Hodags concede late goal, fall to New London 1-0

Coach Nathan Bates figured there would be growing pains for a relatively young Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team early on this season. A couple of missteps by two of the squad’s returning players ultimately spelled defeat for the Hodags in the season opener.

Oswin Menez scored in the 75th minute as New London defeated Rhinelander 1-0 Tuesday night at Mike Webster Stadium.

Menez intercepted a goal kick by keeper Barak Rappley and turned it into a Bulldog breakaway that led to the only goal. It was the culmination of a long stretch for the Hodag defense playing on its heels, relegated to 10 men on the field after Hart Hokens was shown a red card in the 60th minute. 

“We have a lot to work on in the first match of the year but, at the end of the day, there’s a lot of positive things that I saw tonight,” Bates said afterward. 

Rhinelander had the better of play 11-on-11 against the Bulldogs, but things turned at the hour mark when, after a whistle, play was stopped and Hokens saw red — ejecting the senior for the remainder of the match. The reason listed on the official scoresheet for the red card was “unsporting behavior/language.”

“We need to learn to keep our mouths quiet sometimes,” Bates said. “You heard me just say to the boys just now I’m not going to put up with it and they’ve got to keep it clean. That’s what resulted in the card tonight which, ultimately cost us the game.”

The Bulldogs ramped up the pressure from there. New London thought it had scored the go-ahead goal moments after Hokens’s ejection as Oswin Menez put Daniel Patino on a ball through the middle of the Hodag defense, but the goal was nullified due to Patino being offsides. 

An obstruction foul just outside the Hodag 18 resulted in a direct free kick for the Bulldogs in the 74th minute. Oswin Menez chipped the ball into the box for Klever Menez, who had a sliver of space from 10 yards out, but tugged his shot wide left following pressure by defender Karter Massey resulting in a goal kick. 

Rappley, who had made seven saves up to that point, tried to play a short kick to midfielder Michael Schiek, but Oswin Menez intercepted it and, with Rappley away from his station, tucked a ball just inside the right post for the winner. 

Overall, Bates said the Hodags struggled with fatigue and the ability to implement tactics to shorten the game after going down a man. The Hodags were able to overcome all of that up until the point that they weren’t.

“At the end of the day they weren’t listen to what the coaching staff was saying about how to preserve it and it ended up costing us the game,” Bates said. “We were down a man, we were gassed. My guys didn’t have legs under them any more. Our conditioning wasn’t up to par, in my opinion, to where it should be at this time of the year. That’s just my opinion, I’m a big one on conditioning to get us ready for the season and we’re a little behind the 8-ball on that one.”

Rhinelander had one last gasp, forcing a corner kick in the final 30 seconds. Schiek served a ball into the box, but the Hodags never got a clean foot on it and New London sent it across the byline, resulting in another corner kick that the Hodags could not get away before time expired. 

The Bulldogs narrowly outshot Rhinelander 15-14 in the match and had a 8-6 edge in shots on goal. New London’s Isaiah Rios made six saves in the match and faced from early pressure from the Hodags.

Hokens got on the end of a Asher Rivord through ball in the third minute that New London sent out for a corner kick. The ensuing corner glanced of a New London defender’s head and on goal but Rios made the stop. Hokens, playing forward, had another breakaway chance moments later that Rios denied. Rivord had a header chance off a Schiek cross go high and wide right in the 25th minute as the teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half.

“As the first half went on, we actually started producing a lot better stuff. I think they did, all and all, for how young of a team (they are) and the team not being well-played together, they actually did a pretty good job,” Bates said. “Some of the kids really stepped up tonight that surprised me. Asher did an amazing, amazing job tonight.”

Rhinelander’s starting 11 featured only five seniors and included six players making their varsity debut. Among the newcomers Bates said stood out in their debut were sophomore Charlie Johnson in the midfield, sophomore Landon Catlin on defense and freshman Kamden Kostrova who came in off the bench.

“Charlie did a great job. Landon stepped up huge tonight at defense. I thought he did a great job for being a young player. Kamden stepped up. A lot of our young players that I don’t know very well surprised me with how well they played tonight.”

Rhinelander was already short on returning depth, and that list became shorter earlier in the week as senior Aiden Ostermann suffered a non-soccer related leg injury and will miss an indefinite period of time. Ostermann was slated to play a key role in the Hodags’ back line this year. 

Rhinelander will be without him and Hokens for next Tuesday night’s GNC opener at Medford. Hokens’ red card from Tuesday night carries with it a one-game suspension. Medford played Rice Lake to a 1-1 draw in non-conference play Tuesday night. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].