Hodag soccer picks up tempo late in scrimmage

It took some time for the old and new pieces of the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team’s attack to gel Thursday night in its preseason scrimmage against Merrill. Once that happened, the Hodags were virtually unstoppable.

Rhinelander scored six times in the final 20-minute session and unofficially cruised past the Bluejays 9-0 in the exhibition inside the Hodag Dome. It served as the Hodags’ first on-field action of the spring against a different team. Last Tuesday’s scheduled season opener against Hayward was canceled after the Hurricanes canceled classes that day due to inclement weather. 

The Hodags had five different players score in the scrimmage and dominated the Bluejays. Much of the night was spent either in the midfield or the Rhinelander attacking third. 

“It seemed like once the girls settled in a little bit, they hit their stride and they moved the ball very, very well tonight,” Hodag coach Nathan Bates said. “I’m very proud of them of all of them for that. It wasn’t a one-sided thing. It wasn’t just one girl putting numbers on board tonight.”

Two freshmen immediately made their presence felt in the attack. Vivian Lamers recorded three goals on the night while Ella Miljevich had a goal and a pair of assists. A third freshman, June Chiamulera, started on the defensive line.

Lamers is the younger sister of last year’s leading scorer Ava Lamers, who graduated. Ella Miljevich started alongside older sister Sophie Miljevich in the attack. The elder of the two sisters scored twice on Thursday. June Chiamulera played in the back with older sister Emma Chiamulera.

“I’m very excited for them. I think they have a great high school career ahead of them,” bates said of the freshmen. “Viv and Ella are both big contributors to the team, which is really cool to see, especially living on their sisters’ footsteps here.”

Senior Morgan Van Zile also scored twice for the Hodags. She got things started in the fifth minute as she got on the end of a cross from senior Leah Jamison. Lamers then made it 2-0 as she fired home a one-touch shot from just outside the 18 in the eighth minute. 

While scoring chances were plentiful in the event, the goals ran dry for a spell. The Hodags didn’t score the remainder of the first 20-minute session and were shut out during the second session. Things finally picked back up in the third segment as junior Leah Weigel fired home from outside the 18 off a drop pass from Ella Miljevich in the 48th minute. 

Tempo was a focus for the Hodags against an overmatched Merrill side. Bates and the coaching staff continued to stress constant ball movement in the passing game, as opposed to the stop-and-start tendency the Hodags had early in the scrimmage. 

“The pace picked up a little bit and they did what I asked,” he said. “They passed the ball. They utilized our give-and-goes, our drops, our overlaps, all of that tonight. I explained to them early on don’t force things to happen, make them happen and they did do that tonight. They weren’t just trying to shove the ball down their throat all night. When they got jammed up, they utilized our drops and were trying to open the (defense) back up again, which is exactly what we were looking for them to do.”

    Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich slips a ball past Merrill’s goalkeeper during a girls’ soccer scrimmage in the Hodag Dome Thursday, March 28. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Goals finally started to fall with regularity for the Hodags in the final session. Sophie Miljevich fired home from 20 yards in the 64th minute, Lamers scored again from outside the 18 in the 67th minute. Sophie Miljevich dispossessed a Merrill defender inside the box and scored off the turnover in the 70th minute, Ella Miljevich scored off a rebound in the 73rd minute. Van Zile was on the receiving end of another Jamison cross for a goal in the 78th minute and Lamers put a bow on an unofficial hat trick on a one-touch shot from 15 yards in the final minute. 

The Hodag midfield and defense made it a quiet night for senior goalkeeper Mya Krouze, who did not touch the ball once over the 80 minutes. Merrill’s only real threat was a run up the right flank in the 70th minute that resulted in a corner kick, but the Bluejays were not able to get anything off the ensuing set piece. Rhinelander unofficially outshot Merrill 52-0 overall, and 27-0 in shots on goal.

“She did have a quiet night, which is sometimes good,” Bates said of Krouze. “It would have been nice to see a little bit out of her tonight, but she’ll have her fair share this year.”

Rhinelander will try again to get in its season opener tonight as it hosts Shawano at Mike Webster Stadium. The game will need to be played outdoors, as the dome is being utilized as the City of Rhinelander’s polling place for the primary election. The good news is that all the snow that was received during last Sunday’s snowstorm had already melted from the Mike Webster turf by Thursday. 

“I think we’ll be all right. The girls seem to step up to any competition that they get. I’m excited to see them have a little more of a test on their hands,” Bates said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].