Hodag highlights: Hockey team still searching for first win after holiday tournament

The Rhinelander High School boys hockey team faced a challenging stretch over the recent holiday break, dropping three consecutive games as they continue their search for their first victory of the season.
The Hodags hosted a tournament that brought teams from Medford and two Michigan programs—Manistique and Kingsford—to town. Mother Nature had other plans for the original schedule, as a storm forced organizers to shift games. The revised format had the two Wisconsin teams facing off against the visiting Michigan squads. Rhinelander opened tournament play against the Manistique Emeralds on Tuesday, and Carson Plehn gave the home crowd something to cheer about early when he scored the game’s first goal in the opening period. The Emeralds answered back to knot the score, and the teams entered the third period deadlocked at 1-1 with an identical 23 shots on goal apiece.
What followed was a difficult final frame for the Hodags. Manistique broke through at the 8:46 mark of the third period, opening the floodgates for what became a six-goal period. Rhinelander pulled their goalie late in an attempt to generate offense with the extra skater, but the strategy backfired as the Emeralds added two empty-net goals. A seventh goal with under a minute remaining triggered the running clock mercy rule, and the game ended 7-1 in favor of Manistique. The Hodags’ tournament concluded Wednesday with a 6-1 loss to Kingsford. Jack Turek provided Rhinelander’s lone marker in the defeat. The team closed out the break with a road trip to Stevens Point on Friday, falling to Pacelli 9-3. Asher Rivord netted two goals in the loss, while Dylan Shefveland added the third for the Hodags. Rhinelander will look to turn things around as they continue their season in the new year.