Team review: RHS girls’ soccer

There’s an adage that says a team needs to lose a few close games for it to learn how to win them. The Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team hopes the saying proves true in upcoming seasons.

The Hodags had a solid 2024 season, going 12-3-4 overall, but an inability to win a number of close games cost the team a chance at many more accolades. The Hodags had three ties and a one-goal loss in Great Northern Conference play, which ultimately cost them the opportunity to win their first conference title since 2017. Another one-goal loss to arch-rival Lakeland kept the Hodags from making their third trip to the sectional round of the WIAA tournament in the last four years.

Still, with a young team that featured a number of underclassmen, coach Nathan Bates said last month during the team’s year-end banquet that he’s hopeful for bigger and better things in coming years.

“It’s been a great season,” he said. “The JV season ran the (table) this year and never lost. The future looks really, really bright. The varsity team had a heck of a season too. We lost to Menasha, we lost to Lakeland, otherwise it was all wins and ties on the season. It was very, very impressive to see that both the teams, how well they’ve done as a whole this year. I can say the future looks really, really bright. I’m proud of you guys.”

Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.

Struggles vs. good defenses

The Hodags had the No. 1 offense in the Great Northern Conference this year, averaging 4.8 goals per game in league play and 3.7 goals over all competitions. However, in key games, the Hodags struggled to score.

Part of that could be credited to tactics employed by opposing teams, a theme that began to develop in an early-season home matchup against Medford. In that contest, the Raiders appeared content to sit back in a defensive shell, letting Rhinelander bring the fight to them and relying on a heavily packed box and a strong goalkeeper to keep the Hodags out of the net. 

The strategy worked that night. Despite being outshot 32-6 overall and 10-2 in shots on goal, the Raiders played the Hodags to a 0-0 draw and won a subsequent penalty kick shootout.

“It sucks to lose a game when you beat up on a team the whole time like that but, we knew their game plan going into it and, unfortunately, they won the way they wanted to win,” a frustrated Bates said after that game. “We kind of knew this was exactly what they were trying to do and, unfortunately, we pounded on them pretty hard and we just couldn’t get one to fall. It happens. It’s high school sports. It’s unfortunate. I’m not upset with my girls at all. We played our game the second half. The first half we had some issues there that I wasn’t too impressed with but, all and all, we played a great game.” 

That ended up being a common refrain for the Hodags during the course of the year. Rhinelander was 10-1 in games in which it scored two goals of more, but just 1-2-4 in games in which it either scored once or was shutout. Three of those ties came in league play the other was a scoreless draw against eventual state semifinalist Rice Lake in a non-conference game in early May.

PK problems

Ties, like the one the Hodags had against Medford, put the Hodags in a precarious spot in the Great Northern Conference race. Because maximum points are only given for a regulation win, every time the Hodags failed to win in regulation, meant they were losing points to Lakeland, which was cruising through the conference unbeaten.

Rhinelander was 1-2 in shootouts this year. They lost the Medford shootout 4-3 after being ahead 3-1 in the fourth round. They would win a shootout against Pines May 16, but the result mathematically eliminated the Hodags from title contention. Then they lost in PKs to Lakeland in the regular season finale with the conference title already decided. 

Had the Hodags’ number

While the Hodags upset the T-Birds last year in the WIAA tournament, Lakeland has gotten the better of its rival to the south more times than not over the last three years as its has won three straight conference titles. 

The frustrating thing for Rhinelander is that in this year’s series Lakeland did not score a goal in the midst of live action. The three came off a penalty kick and two free kicks after fouls committed by the Hodag defense.

A sixth-minute handball led to a PK goal that proved to be the difference in a 1-0 result when the teams meet in April in Rhinelander. A foul just outside the box led to a free kick goal in the rematch up in Minocqua. Though Rhinelander tied the game on a similar set piece, the result was a 1-1 draw. Lakeland did it to the Hodags one more time in the playoffs, scoring on a free kick in the 47th minute to win 1-0.

The common denominator was that Lakeland’s goals allowed them to drop into a defensive shell for the remainder of the game — something that perplexed the Hodag offense all year. Rhinelander outshot Lakeland in all three meetings but failed to come away with a victory.

“It sucks to beat a team, but lose on the scoreboard,” Bates said following the playoff loss to the T-Birds. “You can win a game and not win on the scoreboard, and we have beat this team all season, unfortunately, it hasn’t been on the scoreboard.”

Statbook

    In this April 23, 2024 file photo, Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich presses through the Antigo defense in the second half of a GNC girls’ soccer game at Mike Webster Stadium. Miljevich led the Hodag offense in 2024 with 59 total points on 23 goals and 13 assists. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

There was some question as to how the Hodag offense would perform going into the year, after graduating 31-goal scorer Ava Lamers from the 2023 team. Thanks to a number of contributors, the Hodags hardly missed a beat in the scoring department, tallying just one fewer goal in conference play and averaging less than a tenth of a goal per game difference overall. 

Junior Sophie Miljevich, who was second on the team in scoring in 2023, led the charge for the Hodags this year. She matched the 59 total points she had in 2023 while scoring a career-high 23 goals. That helped her earn co-offensive player of the year honors in the GNC

“The numbers spoke for themselves,” Bates said. “Since freshman year, she’s been at or near the top of the conference. Freshman year, I think she was No. 3 in the conference. Last year she was second behind Ava. She played great this year. She had a lot of great opportunities.”

The attack ended up a bit more balanced this season as four different players scored at least 10 goals for the Hodags. Senior Morgan Van Zile was second on the team with 12 goals while freshmen Ella Miljevich and Vivian Lamers scored 11 and 10 times, respectively.

    In this April 9, 2024 file photo, Rhinelander’s Emma Chiamulera tracks down a ball ahead of Waupaca’s Karisa Welsch during the first half of a non-conference girls’ soccer game at Mike Webster Stadium. Chiamulera, who was voted the defensive player of the year in the Great Northern Conference for 2024, was a key part of a Hodag defense that allowed 0.7 goals per game during the season. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Defensively the Hodags were slightly better than the were in 2023. They allowed two fewer goals in conference play and allowed 0.7 goals per game overall, down from 1.1 a year ago. Senior Mya Krouze was solid in her third year as starting keeper. The went 11-3-4 with a 0.98 goals against average and a .733 save percentage. The Hodags also has the defensive player of the year in the GNC in senior center back Emma Chiamulera.

What’s next

The Hodags will lose some key pieces from this year’s squad in Krouze, Chiamulera, Van Zile and fellow senior Leah Jamison. But as was the case entering this season, the team will bring back four of its top five scores in the Sophie Miljevich, Ella Miljevich, Lamers and sophomore-to-be Lindsey Hoerchler. The team will also return four of its eight all-conference honorees in the Miljevich sisters, Lamers and senior-to-be defender Mia Tulowitzky. 

Lakeland will continue to be a difficult rival. Though the T-Birds graduate leading scorer Josie Wentland — who had all three goals this year against Rhinelander —Lakeland is set to bring back five all conference players, including keeper Ava Evenhouse. 

Still Bates said he is hopeful that this year set the table for the Hodags getting back to owning to top spot in the GNC, like it did during the mid-to-late 2010s.

“We have a lot returning. We have a very young squad, which is pretty cool to see,” he said. “The girls will start back over again, getting ready for next year. I think our program’s going to be pretty strong here for quite a long time and we’ll be here again.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].