Hodag soccer downs Pines 5-0

The Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team is potentially five games away from its first Great Northern Conference championship in seven years.

The Hodags moved one step closer to that goal Thursday night with a score that matched its conference record, defeating Northland Pines 5-0 at Mike Webster Stadium.

Five different players scored as the Hodags led virtually wire-to-wire and remained three points clear of second-place Lakeland at the halfway mark of the conference schedule. 

“It was nice again tonight to go out there and get a clean sheet,” said Hodag coach Nathan Bates, whose side has not conceded a goal so far in GNC play. “The girls played great. We had our moments (where we) could have played better in my opinion, then we had moments of where they played amazing. 

“We made it through the first round, and now we just got to stay healthy and strong and carry it on into the second round.”

Set pieces were Rhinelander’s friend on Thursday night. The Hodags had six corner kicks in the match and scored off two of them. 

The first staked Rhinelander to an early lead as sophomore Becca Brost positioned herself on the front post and deflected home a kick from Leah Weigel in the fourth minute. After Vivian Lamers scored on a nice drop pass from Kiley Pooch in the 14th minute, the Hodags cashed in from the corner again in the 27th minute. This time Pooch was on the end of a Sophie Miljevich service into the box. That goal gave the Hodags a 3-0 lead they carried to halftime. 

“The great thing tonight was to see we converted off of couple corner kicks,” Bates said. “Sophie and Leah have been putting some great corner kicks in there this season, and tonight it was great to see the girls actually running through, following through and getting the ball in the back of the net.”

Lindsey Hoerchler added to the Hodags’ lead in the 43rd minute, kneeing home a Sophie Miljevich cross to the back post. Ella Miljevich rounded out the scoring in the 53rd minute, converting a penalty kick after a hard shot in the box by Lamers resulted in a handball foul on the Eagles. 

    Rhinelander’s Ella Miljevich attempts a penalty kick during the second half of a GNC girls’ soccer game against Northland Pines at Mike Webster Stadium Thursday, May 1. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander outshot Northland Pines 24-7 in the match and had an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal.

“I would say our second half was a better passing, possession game than our first half definitely,” Bates said. “But, all in all, the girls came away with a great game. I mean, they played a really good team in Pines tonight, and they came away again with another win.”

Sophomore Rylee Mickevicius made four saves in the shutout for the Hodags and was tested a couple of times in the match. She denied a hard shot from distance by Grace Plank in the 18th minute. Later, she had to pluck the ball away on a high bounce after Kaydence Brost lofted the ball into the box from some 40 yards away moments after Ella Miljevich converted from the penalty spot. 

Rhinelander (8-3-0, 5-0-0-0 Great Northern) has won eight of its last nine games and now gets a much needed break in the schedule. 

“We’re going to work on some stuff that we need to work on, moving forward through the season,” Bates said. “And on top of that, rest some girls that have some injuries going on right now. And hopefully be healthy for the second half of the season.” 

The Hodags were slated to be back in action this coming Thursday at Shawano, however Bates said that game will be postponed as a number of players have Advanced Placement testing the following morning. Rhinelander will head to Ashland next Friday to take on the Oredockers, who reached the D3 sectional finals last spring.

“It’s another great one for the seeding and stuff like that, one of our (potential) playoff (opponents). So it’ll be great to see what they have this year and get to head up there and play them on Friday,” Bates said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].