Hodag soccer uses PK to down Medford

Gambling on penalty kicks was a strategy that allowed Medford to steal two key points from the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team in the Great Northern Conference title race last month. In an ironic twist, a penalty kick prevented the Raiders from doing the same in Thursday night’s rematch. 

Sophie Miljevich converted a penalty kick opportunity in the 42nd minute and it stood up as the only goal as the Hodags avenged a shootout loss to the Raiders, defeating Medford 1-0.

Medford was once again passive in its attack as it tried stack as many defender as possible in the box. That strategy backfired in the 42nd minute as Miljevich took a free kick from outside the 18 that glanced off the head of one Medford defender and into the outstretched arm of another inside the penalty area, resulting in a handball foul. 

Miljevich, who converted her penalty kick chance in last month’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Raiders, did the same on Thursday, beating keeper Sophia Brunner inside the right post. 

“Sophie put away a great penalty kick but it was a great game again. Medford fought hard, as did our girls and we came away with the win tonight,” Hodag coach Nathan Bates said. “It was a little weird it (was settled) on a penalty kick. On paper and everything else, the girls played a great game tonight. We honestly dominated for the majority of the whole game. We had the majority to the shots, etc. But it was kind of irony that we ended up (winning) on a penalty kick.”

    Rhinelander’s Mia Tulowitzky collects the ball against Medford’s Madison Clarkson during a GNC girls’ soccer game at Medford Thursday, May 9. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

The deficit did little to pull Medford out of its defensive shell. The Hodags outshot the Raiders 18-11 in the match and had and 11-3 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders’ lone real threat came in the 78th minute as Shayla Radlinger came free on a counterattack and fired a shot from inside the 18 that Rhinelander keeper Mya Krouze knocked down before trapping the ball between her legs. 

Otherwise, like the first meeting, it was a game dominated on the stat sheet by the Hodags. This time, however, Rhinelander was able to get a shot past one of the stingiest keepers in the conference. 

“We had some pretty good looks. It turned into a pretty physical, chippy game in the second half,” Bates said. “We would have liked to have put a lot more in there. We had opportunities. Brunner, she had some really big saves again this evening. Sophie had some good looks. We had a lot of shots on them. In my opinion, she was the MVP of their team again tonight.”

Waupaca Invite

The Hodags ventured outside the GNC for the final time during the regular season on Saturday, splitting its games in the Waupaca Invite.

Rhinelander defeated 8-2 in the first matchup but fell to Menasha in the nightcap, 4-2.

The Hodags scored early and often against New London, taking a 3-0 lead by the eighth minute. Ella Miljevich scored three times and added three assists in the contest. Sophie Miljevich had two goals and two assists. The Hodags also got goals from Morgan Van Zile, Leah Weigel, and the first career varsity goal from freshman Kiley Pooch. 

“New London, we got up on them pretty fast, put a lot of goals in and we were able to play a lot of our JV players for pretty much the remainder of the game,” Bates said. “They got a lot of time.”

The Hodags conceded a pair of late first half goals to the Bulldogs as they led 6-2 at the break, and tacked on two more goals in the second half. Rhinelander finished the game with a 24-5 advantage in total shots. Krouze and freshman Rylee Mickevicius split time in goal, making one save between them.

Menasha jumped out on the Hodags early in the second game, scoring in the seventh minute. Sophie Miljevich equalized the match in the ninth minute, but the Bluejays scored twice in the final nine minutes of the opening half to take a 3-1 lead to the break. 

Menasha added a fourth in the 47th minute. Van Zile scored for Rhinelander in the 76th minute.

Stats were nearly dead even with the Hodags holding slight edges in shots (12-10) and shots on goal (7-6). The difference, Bates said, was Menasha’s ability to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

“We knew they were a good team,” he said. “They’re senior-heavy and a really quality soccer team. We had a lot of good looks. They has some opportunities. They put some goals in. We put some goals in. All and all, at the end of day the team played great. We definitely didn’t get dominated but they tested us pretty hard.”

Bates said Menasha, in his estimation, is the strongest side his team has faced this year, and a good test with the postseason looming just a few weeks away.

“It was good to see a team like that, how well they communicated and how well they play together,” he said. “They played a really good, solid passing game. Our defense was able to see a team work good overlapping runs and good through balls.”  

GNC games ahead

Rhinelander stayed five points behind Lakeland, thanks to the T-Birds’ 2-0 win at Mosinee this past Thursday. The Hodags travel to Antigo this afternoon and then host Northland Pines on Thursday at Mike Webster Stadium. 

The Hodags will need to win both of those games and hope that Lakeland falters either at Northland Pines today or at home against Medford on Thursday to set up battle for the conference title in Minocqua May 21. 

“Fingers cross, anything can happen,” Bates said. “It’s high school sports. It keeps us still in that conference race. We need a little bit of help from Medford or (Northland Pines) but, regardless, we’re still in it.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].