For the Ranger girls soccer team, winning trophies has become a habit. On Thursday, June 1, the girls had another opportunity to win a district title against their rival Forest Hills Northern.

This game was highly anticipated and drew a fairly large crowd. The game started out close as both teams traded opportunities with a couple of solid chances; however, no one was able to score in the first half. As the game progressed, both teams continued to fight but the conditions the girls had to endure made it hard to play at their very best. Not only did the girls have lots of pressure on them due to the implications of the game, but it was also 95 degrees which had a large effect on the game.

The Rangers were able to slowly maintain more control of the game as time went on. Northern continuously look for the long ball which became ineffective as the girls had practiced defending long balls all week. These long passes also seemed to tire the Huskies which allowed for the Rangers to possess the ball which created the opportunity for them to take the lead.
“The team did really well playing aggressively and winning balls in the air which was important against Northern because they are really good ball winners,” said junior Gigi Sinicrope.

After a nice string of passes, Haley Ward was able to net the first and only goal of the game in the dying minutes of the second half. This goal ultimately won the district title for the Rangers and puts them one step closer to the state championship game.

The girls next game will be against East Grand Rapids in the regional semi-final on Tuesday, June 6. This will be a tight match based on previous results, but the girls are poised going into this game.
“EGR is a good match-up because we play very similar styles of soccer so I think it will be a good game but I’m confident in our team,” said Gigi.