RHS ties Lakeland, falls in PKs in regular season finale

There was not a lot riding on a penalty kick shootout between Great Northern Conference rivals Rhinelander and Lakeland Tuesday afternoon in Minocqua. That could be a whole other story should the teams meet again yet in the postseason.

Rhinelander was unable to convert its final three chances from the spot and ultimately lost a shootout to the T-Birds 3-2 at IncredibleBank Field after the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw in regulation.

The tie prevented Lakeland from having a perfect season in GNC play as it finished 9-0-1-0 in the conference. Rhinelander, whose chances to catch Lakeland were already thwarted after being taken to penalties earlier in the year by Medford and Northland Pines, finished second in the standings a 6-1-1-2. 

“I guess it was a fitting way to end the regular season,” Hodag coach Nathan Bates noted wryly.

Both teams scored off of set pieces set up by fouls in the attacking third. Lakeland’s Josie Wentland fired a free kick from 25 yards over goalkeeper Mya Krouze’s head and under the crossbar to put Lakeland on the board. Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich answered in the 60th minute. A hard foul that resulted in a yellow card on Lakeland’s on Landry Lenz allowed Miljevich a free look from 30 yards that she tucked into the top left corner of the goal past keeper Ava Evenhouse.

“After that, the girls had a lot more energy in them,” Bates said. “We continued to pressure very hard until the end of the game. We had a lot of really good, close opportunities, just not enough to get that one up.”

According to stats kept on the Rhinelander bench, the Hodags outshot Lakeland 22-10 overall and had a 12-6 edge in shots on goal. Bates said, much like the first meeting that Lakeland won 1-0 after converting an early penalty kick, the Hodags had the better of play but struggled to breach a compressed Lakeland defense. 

“We had quite a few really good opportunities,” he said. “Lindsey Hoerchler had a pretty good one-on-one with the goalie and Evenhouse came out and swept her and got the ball. Morgan Van Zile also had one taken away from her at her feet. We put a lot of pressure on them, a lot of pressure.”

“Lakeland didn’t have a shot on us the whole second half,” Bates claimed. “Mya had a roller come in from about 40-50 yards out, sent the ball back down the field and it was pretty much domination the whole second half. We had a lot of really close opportunities but, just not enough to get one (more) in the back of the net.”

    Rhinelander’s Mya Krouze makes a save on a penalty kick chance by Lakeland’s Josie Wentland during a shootout at the conclusion of a GNC girls’ soccer game in Minocqua Tuesday, May 21. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Rhinelander took an early 2-0 lead in penalties as Sophie Miljevich and Vivian Lamers both converted their chances while Krouze denied Wentland. Cale Quade converted in Round 2 for Lakeland. Evenhouse stopped chances by Ella Miljevich in Round 3 and Emma Chiamulera in Round 5 while Leah Jamison’s chance in Round 4 sailed wide right. Krouze stopped Rylie Wise’s chance for Lakeland in the third round, but Bobbi Lee and Lenz converted in the final two rounds to give the T-Birds the extra conference point. 

The game itself was of little consequence for either team. Not only had the conference race been decided, seeding for the WIAA tournament was also completed this past Sunday — setting up a chance for a third Rhinelander-Lakeland meeting for the second year in a row. Lakeland got the second seed for the tournament and will open the playoffs next Thursday against Mosinee while Rhinelander got the third seed and will open against Shawano. Should both teams win, they’ll see each other again in the regional finals June 1 in Minocqua. 

After losing both regular season meetings last year, Rhinelander defeated Lakeland 1-0 in the regional finals before being knocked out in the sectional semifinals by Ashland. The Oredockers drew the top seed in the half-sectional again this year. 

The playoff openers will be rematches for both the Hodags and the T-Birds. Rhinelander defeated Shawano 4-2 in its regular season opener April 4. Lakeland won two close games against Mosinee in GNC play, 1-0 and 2-0.

“We’ll see if they can squeak that out and, hopefully, get another run at them,” Bates said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].