Hodag girls’ soccer team hands out awards

The Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team kept its award list short and sweet last Monday during the team’s season-ending banquet at Mike Webster Stadium.

The team handed out only two varsity awards. Sophomore Hayley Schiek won the Hodag Award and sophomore Vivian Lamers claimed the academic excellence award. 

Hodag girls’ soccer coach Nathan Bates said during a season in which the squad racked up eight all-Great Northern Conference — including co-players of the year on both offense and defense — a number of team awards simply were not needed. 

“We only did a couple of the awards, because you guys earned so many other awards this year as a team,” he said during the banquet. 

Schiek won the Hodag award for her versatility. She had seven assists on the season — tied for fourth most on the team — all while playing various positions in the formation. 

“Anything and everything we asked Hayley to do this year, no matter what it was on the field, she did it,” Bates said. “She, maybe inside, wasn’t always happy with us, but she never really let us know it. She went out there, and she gave 110% everywhere on the field. She also put in a ton of work in the offseason, and she’s been a great teammate this year as well, everybody.”

    Jordan Manske, left, and Emma Houg pose for a photograph following the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team’s banquet at Mike Webster Stadium Monday, June 30. The two were the junior varsity award winners for the Hodags this spring. Manske was the JV’s offensive MVP and Houg was the JV’s defensive MVP. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Lamers won the academic excellence award as the player on the team with the highest cumulative grade point average. The team handed out two awards on the JV side with freshman Jordan Manske earning offensive MVP and junior Emma Houg claiming defensive MVP honors. 

The varsity squad didn’t award offensive and defensive MVPs, but if it had, there’s a good chance the awards would have gone to the two who were recognized as co-GNC players of the year — Lamers and senior Mia Tulowitzky. Bates took time to speak about both players’ conference accolades during the banquet. 

Lamers was the leading scorer in the GNC this year with 16 goals and five assists in league play. She added another 10 goals outside the conference and led the Hodags overall in scoring with 57 points on the season.

“Watching Viv play this year, from last year to this year, has been incredible,” Bates noted. “The growth that she’s had, the amount of teamwork that she showed, leadership on the team as well as (being) a captain, she did a very, very great job. We’re very proud of everything she’d done this year.”

Tulowitzky anchored a defense that recorded the most shutouts in GNC play this year (9) and tied for the fewest goals allowed in conference games (2).

“I loved watching Mia play so much because she didn’t just go back and fight for the ball,” Bates said. “She’d bring the ball up, she would juke people out, she would distribute the ball up the field. It was always fun to watch her play … It was amazing to watch you play and very proud to be your coach over the years of high school, so thank you, for everything you’ve done for the team.”

Tulowitzky was one of three Hodag defenders who made the all-conference team, and the only first-team honoree. June Chiamulera garnered second-team honors and Becca Brost received honorable mention. During the banquet, Bates did not mince words, stating he believed his back line deserved more recognition from the remainder of the conference coaches than it received. 

“I don’t like saying it, but honestly, all of my defense this year, I’m going to say this out loud right now, in my opinion, all should have got a first-team conference award this year, my opinion,” he said. “We had by far, in my opinion in the conference, I thought we had the best defense in the whole conference.”

Rhinelander and Lakeland tied for fewest goals allowed in conference play, though Lakeland had a better goals against average in all competitions at 0.37 per game compared to Rhinelander’s 0.89.

Rhinelander and Lakeland shared the Great Northern Conference title this spring. For Rhinelander, it was its first conference title in girls’ soccer since 2018. The Hodags were the No. 1 seed for the WIAA tournament, but were upset in the regional final round by eventual sectional finalist Waupaca. Rhinelander finished the season with a 13-6-0 record.

“I know we set out this year, set the bar really high like we always do. You know, shoot for the moon and see what happens,” Bates said. “And you guys were so freaking close. I mean, you guys came so close this year and we were able to capitalize and end up with a conference championship again this year, which has not been done for quite a few years, which is awesome. 

“I really, really look forward to the next couple of years because it’s hard to imagine that you guys are all just sophomores this year, the majority of you guys. You have a bright future ahead of you with athletics it also, I think in life, you guys are just animals when it comes to wanting to do well, which is really, really cool to see.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].