Hodag soccer rolls Mosinee 7-0 in GNC opener

Mother Nature was the only thing able to stop the offensive onslaught put forth by the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team Thursday night.

Vivian Lamers scored four goals, Kiley Pooch added three assists and the Hodags defeated Mosinee 7-0 in the Great Northern Conference opener at Mike Webster Stadium. 

Lindsey Hoerchler, Sophie Miljevich and Ella Miljevich also scored for Rhinelander (4-3-0, 1-0-0-0 Great Northern) in the contest. The Hodags outshot Mosinee 46-0. That number could have been greater, but the game was stopped in the 69th minute due to lightning and declared official at that point. 

    Rhinelander’s Lindsey Hoerchler possesses the ball during the first half of a GNC girls’ soccer game against Mosinee at Mike Webster Stadium Thursday, April 17. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

“The girls played a great game,” Hodag coach Nathan Bates said. “They kept the pressure on really well. They were shooting the ball very well. We did a lot of really good drops and shots, from the outside the 18 again. I felt like the girls played a solid game as a team tonight, and I’m very proud of them.”

With a stiff southerly breeze at its back in the first half, it didn’t take long for the Hodags to strike. Hoerchler found space in the box off a Pooch service and scored just 51 seconds into the match. Sophie Miljevich added a goal in the eighth minute off a Hayley Schiek through ball and the Hodags continued to pressure, as virtually the entire first half was spent on the Mosinee side of the field. 

“The girls came out on fire right away and they were firing a lot of shots,” Bates said. “I mean, their goalie had a lot of saves in the first 10 minutes of the game. It very well could have been probably, eight, 10, 12 nothing in the first half here today.”

Rhinelander didn’t score again until the 33rd minute, when Lamers began her run of four consecutive goals by firing in a shot from outside the 18. She scored again in the 38th and 39th minutes off passes from Pooch to put Rhinelander up 5-0 at halftime.

Lamers struck again from the edge of the 18 off a cross by Hoerchler in the 53rd minute. Ella Miljevich finished off the scoring in the 58th off a pass from her older sister, Sophie, in the 58th minute. 

    Rhinelander’s Kiley Pooch sends a pass upfield during the second half of a GNC girls’ soccer game against Mosinee at Mike Webster Stadium Thursday, April 17. Pooch had three assists in the Hodags’ 7-0 victory. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

“They’re working really, really well together,” Bates said of a Hodag offense that has now scored seven or more goals in three of their last five matches. “Kiley had some really nice stuff the last few games. Our offense and defense are all clicking really, really well, and they’re spreading the wealth. Everybody’s scoring lots of goals. It’s not just one person on the team. We have a lot of firepower up top and they’re all doing a great job.”

On the other side of the field, it was an uneventful night for Rhinelander goalkeepers Rylee Mickevicius and Emalee Detienne, neither of whom touched the ball in the match. Mickevicius started and played the first half to earn the win. Detienne came in at the start of the second half. 

“We got a clean sheet here. The goalies didn’t even touch the ball once tonight, which is pretty impressive,” Bates said. “It didn’t cross over the halfway mark very often tonight. Our defense, when the ball did come down, was stepping high and keeping the pressure down on that end of the field.”

The Hodags now get set to take on arch rival Lakeland in an early season battle for GNC supremacy tonight in Minocqua. Lakeland stymied Rhinelander’s offense last year, holding the Hodags to one goal in three meetings — which resulted in two wins and a draw for the T-Birds. 

“If the girls keep doing what they’re doing, then we’ll come out successful,” Bates said. “So they just got to keep playing their game out there and play them like they have every other team we played the season and I think we’ll be fine. 

“We’re going to take them on like we have everybody else. Stevens Point had a really good defensive team as well. We just got to keep doing what we’re doing, working the ball from the outsides and bringing the shots from outside the 18. Keep shooting the ball, that’s all we can do.”

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at IncredibleBank Field.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].