April 11, 2023 at 6:32 a.m.
Rapids shuts out Hodag soccer
Schaeffer scored three times and the Raiders knocked off the Hodags 4-0 at South Wood County Field.
Statistics were virtually identical between the sides, but Schaeffer's speed was the difference maker. She scored all three of her goals on breakaway chances and the Raiders also added a goal on a penalty kick.
"Their goals came off an incredibly fast girl on their team that we couldn't keep up with. It was big through balls. That was it," Hodag coach Nathan Bates said. "She's a super great player. She played up top, roamed left, right and center. They bombed the ball and she'd run."
Schaeffer's first goal came in the 14th minute as Aliyah Jennings sent a ball up the left flank. Schaeffer tracked it down, sprinted past the Hodag defense and fired from the top of the 18 to the upper left hand corner of the net. She scored again less than two minutes later on a near carbon copy, again breaking free up the left side before crossing the ball inside the right post.
"After the second time it happen, we went to a sweeper-stopper (defensive alignment), putting our freshman back there Willa (Bureta) and Willa shut her down the majority of the game," Bates said.
Jennings scored on a penalty kick in the 32nd minute, after defender Helena Wisner was whistled for a push inside the Hodags' penalty area, and the Raiders took a 3-0 lead to halftime.
Schaeffer finished her hat trick in the 50th minute, scoring on a through ball from Sydney Hayes.
Despite the loss, and despite missing all-conference junior Emma Chiamulera from the back line due to a family vacation, Bates said he was pleased with the Hodags' improvement from a season-opening 3-1 loss three days prior against Ashland.
"Our defense did a really good job tonight. We were missing a big piece of our defense tonight with Emma being on vacation with her family," he said. "I will say the girls tonight, compared to the last game, (showed) 100% improvement."
According to statistics kept by a team, both sides recorded 10 shots while Wisconsin Rapids held an 8-7 edge in shots on goal. Mya Krouze made four saves in the loss for Rhinelander.
"The stats were even. They played with a tough Wisconsin Rapids team and I can't complain," Bates said. "When it came to possession, in my opinion, we had the better end of the play tonight. We actually outworked them. They just had a couple of nice breakaways. We had some breakaways as well throughout the game that we could not capitalize on, but me and (assistant coach) John (Weigel) and super-impressed with how the girls performed tonight. They played way better as a team."
Though the Hodags are 0-2-0 to start the season, Bates said the tough non-conference competition will help when Rhinelander opens Great Northern play at home against Medford on Thursday.
"We moved some pieces around on our offense and our defense. I think we have it pretty well figured out," he said. "I think the couple of tough games we've had are good moving into next week's conference play. I'm super excited to see what the girls do in the conference."
The Hodags were trying to pick up another non-conference contest Tuesday in the Hodag Dome, however the details of that game had not been finalized prior to press time for today's edition.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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