Hodag soccer’s season ends in PK loss to Medford

It’s come to the point where it’s almost a foregone conclusion that penalty kicks will decide a boys’ soccer match between Rhinelander and Medford. It happened again Tuesday night and, with its season on the line, the Hodags fell one kick short.

Medford’s Eric Paul stopped Rhinelander’s last two chances in penalties as the Raiders won the shootout 6-5 and advanced in the WIAA tournament. That came after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in a Division 3 regional quarterfinal match at Mike Webster Stadium.

Shootouts have become old hat for the two squads. Tuesday’s game marked the seventh time in the last 11 meetings that the sides needed penalties to settle things after a draw. All three playoff meetings between the teams since 2021 have gone to a shootout, with Medford winning two of the three.

Rhinelander had gotten the better of Medford in a shootout 6-5 earlier this season in Medford and was 2-0 in PKs this year while Medford entered 0-3. The Raiders turned the tables Tuesday night.

“It came down to count penalty kicks, a matter of inches on a couple of them,” Hodag coach John Vojta said afterward. “(Rhinelander keeper) Eric (Parish), darn near saved three of those things. So, you know, an inch or two, one way or the other (decided it). So if it’s got to end, I’m not disappointed with that ending because that was a great match.”

The one kick that Parish saved — a shot by Keagan Gehrke in the seventh round that went off Parish’s hands, off the far goalpost and away from the goal line — give Rhinelander a chance to advance. Vojta called on Parish to try to win it, but his shot went straight to Paul, who knocked it down and smothered it just shy of the goal line. Medford’s Lucas Mahner converted past Parish on a diving attempt to keeper’s left in the eight round and Paul denied freshman Henry Bonardelli’s effort to the near post to send the Raiders on to Thursday’s regional semifinal round at Lakeland.

While Rhinelander had won its two previous shootouts, neither of them went to extra kicks. Tuesday’s shootout marked the first time that either Parish or Bonardelli had attempted a penalty in live action this season.

“Eric has taken penalties during practice, and he’s been spot on,” Vojta said. “I didn’t talk to him about it. So I’ll talk to him in the locker room and see. And he felt bad about it. And I told him he didn’t need to. He made a save and kept us in it. And it is what it is.”

The Hodags trailed much of the shootout after Aidan Lueder — who scored the Hodags’ lone goal in regulation — rang a shot off the bottom of the right post in the first round. Medford converted its first three chances, but Oliver Koffler sailed his attempt high in the fourth round, opening the door for the Hodags. After conversions by Owen Evers and Dean Gillingham in the second and third rounds, Landon Catlin tied it in the fourth with a shot that slipped through Paul’s hands and into the top right corner. Conversions by Asher Rivord in the fifth round and Kamden Kostrova in the sixth extended the shootout. 

Rhinelander jumped ahead in the 18th minute on Lueder’s first goal of the season. He was in position for a drop from Rivord and fired a one-touch shot from 30 yards into the top right corner of the goal.

“It was an upper 90 rocket and you know, Aidan’s got a lot of those in practice and he hasn’t seen them go in on the game field. So to have him get one in playoffs is extra special,” Vojta said.

The Raiders equalized the match shortly after halftime as Nathan Schuld got around Gillingham on the right flank, and fired a skipping shot past Parish from the top of the 18-yard box.

“It was a case of where we got a little bit overanxious and went for the ball near the sideline and stabbed, and, you know, he’s a big, strong, fast kid. He just put the burners on and drilled it, side netting. I think Eric got a piece of it, but there was some good pace on it,” Vojta said.

    Rhinelander’s Eric Parish leaps in an attempt to make a save ahead of teammate Kamden Kostrova (9), Medford’s Levi Zuleger (14) and Medford’s Nathan Schuld (24) during the second half of a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal game against Medford at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, Oct. 21. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Medford nearly went ahead in the 53rd minute as Hayden Spangler collied with Parish on a cross into the box, but Catlin recovered to head the ball off the goal line for Rhinelander. 

The Hodags had a number of chances to avoid extra time, but Lueder had a breakaway chance broken up in the 57th minute, Paul made a diving save on a Rivord chance in the 65th minute, Medford cleared away a Lueder chance off a corner kick in the 77th minute and Lueder missed wide on another chance moments later.

Neither team was able to muster much of a threat during the first 10 minutes of extra time. The best chance either way came when Rhinelander’s Charlie Johnson missed wide right on a free kick chance from 20 yards in the 83rd minute. 

Things picked up in the second 10-minute session. Paul stopped a Rivord chance from the top of the 18 off a corner kick in the 92nd minute. Parish tipped a Spangler chance over the bar on the other end in the 94th, and Roan Childs had two chances to win it for the Hodags in the final seconds of extra time, but was denied by Paul on a breakaway chance and, in a scramble for the loose ball, sent the rebound chance over the crossbar.

“Look at all the breakaway chances we had, and the free kick that Charlie hit, usually he paces that right on goal,” Vojta said. “I think the guys, you know, were a little cold and wet and just mishit a couple balls tonight. But yeah, the chances were phenomenal.”

Rhinelander outshot Medford 21-16 in the match and had an 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. Parish made six saves for Rhinelander while Paul stopped seven shots for Medford. 

Rhinelander finished the season with a 1-13-4 record in Vojta’s first year at the helm. Despite the result, Vojta said he was pleased with the progress his team made during the second half of the year. The Hodags went 1-4-3 in their final eight games of the year after starting the year 0-9-1.

“They’ve climbed the ladder of lower level soccer, improving, improving, improving, and, it continued every game, every practice this year,” Vojta said. “It sucks that it’s over, but it’s just a positive season.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].