RHS soccer slows down Northland Pines, but falls 2-0

The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team was unable to manage its third straight non-losing result on Tuesday, but did continue to showcase its improvement during the second half of the Great Northern Conference season.

Northland Pines goals in the 31st and 51st minutes were the difference as the Eagles defeated Rhinelander 2-0 Tuesday night at a rainy Mike Webster Stadium. Even so, the result was a far cry from the first meeting between the teams, which Northland Pines won 7-1 in Eagle River back on Sept. 18. 

Tuesday’s result left first-year Hodag head coach John Vojta encouraged with his team’s progress.

“I don’t want to tip other teams off to it, but I’m telling you that Rhinelander Hodag soccer got a lot better this year, and I wholeheartedly believe that next year, we are going to be a force in the conference,” he said. “We definitely moving up from where we’re at.” 

Much like the rematch against Mosinee, when the Hodags slowed down their top attacker Shawn Sodowski, Rhinelander (1-12-3, 1-7-2-0 GNC) did the same to two of Northland Pines’ top threats — Declan Favorite and Ryan Rydeski. Those two accounted for four goals and an assist in the first meeting against Rhinelander but were held off the scoresheet on Tuesday.

Pines (9-5-4, 5-4-2-0) did have a torrent of pressure in the first half, however, outshooting the Hodags 17-3 over the first 40 minutes. Rhinelander’s goal was finally breached in the 31st minute when the Hodag defense struggled to clear a cross out of the box. The ball caromed off a Hodag defender and straight onto the foot of Ben Jastrow, who finished a one-touch shot from roughly 15 yards. 

The Eagles scored again off of a misjudgment in the 51st minute as Jackson Olejniczak tapped a corner kick to Tyler Vojta — the son of Hodag coach John Vojta — who sent in a tough shot from along the end line. The Hodag defender stationed on the near post stepped away thinking the ball was going to go out of bounds, but the ball stayed in and snuck inside the goalpost to double the Eagles’ lead. 

“I accounted for Rydeski tonight. I accounted for Declan. I did not account for Ben (Jastrow). He scored a nice goal for, you know, probably the best one of his career so far,” coach Vojta said. “And then we had the one mental lapse there when my son scored that other one, but we battled for 80 minutes. We did get a few quality chances, so it’s a positive.”

Favorite and Rydeski nearly teamed up for a goal in the 12th minute, but Rydeski skidded Favorite’s through ball just wide right of the post on a breakaway chance. That was one of several missed opportunities for the Eagles in the first half. Less than a minute prior, Favorite took a shot from 30 yards on the right flank that grazed off a Hodag defender’s head and off the left goal post. Simon Adamovich was stationed on the back post but sent the rebound chance wide left. Tyler Vojta rang a shot off the crossbar in the 20th minute and of Northland Pines’ 17 first-half shots, only four finished on target. 

“I’ve been around the game of soccer a long time, and if you can count on the crossbar and posts as many times as we have this year, that’s a blessing,” coach Vojta said. 

Pines finished the game with a 27-9 edge in shots and an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Rhinelander had a few looks in the contest, but was unable to capitalize. Aidan Lueder missed wide left on a look in the seventh minute. Asher Rivord’s header off a Dean Gillingham free kick went wide in the 28th minute. Gillingham put a free kick from roughly 55 yards away on frame in the 59th minute and Lueder tugged a chance wide right in the 70th minute. 

Light to moderate rain fell for the duration of Tuesday’s match. Though the Hodags play on artificial turf, coach Vojta said his defense needed to adjust for the conditions. 

“I told the boys beforehand the ball’s gonna skip,” he said. “We cannot have our foot planted in the ground and be swinging at balls. We need to move our feet and get in front of the balls. I think our guys did an excellent job in the back with shutting down their through balls.”

 Eric Parish made six saves in defeat for the Hodags.

Rhinelander closed out the regular season Thursday night at Antigo in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a brief recap of that game and read a full report in this coming Tuesday’s River News.

Hodags get home playoff game

Rhinelander’s recent improved form was not enough for the team to get out of this coming Tuesday’s opening round of the WIAA playoffs, but was enough for the Hodags to get a home game in the opener. 

Rhinelander received the No. 8 eight in its nine-team Division 3 half sectional and will open the playoffs at home against ninth-seeded Medford in a regional quarterfinal at Mike Webster Stadium. 

The Hodags may have been fortunate that the seeding meeting took place on Sunday, as Medford upset the second-place team in the GNC, Mosinee, 2-1 on Monday. That result moved Medford (2-10-3, 2-7-0-3) ahead of Rhinelander for sixth in the conference standings. However, the Hodags have had the upper hand on the Raiders in the two regular season meetings between the squads. 

Rhinelander played Medford to a scoreless draw in Medford Sept. 11 and won a subsequent penalty kick shootout 5-3. The Hodags took the rematch over the Raiders 1-0 in Rhinelander Oct. 7, which stands as the Hodags’ lone win on the season so far. 

“They’re ahead of us in conference, but my argument in the seeding meeting was that when we played there we tied them 0-0, won the shootout, and when we were playing them here, we won 1-0,” coach Vojta said. “I said, I don’t know how to compare the other games, but head to head, we beat them both times. So we got the eighth seed versus the ninth seed. That game’s going to be a good matchup. They’re a team that’s evenly matched with us, and it’s going to be a battle.”

Tuesday night’s game will take place at 7 p.m. at Mike Webster Stadium. The winner will travel to Minocqua this coming Thursday to face top-seeded Lakeland. 

Mosinee ended up with the fourth seed in the draw and will host fifth-seeded Waupaca next Thursday. Merrill, as the sixth seed, will travel to third-seeded New London and Antigo will head to Shawano in the 2-7 matchup.

Northland Pines, the lone Division 4 team in the GNC, earned a five seed and will open the WIAA tournament at fourth-seeded Barron next Thursday.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].