Eagles beat Medford, Washburn in boys soccer

The Northland Pines boys soccer team won two games last week, including a 5-1 Great Northern Conference (GNC) victory over Medford and a 3-0 nonconference win over Washburn.

At Medford last Thursday, the Eagles possessed the ball for much of the first half. They notched the first goal when Anthony Gaetano found Guilherme Amirez Fonseca, who made a juke and fired an opposite-direction shot for a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game. The score stayed 1-0 the rest of the first half.

“We kept the pressure on Medford and only allowed the ball on our defensive third twice, but their goalie made save after save and kept Medford in a game that could have gotten out of hand if not for his heroics,” said Pines coach Rodney Sternhagen.

It didn’t take long for Pines to score in the second half as A.J. Muench tapped the ball to Amirez Fonseca, who cut from left to right into the 18-yard box, where two Medford defenders ran him over in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Senior captain Cody Vojta dropped the ball in the left side for a PK goal to make it 2-0.

Just 5 minutes later, Amirez Fonseca cut left to right and put the ball in the bottom left corner of the net to give Pines a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Nine minutes later, Cody Vojta made an angled run left to right and crossed the ball to Muench, who attacked the goal and beat the keeper for a 4-0 lead.

“This allowed us to empty the bench, but a lapse in our defense caught our mid and our sweeper stabbing at the ball, allowing their forward to score and spoil the shutout,” said Sternhagen.

The Eagles kept attacking and in the 74th minute earned a corner kick. The cross played wide to Easton Otto, who spotted it back to an attacking Muench to complete the scoring and secure a 5-1 GNC victory.

Pines had 34 shots, including 22 on goal, compared to just three for Medford. The Eagles had a big 7-0 advantage on corner kicks.

Washburn shutout

Pines hosted Washburn in a nonconference game last Monday and ended with a 3-0 win over a potential Regional tournament opponent.

Five minutes into the game, Amirez Fonseca played a give-and-go with Cody Vojta, and Fonseca tapped it past the outstretched Washburn keeper. 

The Eagles continued to put the pressure on Washburn and had a couple of shots hit the crossbar and post, but Pines could not find the back of the net and it was 1-0 at the half.

“During half, we talked to the boys about the importance of beating a Regional opponent, as it has huge implications for seeding in the playoffs,” said Sternhagen.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Cody Vojta slotted the ball to the PK area and Sam Schrock deflected the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

The ball would remain on Washburn’s half of the field for most of the half and the third goal came in the 64th minute when Tyler Vojta played a nice angled ball toward the goal. Cody Vojta beat the keeper and tapped the ball into the back of the net.

“At this point we emptied the bench and still did a great job controlling possession and taking out a hardworking Washburn team,” said Sternhagen.

Pines outshot Washburn 28-7 and Eagles’ keeper, Ryder Will, needed to make just two saves. The Eagles had 13 corner kicks to none for Washburn.

The Eagles remain in second place in the GNC with a 5-1-1-0 record, just one point behind Lakeland at 5-0-1-1 with three conference games remaining. Pines was scheduled to play at Mosinee (3-3-0-1) on Tuesday of this week and will play at Antigo (2-5-0-0) this Thursday, Oct. 10, at 4 p.m.