Hodag Highlights: Rhinelander girls soccer falls to Rice Lake in sectional final

The Rhinelander High School girls soccer team’s season came to an end Saturday in the sectional final, but not before the Hodags pulled off an impressive upset win over Lakeland earlier in the week to earn their spot in the round.
The road to the sectional final required the Hodags to do something they had not done all season — beat the Lakeland Thunderbirds.
Lakeland had defeated Rhinelander twice during the regular season and shut out the Hodags in both meetings, making Tuesday’s sectional semifinal in Minocqua a steep climb for the visitors.
The teams played a cautious first half, with neither side finding the net, and the scoreboard stayed blank through the break.
That changed quickly in the second half. Just one minute in, Ella Miljevich found the back of the net to give the Hodags the lead they needed. Rhinelander’s defense held firm the rest of the way, keeping Lakeland off the board, and Vivian Lamers added an insurance goal in the 67th minute to seal the 2-0 win and punch the Hodags’ ticket to the sectional final in Rice Lake.

Rhinelander came out of the gate firing in Saturday’s sectional final.
A through ball from Jordan Manske found Lamers in the fifth minute, and Lamers buried it into the back of the net to give the Hodags an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived. Just two minutes later, Rice Lake equalized on a scrambled sequence in front of the Rhinelander net. The Hodags’ defense was unable to clear a bouncing ball, and Rice Lake tucked it into the left side of the net to make it 1-1 — a scoreline that held through halftime despite the frantic early pace.
Rice Lake took control in the second half, scoring in the 43rd minute to go ahead 2-1 and again in the 67th minute to put the game away. The final score of 3-1 ended Rhinelander’s season.