With just over thirty minutes left in the first half, it was apparent that FHC varsity soccer would struggle. It started with a controversial penalty kick that found its way into the back of the net, then FHC’s poor defense led to another goal late in the first half. With that, the Rangers knew that they dug themselves into a deep hole that they would never overcome. The final score was 3-0 in favor of Grand Rapids Christian.

“We need to wake up as a team,” said head coach Paul Kramer when asked what he learned from the first conference game. “We need to focus on what we’re good at and also need to eliminate the outside noise. It’s one game. We need to wipe this away, refocus, and regroup because our schedule doesn’t get any easier. Losses happen in a season, it’s how we deal with it after it happens. Do we bounce back? Do we persevere? That’s what we need to find out about our group.”

The game started great, as the team was moving constantly and firing on all cylinders. However, Grand Rapids Christian started slow. The Rangers capitalized on the slow start, finding constant scoring opportunities and shots on goal; while on the other hand, GRC was seemingly fighting for their lives. Then with about twenty-five minutes left in the first half, GRC found a way to get the ball down into FHC’s box and draw a penalty. The call was a controversial one, one that the Rangers wish they had back because on the ensuing penalty kick, GRC scored. From there the Rangers spiraled. 

Then with seven minutes left, GRC scored again. This time, it was due to FHC’s sloppy defense.  Junior defenseman Eli Lipke was adamant that this was just a learning experience to learn from. 

“This was a big wake-up game for us,” Lipke said. “It showed that even though we had more skill, our fundamentals just weren’t there. We’re not going to win anything unless we play with heart, we’ll beat any team if we have the determination to do so. It’s on us.” 

Coming out of the locker room after halftime, much of the same issues from the first half arose again in the second half. The team’s defense played great for the most part in the second half, but the Rangers didn’t ever find their stride. For much of the second half, the Rangers just passed around the defense of GRC, as Lipke noted. So the struggles continued, and with about twenty minutes left in the second half, GRC scored again—putting an end to any hope the Rangers had of making a comeback. The game ended with a final score of 3-0 in favor of GRC. What hurt most for the boys though was that this was a big loss, therefore having large implications for future rankings and games. 

However, some of these struggles can be credited to key players going down with injuries. This has plagued the roster this year and has created a chemistry that has hurt the team as a whole. Going forward, the Rangers look to get healthy.

“Having injuries on the team is never a good thing, it hurts the team’s chemistry and sense of community,” junior midfielder Dylan Buchanan explained. “Sometimes when they get back from an injury the bond is gone and that hurts the makeup of the team as a whole.”