Hodag soccer downs Medford in PKs

Officially, the Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team did not record its first win of the season Thursday night, but it’s hard to blame the Hodags for treating it like one.

The Hodags converted on all five of their penalty kick chances and defeated Medford 5-3 in a shootout after the teams played to an 80-minute draw in Great Northern Conference play at Raider Field. 

For overall record keeping purposes, the game will be considered a 0-0 tie, but the Hodags earned an extra point in the conference standings thanks to the shootout victory. After five straight losses to start the season, coach John Vojta said Thursday’s result was a needed jolt of energy for his side. 

“I told the boys I wasn’t happy that we didn’t win in regular time, but I told them I was ecstatic that we made all five penalty kicks, and that bus just erupted,” he said. “They’re bouncing off the walls.”

Owen Evers, Aiden Lueder, Dean Gillingham, Landon Catlin and Asher Rivord all made their chances in the shootout. Rhinelander shot first and Rivord’s make in the fifth round clinched it. Carter Ziehlke, Oliver Koffler and Gavin Koplin converted for Medford, but the Hodags got breathing room when Beck Mayrer pushed his shot wide right in the second round.

“I will say that I think every one of our PKs was side netting, if not, within a foot of side netting, so they were all perfectly taken,” Vojta said. “We went over it last night. We’ve shot PKs probably at four or five practices, but we put them through two, three each last night. We came up with our top 11 shooters, and I just said, our keeper needs to make one save, which he did when the guy pushed it wide. That’s a save. And I said, we have to make all five, and that’s it. And boys stepped up to the task and got it done.”

The shootout followed 80 minutes of soccer where both sides had a few decent chances, but struggled to put shots on frame. Medford’s best looks came in the first half. Keagan Gehrke rang a free kick off the crossbar in the 11th minute. Ziehlke found himself wide open in the Hodag penalty area off a cross in the 39th minute but tugged his shot well left of the goal.

Rhinelander’s best attempts came late in the match. Charlie Johnson missed just high and wide right on a free kick just outside the 18 in the 63rd minute. Roan Childs dispossessed a Medford defender on a goal kick in the 77th minute and fired a hard shot on goal that was saved by Medford’s Eric Paul.

According to statistics kept by the River News, shots were 14-10 in Medford’s favor. Both teams recorded two shots on goal. 

“Medford gave us a good test tonight,” Vojta noted.

The Hodags were back in action Saturday, taking on Shawano in a non-conference game at Mike Webster Stadium. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a brief recap of that event and read a full report in the Friday, Sept. 19 edition of the River News.

Rhinelander hosts Merrill tonight and then will travel to Northland Pines to take on the Eagles in a homecoming for Vojta, who was an assistant coach there the last couple of seasons and still has a son, Tyler, playing on the team.

“I don’t need to make a big deal out of it. (Our players) know the importance of that game. And it’s probably more important to them than to me,” Vojta said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].