Wausau East downs Hodag soccer 6-0

The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team had a hard time keeping up with Wausau East Tuesday in non-conference play. Lucien Nkoranyi and Gio Gomez each scored twice for the Lumberjacks as they raced past the Hodags 6-0 in Wausau. 

Nkoranyi scored the opener for the Lumberjacks in the 13th minute and the floodgates seemed to open from there. The Lumberjacks scored twice more in the next nine minutes and then tacked on three goals in another nine-minute burst early in the second half.

“They’re extremely fast, physical and very well-skilled. It’s a really good team. We were outclassed,” Hodag coach Nathan Bates said.

The Hodags held starting goalkeeper Barak Rappley out of the game as a precautionary measure after the senior was kneed in the head in last Thursday’s 3-0 loss at Lakeland. The keeper position was put under even more stress when backup Caden Ehrhardt left Tuesday’s game with what appeared to be a lower body injury while trying to challenge Gomez on Wausau East’s third goal in the 21st minute.

Senior Aiden Ostermann stepped in for the Hodags in an emergency goalkeeper role and made seven saves in 10 chances over the remainder of the match. Afterward, Bates quipped Ostermann must have learned a thing or two from his older brother, Gavin, who served as the Hodags’ starting keeper for four seasons from 2019-2022.

“I figured it was in his blood with how good his brother was so it was like, ‘You know what? We’re going to try it.’ And he did great,” Bates said. “It was either that or we were going to forfeit the rest of the game because we were out of options. Aidan said, ‘Hey, I’ll do it.’ You know for never doing it before, I’m very proud of him and I think he did a great job.”

Donovan Young had a goal in the 18th minute for the Lumberjacks, who took a 3-0 lead to half time. Gomez opened the scoring in the second half with a 47th-minute tally, Nkoranyi added to the lead less than a minute later and Elias Leininger capped off the scoring in the 55th minute. 

The Lumberjacks outshot Rhinelander 30-9 in the match and had a 15-4 edge in shots on goal. Ehrhardt made two saves prior to leaving the game. 

Rhinelander (3-4-1, 2-1-0-1 Great Northern) took on Northland Pines last night in a match that concluded after press time for today’s edition to round out the first half of conference play. The Hodags will host Waupaca in non-conference play this coming Monday night at Mike Webster Stadium. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].