Packed defenses ‘frustrating’ Hodag soccer

The way the Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer offense feels at the moment is a bit like someone already running late, and getting held up by rush hour traffic.

The Hodags won back-to-back games late last week in convincing fashion, even though both opponents lone objective appeared to be to slow Rhinelander’s high-powered attack. Rhinelander defeated Mosinee 6-0 on the road Thursday, April 30 and the followed with a 1-0 victory over Hayward Friday night at Mike Webster Stadium.

Goalkeeper Rylee Mickevicius wasn’t called on to make a save in either match. Hayward attempted just one shot, off target, on Friday after the Hodags held Mosinee shotless the previous night. 

Part of the lack of offense was by choice, however, as both teams stuffed their backs and midfielders deep in their own defensive third of the field in an effort to stymie the Rhinelander attack. 

Hayward successfully did so most of the way Friday, conceding only a seventh-minute goal to Vivian Lamers that proved to be the decider. Mosinee had less success Thursday, committing three fouls inside the box that led to Hodag penalty kick conversions. 

Either way, Hodag girls’ soccer coach Nathan Bates said the constant congestion led to some frustration for his side.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m getting a little sick and tired of it, you know,” he said after Friday’s game. “It seems like a lot of the teams we’ve come to play lately have not really wanted to play a — how do you want to put this here — a typical game of soccer. It’s just more of a low press on us, and they’re just stuffing eight, nine people in the box, which makes it very difficult for us to get off a lot of good quality shots with all those bodies in there. 

“I mean, it’s makes it difficult, but at the end of the day, it’s a tactic, and it’s effective at times. It can take a team that is not the same caliber and take them the distance. But it is getting a little frustrating.”

The deciding goal by Lamers on Friday found its way through Hayward’s constricted defense on the Hodags’ third shot attempt in a flurry following a corner kick. 

Rhinelander had 34 shots in the match, with a number of good looks finishing just off target. The Hodags had 16 shots on goal, but the majority were put right on sophomore keeper Madden Mittlesdorf-Gaydos.

“They still went out tonight and did a really, really good job with passing and possession. I mean, yeah, the score, in my opinion, should have been a little bit more than 1-0, to be honest with you, but, end of the day, they got the job done, and they played a really good technical game of soccer,” Bates said.

On Thursday, the Hodags led 2-0 at halftime in a conference match at Edgewood Park, with both goals in the opening 40 minutes coming from the penalty spot.

Ella Miljevich got tripped from behind near the byline in the 12th minute, resulting in the Hodags’ first PK chance, which she tucked inside the post to keeper’s left. A Mosinee handball inside the penalty area gave Lamers a chance from the spot in the 35th minute. Her chance was placed in a similar fashion to Miljevich’s to give the Hodags a 2-0 lead. 

Miljevich converted one more PK in the 55th minute following another Mosinee handball inside the box. 

“I mean, there was no doubt,” Bates said of the penalty kick chances. “Ella puts a beautiful ball in the back of the net, so did Viv.”

Rhinelander outshot Mosinee 38-0 in the match, and finally had some fruitful offensive chances in the second half. 

    Rhinelander’s Aila Bergman leaves the starting blocks during the finals of the 100-meter hurdles in the Kaukauna Invite track meet in Kaukauna Friday, May 1. Bergman finished second in the event. (Contributed photograph)
  

Freshman Kenzie Paulson scored her first-career goal in the 52nd minute, taking a drop pass from Gabby Wanta and firing it on frame from outside the 18. The ball slipped through the legs of the Mosinee goalkeeper and into the net. 

Wanta scored one of her own in the 75th minute, getting on the post for a point-blank chance off a cross into the box by Ella Heck. Lamers put the final nail in Mosinee’s coffin with 57 seconds remaining, creating some space inside the box for a close-range finish.

“Gabby was able to convert on being in the right spot on the cross. Kenzie Paulson also with a back drop to her from the defense on the outside of the 18 was able to convert on one,” Bates said. “The girls worked really, really good tonight. They passed the ball really well. They were just moving as a team. I mean, we were passing around them the whole game. It’s hard to get inside to get a lot of shots due to so many bodies being in there, but we knew it was going to open up toward the end of the game, without a doubt, which it did. We did have three that we converted off of some good passing and some give-and-goes and stuff like that. All in all, it wasn’t the prettiest game of soccer with the other end, but our end, I thought we played really, really well as a team, and we were fortunate enough to come away with another win in conference.”

Friday’s game marked the end of a grueling six-game in nine-day stretch for the Hodags (8-3-0, 6-1-0-0 Great Northern). Bates said afterward that the team was ready for a bit of a break.

“The girls have had a long two weeks now. I mean, we’ve played seven games in the last two weeks. I mean, we’ve had a lot of games, and, I mean, they’re tired. They need a little bit of a break here,” he said.

Rhinelander jumps back into GNC play this afternoon in Eagle River against Northland Pines and will then have a week off from competition prior to a pivotal conference rematch against Lakeland May 12 in Minocqua.

“We’re gonna go up to Pines. Like I said, early in the year, and we’re just gonna continue to grind it out and play game by game, and hopefully we can come away with another win,” Bates said. “If the girls continue to play, they’ve been doing, I think we’ll definitely be able to do that.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].