November 1, 2022 at 7:14 a.m.
Hodags avenge playoff heartbreak against Medford
Hodags avenge playoff heartbreak against Medford
It took a two-goal comeback, and then penalty kicks, but the Hodags got the last laugh on the Medford Raiders. Rhinelander won in PKs Thursday night 4-2. By doing so, the Hodags avenged playoff losses to the Raiders each of the last two seasons, as well as two losses - one in regulation and one in a shootout - against Medford this year.
"The boys were motivated more than ever, coming off two losses in the playoffs to Medford," Hodag defender Charlie Heck said. "We finished what (past players) Joseph (Heck) and Hugh (Wiese) started two years ago and there's no greater feeling."
The Hodags recovered after spotting Medford a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes, leveling the match by the half-hour mark. From there, the game turned into another pressure-packed defensive struggle that extended beyond the 20 minutes of extra time.
"Tonight, my boys dug deep," coach Nathan Bates said. "We were behind 2-0 and that's one thing we talked about before tonight. We said whatever's going on in the game, don't ever stop. You never know. I've seen them put in five goals in five minutes, so don't ever stop - and they didn't."
Just like he did in the team's penalty kick playoff win over Lakeland five days earlier, senior goalkeeper Cooper Radke stood tall in the shootout. He stopped Medford's Silas Wipf and Grant Neubauer in rounds 3 and 4, sealing the victory after the Hodags converted on all four of their chances.
"I don't know what I did, but it worked out," Radke said. "I went to the right side, got the saves and the whole team rushed at me. I didn't know what was happening."
"We've been practicing PKs and we've got a great goalkeeper for them," Heck said. "He can read the field. He can read the shots and we tell Cooper every time, 'You're job is to save one and we'll do the rest.' This guy goes over the top every time and saves more than one, every time."
Rhinelander's chances looked bleak as the Great Northern Conference champion Raiders came out roaring. Aydn Gripentrog had a hand in both of Medford's opening strikes. First, he intercepted a pass from the Hodag back line and scored unassisted in the eighth minute. Then he slipped a ball through to Naut van Meurs to make it 2-0 in the 12th minute.
"Their first goal came off a bad pass to the center by one of our players. It was a mistake. He sent the ball to the middle and, unfortunately our guy wasn't there and their guy was," Bates said. "(The second goal) again, another mishap there, because they were running guys out for the cross ball. Once the defense figured out what they were doing, I didn't see it happen much throughout the rest of the game."
Rhinelander's response came quickly in the form to two goals spanning 1 minute, 12 seconds later in the first half.
First, Braden Mork sent a ball to forward Mason Shinners at the top of the attack. Shinners beat Medford keeper Jake Dassow to the ball in a collision outside the penalty box and then won the scramble to the loose ball for the tap in.
"Mason's been aggressive," Bates said. "The last few games he's been super aggressive. He went 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper came out and Mason didn't let off the gas and put a goal in."
Then defender Matthew King picked a remarkable time to score his second goal of the season. King launched a shot from outside of 40 yards that was perfectly placed to the top corner of the goal, an indefensible shot that tied the match in the 29th minute.
"I usually don't condone that shot from that far out from that angle and he made it," Bates said.
Medford outshot Rhinelander 23-15 in the match and had an 11-6 edge in shots on goal, but the Hodag defense was able to keep the Raiders in check through the remainder of the first half, the second half and overtime.
Radke, who made nine saves in the match, denied van Meurs on a shot from the top of the 18 in the 61st minute and deflected away a chance by the conference's leading scorer, Zach Rudolph, in the 66th minute.
Dassow made four saves for Medford, including a tip over the crossbar of a Will Quinn chance in the 53rd minute. Quinn had another chance off the ensuing corner kick, as the ball came out to him at the top of the 18, but the shot sailed just high.
Andrew Henrichs, Mork, Shinners and Shane Petrick all converted in penalties for Rhinelander. Aaron Schield and Rudolph converted for Medford in the first two rounds.
The Raiders defeated Rhinelander in the sectional semifinal round in 2020 after the Hodags won the GNC title. Medford advanced to the WIAA state tournament that year. Thursday's game marked the third straight occasion that the Hodags and Raiders ended up in PKs in Medford. The Raiders defeated Rhinelander in penalties in the first round of last year's WIAA playoffs and also edged the Hodags in PKs after a 1-1 draw to open the GNC season back in August.
"It came down to the team just not giving up at all. We kept going and we finally got it. We finally beat Medford," Mork said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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