Hodag soccer drops season-opening games to Eau Claire North, Marshfield

Coach Nathan Bates said difficult non-conference games early in the season will be important for the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team in its quest to contend for a Great Northern Conference title and a deep run in the WIAA tournament come season’s end.

After two games over the weekend in Marshfield the Hodags will have plenty of work to do in that regard. 

The Hodags were shutout in their contests, losing 1-0 Friday to Eau Claire North and 3-0 Saturday to Marshfield. The games were originally scheduled to be held in the Hodag Dome but were moved following the dome’s deflation due to damage sustained March 30.

Rhinelander lost despite outshooting both opponents over the weekend. Regardless, Bates said he was pleased with how his side, a Division 3 squad for the WIAA tournament, competed with larger D1 Eau Claire North and D2 Marshfield.

“We went into the weekend kind of seeing what they would do with some really tough, physical competition,” he said. “We didn’t come up with the wins, but you know what, in my eyes we came up with wins because the girls rose to the occasion and they were able to play with two really, really tough teams.

“My whole strategy was we’re going to try to put a lot of really tough pressure on the girls early in the season here to kind of get their mental state of mind to play with tougher, physical faster, teams. They rose to that occasion on both these teams and I think it’s just going to hopefully set them up for later in the year, when it comes to conference play and when it comes to the playoffs.”

Eau Claire North 1, Rhinelander 0

A slow start, a miscue and an inability to put shots on net ultimately led to a 1-0 defeat for the Hodags on Friday against the Huskies. 

Mariah Hull scored the game’s lone goal in the 29th minute as Hodag goalkeeper Emalee Detienne misplayed a ball in the box that rolled through her hands and between her legs. Hull was able to cash in and score on an open net. 

Rhinelander dominated play in the second half, outshooting North 12-3 in the stanza and 16-9 overall, but was unable to find the equalizer. 

“We had one hiccup in the beginning of the game there that never should have happened, but it happened,” Bates said. “The second half, I felt like we dominated the whole entire rest of the game for the most part. Second half, I don’t even know how many shots they had on us, but it was very, very few. And I felt like our defense did a really solid job today on keeping them out of the back line.”

Rhinelander’s best flurry came in the 51st minute when shots by Ella Miljevich, Lindsey Hoerchler and Ella Heck were all blocked by the Husky defense. Heck’s shot resulted in a corner kick, but the Hodags were unable to threaten further on the set piece. 

Overall, that flurry told the story for the Hodags in the second half. They controlled possession and far outshot North, but managed only one shot on goal the final 40 minutes. 

“Yeah, we had a lot of chances there,” Bates said. “I mean, the girls were working some good outside runs and they were doing some good through balls with each other. We just struggled to get them on frame.”

    Rhinelander goalkeeper Rylee Mickevicius stops a penalty kick late in the second half of a non-conference girls’ soccer game against Eau Claire North in Marshfield Friday, April 4. (Bob Mainhardt for the River NEws)
  

Detienne and sophomore Rylee Mickevicius split time in goal for the Hodags in the match. Detienne made four saves in the first half while Mickevicius had two in the second half — including a stop on a penalty kick chance by North’s Rebecca Renslo that preserved the one-goal deficit in the 75th minute.  

“We had a couple hiccups in the back there, which costs us a PK, but Rylee was able to put the stop on it, which was awesome to see today,” Bates said. “She did a great job. Her and Emalee both. For not having a whole lot of minutes in there, they both did a really good job today and I’m very proud of both of them.”

Marshfield 3, Rhinelander 0

Lauren Katzenberger scored twice in the first half with the wind to her back for the Tigers, helping propel Marshfield to the win in Saturday’s contest. 

Katzenberger got through the Rhinelander defense in the ninth minute and was able to maneuver around Mickevicius for a tap-in at the back post to give Marshfield the lead. She added to the lead moments into the 31st minute, with a one-touch rainbow shot from 40 yards that snuck in just underneath the crossbar. 

Natalie Hebbring added to the tally for Marshfield in the 61st minute as she found space at the top of the six-yard box and beat Detienne on a diving attempt to the far post. 

According to statistics kept by the team, Rhinelander finished with a 17-8 advantage in total shots in the match but managed to put only six shots on goal. 

“The girls never quit. They continue to play really, really hard and they fought back the whole time. We had pressure and attack on Marshfield,” Bates said. “Then the second half I mean again second half, we had the better end of half when it came to possession and shots.”

Team stats did not list individual saves in the Marshfield match. The Tigers finished with five shots on goal in the contest. 

Bates said getting in two games over the weekend was critical, considering that the team was relegated to practicing inside the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium last week following the dome’s deflation. 

“I feel like we have a pretty good grasp on what we need to be doing,” he said. “I feel like all the players that we kind of have an idea where everybody’s playing now and we were able to work out some of the kinks.”

The deflation prompted a game scheduled for last Thursday against Three Lakes to be postponed. As of press time it was uncertain when or if that game would get rescheduled. A mild weekend allowed the snow and ice from the March 30 storm to melt away from Mike Webster Stadium and the team is scheduled to practice there this week ahead of another tough non-conference contest against Stevens Point on Thursday evening.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].