They weren't connecting their passes like they have been. They were making bad first touches. We were down in front of their net and we weren't taking shots like we have been."
Rhinelander 6, Shawano 1
The Hodags erased whatever jitters they had for the afternoon contest on Saturday. Lamers converted a rebound chance in the first minute and the rout was on from there as Rhinelander finished the weekend with a victory over the Hawks.
Both Lamers and Brown scored twice in the game. Rhinelander also got tallies from sophomores Lexi Robinson and Morgan Van Zile.
"The third game we came out and executed everything we have been at practice," Bates said. "They looked a lot more relaxed the third game. They were communicating very well. They were stringing their passes together and we were doing everything we've been working on."
Rhinelander dominated, outshooting Shawano 38-4. Only a penalty kick conversion by Shawano's Trinity Popelka in the 32nd minute prevented the Hodags from turning in a clean sheet. That was Shawano's lone shot on goal in the match.
Robinson got free on a run in the 24th minute and Van Zile sent forward an initial push by Lamers. Robinson converted the breakaway chance for her first career varsity tally.
Brown added a goal in the 37th minute to give Rhinelander a 3-1 lead at halftime and then knocked in a loose ball on a scrum in front of the net following a corner kick at the 45-minute mark to push the lead to three. Lamers and Van Zile set each other up on breakaway chances later in the half. Van Zile scored in the 54th minute and Lamers in the 78th to account for the final margin.
The game was marred by an incident late in the first half. Shawano's Abigail Rabideau and Rhinelander's Emma Chiamulera became entangled along the sideline following a foul by Chiamulera in the 40th minute. Both players were red carded for their respective roles in the skirmish and each side was relegated to 10 players on the field for the remainder of the match.
"Emotions run high in these games and these two girls, I saw they were chipping at each other the whole game. It ended up in an unfortunate situation costing both teams a red card," Bates said. "It was very unfortunate, but we talked to our players, we talked to the team. After the game (Rabideau and Chiamulera) were able to have a conversation with each other, shake hands and move on. It's a learning experience and, hopefully, it doesn't happen again."
Cooler heads prevailed for both sides following the incident as only one foul was called the entire second half.
In goal
Heading into the season, Bates said sophomore Mya Krouze and senior Noelle St. Pierre were vying to become the team's new starting goalkeeper following the graduation of incumbent Kahlie Arneson. Krouze saw all the action over the weekend, making eight saves against DeForest and six saves against Hayward.
"Mya, in my opinion, she played absolutely amazing," Bates noted. "She came out and did exactly what she needed. She made some really big saves and did a great job. I've got nothing negative to say. There's a couple of things she needs to work on and I talked to her about out. We'll get that figured out but, all and all, she played great."
Up next
Rhinelander has another week to prepare for a non-conference match against Iron Mountain, Mich either in the Hodag Dome or, weather permitting, at Mike Webster Stadium. It will be Rhinelander's final non-conference tune-up before the Great Northern Conference opener April 14 at Medford.
Bates said the goal will be to build upon how the team finished this past weekend's invite against Shawano.
"Finishing the way we finished today, that's what we've been working toward. Building off of that, we'll be fine," be said. "We have everything we need on the team to succeed, we've just got to get more comfortable with each other."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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