April 25, 2022 at 7:55 a.m.
Hodag soccer dominates in three victories
Rhinelander combines for 25 goals in wins over Antigo, Three Lakes, Merrill
Hodag soccer dominates in three victories
The Hodags plucked birds of three different feathers on three consecutive days, beginning with a 9-0 rout of the Antigo Red Robins Thursday night at Mike Webster Stadium. Rhinelander scored another 9-0 win on the road Friday against the Three Lakes Bluejays before returning home to down the Merrill Bluejays 7-0 on Saturday.
The victories ran Rhinelander's winning streak to seven in a row. The Hodags (7-2-0, 2-0-0 Great Northern) have outscored their opponents by a combined 52-3 in those contests.
"The girls have been playing very well as a team," Hodag coach Nathan Bates said following Saturday's win. "They've been putting up a lot of goals. It hasn't just been one or two (players), it's been multiple girls putting in shots."
To wit, eight different Hodags scored in the past three contests -including three who scored in all three games.
Rhinelander 9, Antigo 0
The Hodags jumped on Antigo early Thursday night in Great Northern Conference play. Rhinelander had four goals in the first 14 minutes, and seven goals in little more than a half hour as they cruised to a 9-0 victory.
Junior midfielder Ava Lamers scored five times in the contest. Three other Hodags found the back of the net and Rhinelander also benefited from an Antigo own goal.
"The girls routed them pretty hard. We were having a hard time getting it in the box," Bates said. "Antigo was stacking the box with everybody on the field. Then we started hitting shots down from the top of the 18 and from the outside, doing some really nice stuff."
Lamers got things started in the fifth minute off an assist from Morgan Van Zile and McKenna Brown made it 2-0 exactly 90 seconds later. Lamers scored again in the 12th minute before sophomore Leah Jamison netted her first career varsity goal off an assist from Lamers in the 14th minute.
Lamers scored again in the 21st and 28th minutes and Antigo's own goal in the 31st minute gave Rhinelander a 7-0 lead.
With the game well in hand, and with two more games ahead over the weekend, Bates took the liberty of extending his bench for much of the contest.
"We got a lot of girls some play time, a lot of our junior varsity girls and some of the younger, underclassmen got some good playtime in. The girls played very well," he noted.
Lamers tacked on another goal four minutes into the second half and freshman Sophie Miljevich rounded out the scoring in the 71st minute as Rhinelander outshot the Robins 65-0 in the match.
Rhinelander 9, Three Lakes 0
The Hodags started quickly again Friday night, scoring four times in the first 18 minutes as they roared past Three Lakes.
It was Brown's turn to lead the offensive attack, as she netted a hat trick on the night while Lamers added a pair of goals.
"It was a little different on the grass," Bates said. "It was really wet with a lot of lumps and bumps in it, but the girls went out and pretty much dominated the whole entire 80 minutes of soccer and played well as a team and had a lot of fun."
Two freshmen got things started for Rhinelander as Leah Weigel got on the end of a Miljevich pass to give the Hodags the lead in the third minute. Miljevich made it 2-0 in the eighth minute before Brown scored her first of the night off an Eleanor Steffen assist in the 12th minute.
Lamers and Morgan Van Zile added unassisted goals in the 18th and 33rd minutes as Rhinelander took a 5-0 lead to halftime.
Brown scored back-to-back goals in the 52nd and 53rd minutes to add to Rhinelander's lead. Lamers scored again in the 58th minute and senior Kaylee Pontell got her first varsity goal from Lamers in the 60th minute to round out the scoring.
Rhinelander outshot Three Lakes 32-7 in the match. Sophomore Mya Krouze recorded four saves in a shutout win.
"Three Lakes had a couple of opportunities," Bates noted. "They have one girl on the team, No. 12 (Kara Sowinski). She's got some good speed and good skill. She had a couple of opportunities on us and Mya had three really nice saves."
Rhinelander 7, Merrill 0
The Hodags capped off their weekend with a matinee win over Merrill Saturday afternoon that featured goals from five different players. Brown and Lamers each scored twice, but there was plenty of wealth to go around.
"Ava, McKenna, Soph, Leah, Morgan, everyone on the field's been doing really well as a team," Bates said.
Brown opened the scoring in the ninth minute gathering her own rebound on a breakaway chance. The lead stayed at one for much of the opening half before Lamers doubled it in the 27th minute. She received a drop pass from Hailey Gabor just inside the 18-yard box and chipped a shot to the top left corner.
Miljevich scored for a fifth consecutive game in the 30th minute, leaping over Merrill goalkeeper Anna Bowe to get to a Steffen send into the box. Pontell then scored her second goal in as many games, finishing a well-placed cross from Van Zile with 10 seconds remaining before halftime.
Rhinelander didn't score again until the 70th minute as Miljevich sent in a cross from the right corner that skipped through Bowe's hands. Brown was there on the back post to collect the loose ball and squeezed it past a recovering Bowe and another Merrill defender to make it 5-0.
Lamers created space for herself and fired a shot through Bowe's hands in the 73rd minute. Senior Mabel Spencer rounded out the scoring with her first career varsity goal in the 78th minute. Brown found Spencer in space roughly 15 yards from goal and Spencer fired a shot that grazed off a Merrill defender and into the back of the net.
"That was awesome to see Mabel (score)," Bates said. "It was a beautiful pass by McKenna and Mabel just buried in the back of the net. It was a very nice shot. Very happy to see Mabel put one up on the board this year."
The Hodags outshot the Bluejays 42-6 in the match. Krouze made three saves in her third straight shutout.
Up next
Rhinelander continues its aviary quest with two more difficult birds this week. The Hodags are scheduled to travel up to Northland Pines this afternoon to face the Eagles before returning home Thursday in a match against the preseason GNC-favored Lakeland Thunderbirds.
"(Pines coach) Rodney (Sternhagen) and the girls up there, they always come with a game. We're going to be ready and start with that one first," Bates said. "Moving on to Lakeland at home, it's going to be a huge game. I'm anticipating both games this week are going to be very tough for the girls, but I think we're ready for it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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