Shutout of Pines clinches GNC share for Hodag girls’ soccer

The Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team is back on top of the Great Northern Conference for the first time in seven years. The only question remaining is if any other team wil join the Hodags at the top of the summit.

Freshman Jordan Manske scored twice and Ella Miljevich added a pair of assists as the Hodags defeated Northland Pines 4-0 in Eagle River on Thursday. 

The win moved Rhinelander to 9-0-0-0 in the GNC and assured that no other school could pass the Hodags in the league standings. It marks Rhinelander’s first conference championship since 2018 — which was the final season for long-time head coach Dan Millot. 

Nathan Bates took over the reigns of the Hodag boys’ program, and eventually the girls’ side as well, following Millot’s retirement as said Thursday marked a milestone achievement for his team.

“It’s pretty amazing, especially with such a young group of girls, what they’ve accomplished this season already,” he said. “I am beyond proud of what they’ve accomplished this year with such a young program, and I couldn’t be prouder and happier for them on what they’ve done. I hope it continues so we can make a couple more runs here through the playoffs. Yeah, I’m just so proud.”

    Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich shoots during the first half of a GNC girls’ soccer game against Northland Pines in Eagle River Thursday, May 22. Miljevich scored on the play. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Sophie Miljevich put the Hodags ahead on a goal in the 12th minute and Rhinelander kept building from there. 

Manske, who had just two goals on the season coming into the match, doubled her total on Thursday. She won a scrum near the edge of the six-yard box and poked home a loose ball in the 39th minute to give the Hodags a 2-0 lead at halftime and then finished a through ball from Ella Miljevich in the 66th minute. 

“That’s her third time this year that she’s just right where she’s supposed to be on the follow-up shots crashing the box,” Bates said. “She capitalized that two of them again tonight and one the other night (at Medford). We kind of give her a little bit of minutes here and there and she’s been getting a little more minutes as the season goes on because she’s really grown and developed as a player as the season progressed and she’s doing a great job.”

Vivian Lamers rounded out the scoring for the Hodags in the 68th minute. Rhinelander outshot Northland Pines 33-7 in the game and had a 20-2 advantage in shots on goal. 

“Once the girls settled in and started working our passing game, we just kind of were able to pick them apart for the most part,” Bates said. 

The news was not all good for the Hodags, however, as Sophie Miljevich left the contest early in the second half after sustaining what appeared to be a lower leg injury and did not return to the match. On Thursday, Bates said it was unclear if, or how much, time the senior — and the conference’s third-leading scorer this season — may miss because of the injury. 

“That is definitely a concern. I hope she’s OK,” he said. “She’s in good spirits. She seems to be doing all right other than, she’s got an injury. Time will tell. Thankfully, we have a long weekend. You know, the girls have Friday and Monday off. I guess time will tell on how she’s healing up.”

It sets the backdrop for a pivotal game Thursday as rival Lakeland comes to town with a chance to still get one hand on the GNC trophy. The T-Birds kept their conference hopes alive after they escaped Medford with a 1-0 win Thursday night thanks to a goal with less than four minutes to play in regulation. 

The Hodags enter with the upper hand. They will win the conference title outright if they are ahead or tied following 80 minutes on Thursday. Lakeland must beat Rhinelander in regulation time to force a share of the conference crown. Rhinelander beat Lakeland 1-0 when the sides met last month in Minocqua. 

“Right now we have a share of it. We don’t want to share it. We want to have it outright,” Bates said. “We want to take the title back home for the conference, and we want to bring it back to Rhinelander, wholly ours.”

The game could also set the stage for another playoff collision course between the two conference rivals. Rhinelander earned the No. 1 seed for the upcoming WIAA Division 3 playoffs when their half-regional was seeded on Wednesday. The Hodags got the No. 1 seed over Lakeland and Ashland, which beat Rhinelander 2-0 in Ashland earlier this month. If the seeds hold, Rhinelander and Lakeland could meet again in the sectional semifinals June 12. 

The No. 1 seed gives Rhinelander home field advantage throughout the regional and sectional rounds of the WIAA tournament. Prior to the start of the season, Rhinelander was selected to host the sectional final and could be in a prime position to make a run to the WIAA state tournament for the first time since 2015.

“The biggest thing is keeping our focus and playing together like we have been because, in my opinion right now, what I’ve been seeing out of these girls is they can play with anybody, if they put their minds to it and they play together as a team,” Bates said. “I’m really, really hoping that we can keep it together and keep playing as a team. We do have a great team with team camaraderie and all the girls getting along so well. We just got to stay focused and take one game at a time. That’s what I’ve been saying for the last couple years. Focus on the game at hand and not look too far ahead right now.”

Rhinelander will open the WIAA playoffs at home June 5 against the winner of a June 3 regional quarterfinal game between Antigo and Mosinee. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].