April 20, 2023 at 8:58 a.m.
Hodag soccer breezes past Antigo, wins 3rd straight
Hodag soccer breezes past Antigo, wins 3rd straight
Ava Lamers scored four goals, Sophie Miljevich and Leah Weigel both scored twice and the Hodags rolled to an 11-0 win over the Red Robins in the Hodag Dome.
Rhinelander has won three straight matches following an 0-2-0 start, and has jumped out to a 2-0-0 mark in GNC play.
Like last Thursday's 6-0 win over Medford, the Hodags scored five goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. Unlike last Thursday's game, Rhinelander kept the hammer down from there, building an 8-0 lead at halftime and scoring three more in the second half before ending the game at the 60-minute mark via the eight-goal rule.
"The girls came out right away and it's good to see the last couple games they've been stepping it up right away. They did what they did and they did a good job tonight," Hodag coach Nathan Bates said. "All and all, it was a good night. The girls looked good. They were moving the ball. They were shooting good. The percentage (of shots) on goal tonight was really, really good. I'm proud of them."
Lamers added three assists in the contest and nearly doubled her goal count on the season. She now has nine tallies through the first five games of the year.
The senior got things started in the fifth minute as she took a centering pass from Miljevich, split defenders and scored from roughly 12 yards out. The two reversed roles in the eighth minute as Lamers sent a ball ahead for Miljevich, who got free on the left flank and passed a shot inside the right post.
Lamers added goals in the 11th and 13th minutes and Morgan Van Zile got into the act in the 14th minute, winning an Antigo goal kick and sparking another run through the Robins' dotted back line.
Weigel scored her first goal of the match in the 26th minute, directly bending a corner kick from the right side into the back of the net.
"She also had a good goal tonight on a corner kick," Bates said. "That was awesome to see. It's been a long time since I've actually seen one. That was nice to see tonight."
Miljevich made a well-timed run in the 29th minute as defender Emma Chiamulera boomed a ball from the back line near midfield. Miljevich tracked it down ahead of the Antigo defense and finished it for her second goal of the night, and fourth of the year. Lamers rounded out the first-half scoring with an unassisted tally in the 34th minute.
The Hodags spread the scoring wealth around in the second half. Weigel put home a rebound off a Miljevich shot in the 50th minute, Leah Jamison scored just 30 seconds later for her first goal of the year. Nevaeh Rappley rounded out the scoring in the 53rd minute. Lamers assisted on each of the final two goals.
"It was nice to see that we had multiple girls put it in the back of the net tonight, able to finish. It's always good when you can see more than one or two of them on the score board," Bates said. "We were able to work on some things. We worked our passing, possession game later on. We were able to get some of our bubble players in there for a lot of play time tonight."
The Hodags finished with 42 shots, 22 of which were on goal. Antigo had only one shot in the match, which finished off target. Mya Krouze got the win, not facing a shot over 51 minutes. Backup keeper Emalee Detienne played the final nine minutes for the Hodags.
The contest was originally scheduled to be played Thursday in Antigo, but that conflicted with the Dale Peterson Invitational track meet at Listle Field, which hosts both Antigo soccer and track. The schools made a late swap to Rhinelander based on field conditions. Rhinelander will now make the return trip to Antigo May 5.
As one-sided as is was, Bates said he was happy to get the contest in.
"It's good just to get some more practice in for the girls," he said. "I'm not trying to say anything down on Antigo. They came out and they gave us what they had but, at the same time, it's great to play anybody other than our own JV squad and be able to work on the things we need to improve on to get further in the season."
Tuesday's win against the Robins kicked off a run of four straight games for Rhinelander against schools with bird mascots. The Hodags picked up a non-conference game against the Merrill Bluejays Thursday in the Hodag Dome that concluded after press time for today's edition. Rhinelander hosts the Northland Pines Eagles this coming Tuesday before a key midseason matchup at the defending GNC-champion Lakeland Thunderbirds next Thursday night.
"We were trying to pick up some games and Merrill was able to respond and say they wanted to play," Bates said Tuesday. "It will be a good game to get in on Thursday to add to the season. Then, next week, we've got some tough competition between Pines and Lakeland."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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