Year in and year out, the FHC lacrosse program pins itself up against the best of the best, playing one of the toughest schedules in the state. With just five days worth of tryouts and practice under their belts, the Rangers traveled across the border to take on Carmel High School and Hamilton Southeastern in Indiana on Saturday, two frontrunners for Indiana’s state championship this spring. 

Despite the fact that teams in Indiana have been playing for three weeks and FHC just finished tryouts days prior, the Rangers came out victorious in the first game of the day, winning 9-6. The early-season rust was pretty clear to see from the onset, but a good performance was put in nonetheless. Carmel is ranked in the top 10 in Indiana, and the Greyhounds bolster a really impressive attack up front. Despite a previously combined zero varsity minutes between the three of them, junior John Foster and sophomores Rowan Clay and Crandall Quinn put on a clinic defensively. Crandall made an especially impressive varsity debut, recording 14 saves between the pipes against the Greyhounds. Despite being just a sophomore, the son of former legendary FHC lacrosse coach Tony Quinn is a captain and key component of this FHC team.

With the score being 3-2 in favor of FHC at the half, the Rangers picked it up in the second half offensively and won by a final score of 9-6. Sophomore Magnus Salmon also had a strong varsity debut, scoring a team-high four goals. Junior John Tomsheck, a centerpiece of this FHC offense, had three goals and two assists, while seniors Collin Ward and Luke Matelic rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. 

After a very quick turnaround, the Rangers took on Hamilton Southeastern. The Royals are Indiana’s favorite to bring home the state championship this year, and they are the reigning state champion from 2019. The first half saw FHC take a 1-0 lead at the end of the first and a 4-3 advantage at the half, but the Rangers began to run out of gas in a very open game that ended 8-5 in favor of HSE.

“Being the second game of the day against a really tough opponent, our fatigue showed in the second half, especially in 75-degree weather that we’re not used to yet,” head coach Andy Shira said. “HSE was aggressive all over the field, as we knew they would be. We had a lot of success in transition, and we will continue to emphasize that going forward to push the pace and set the tone for how we want to lay: fast.”

Continuing their success from the earlier game, Crandall and the FHC defense put on an impressive performance despite the result, with the sophomore goalie making 10 saves in the contest. Offensively, John led the Rangers with four goals, and Collin scored his second of the day while rounding out the scoring for FHC. 

The second game had the Rangers up against a more difficult opponent than the first, and the improvements and rust shaken off between the two contests were clear to see.

“Overall, we see lots of good things for our guys this year,” Shira said, “We will clean up the mistakes this week and be ready for Okemos on Wednesday.”

Moving forward from the opening weekend, the Rangers will host Okemos on Wednesday before a two-week hiatus for Spring Break.