Hodag soccer earns eight all-GNC nods

It turns out the Great Northern Conference title is not the only thing the Rhinelander and Lakeland girls’ soccer teams shared this season.

The GNC co-champs also shared the conference’s top three awards, sharing offensive player, defensive player and coach of the year honors following a spilt decision by the conference coaches last week.

The team was voted upon last Wednesday and released by the GNC late last weekend. Rhinelander’s Vivian Lamers and Lakeland’s Bobbi Lee shared offensive player of the year honors. Rhinelander’s Mia Tulowitzky shared defensive player of the year honors with Lakeland’s Landry Lenz. Coach of the year honors were split between Rhinelander’s Nathan Bates and Lakeland’s Stephanie Hartzheim. 

“We’ve shared some awards. We’ve shared some other awards. We’ve shared all sorts of things this year,” Bates quipped following the announcement of the awards.

In all it was part of a solid haul for the Hodags in the all-conference awards. Rhinelander had four first-team honorees, including three unanimous selections. The Hodags had two players on the second team and two more receive honorable mention.

Rhinelander’s eight all-conference selections trailed only Lakeland (10) for most in the conference. 

“We did pretty well tonight with the awards,” Bates said. “The girls have had an unbelievable season, for such a young group of girls that we have. And we ended up fairing pretty well … I think every single one of them are deserving.”

On the offensive side, Lamers led the GNC in scoring this season with 16 goals and 37 total points. Lee was second on the list with 11 goals and tied for third with 27 total points, but scored the clinching goal in Lakeland’s 2-0 win over Rhinelander May 29 that caused both teams to share the conference title. 

“Vivian being a sophomore as well, ended up with co-conference player of the year,” Bates said. “She had a heck of a season this year. She led the conference with goals. She put the work in, she worked hard and she came away with some awards for it.”

    Rhinelander’s Mia Tulowitzky sends the ball up field during a GNC girls’ soccer game against Lakeland at Mike Webster Stadium Thursday, May 29. Tulowitzky earned unanimous first-team All-Great Northern Conference honors and was named the GNC’s co-defensive player of the year. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

While Tulowitzky did not register a point in league play this year, she was vital in a Hodag defensive unit that didn’t concede a goal in its first nine conference games and tied Lakeland for the fewest goals allowed in GNC play this season (2).

It marked the second straight year that Rhinelander has had the defensive player of the year in the GNC after Emma Chiamulera won the award in 2024.

“Mia’s been a force to be reckoned with back at defense since she started playing the position,” Bates said. “The growth that we’ve seen out of her from last year to this year, after Emma graduated, was pretty impressive. She stepped up in a big way, and she is taking it head on and she is just showing everybody who she was in the conference this year.”

Both Lamers and Tulowitzky earned unanimous first-team honors along with senior Sophie Miljevich, who was the conference’s co-offensive player of the year in 2024. She finished third in the conference in goals scored this year (9) and was second in assists (11) and total points (29). While not unanimous, Ella Miljevich also earned first-team honors. The sophomore led the conference in assists (13), had seven goals and was tied for third in total points (27).

“Sophie had a really, really strong year again. She had quite a few assists. She also had quite a few goals this season as well,” Bates said. “And her little sister followed right up behind on top of that as well, with goals and assists. Both of them had an outstanding year, and I hope they’re really extremely proud of earning these awards.”

Sophomore defender June Chaimulera and sophomore midfielder Hayley Schiek both earned second-team honors for the Hodags. Schiek had five assists in conference play, tied for third in the conference. Sophomore defender Becca Brost received honorable mention along with senior forward Leah Weigel. Weigel had only two assists on the year in conference play, but played much of the year with an injury. 

“Leah, I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s got quite the serious injury going on that’s, you know, going to require some surgery once the season’s over,” Bates said. “The heart that she showed this year, as a captain on the team on top of it, she’s been at everything. She tries as hard as she can still. It’s a shame to see her go out this way without being able to be 100% healthy throughout the whole season, but the accomplishments she earned this year and this year and how hard she tried, there’s not many kids that would have kept on playing and sticking it out like she did this year. So I’m very, very proud of her.”

The All-GNC soccer team was the last team to be announced by the conference. In all the Hodags had 53 all-conference honorees among the six spring sports the GNC sanctions.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].