It was the underclassmen that carried the weight on Senior Night for the Rangers, as sophomore Rowan Clay and junior John Tomsheck combined for eight goals en route to a 14-2 win over Forest Hills Northern. 

A strong defensive performance from the beginning, the Huskies did not score a goal until the fourth quarter. The entire defensive unit made aggressive plays and played strongly, and senior Deacon Lobdell set the tone early with his physical play. Sophomore Jack Elliott also came ready to go from the onset with an active stick and plenty of communication that the rest of the Rangers followed. Although the Rangers didn’t face as much pressure defensively as in some of their other games, the defense did well to deal with any threats on goal. 

On the offensive side, the Rangers dominated but couldn’t capitalize as much as they would have liked. With nearly 40 shots, most of them either missed the net entirely or hit FHN’s goalie. Against teams like these and at this point in the season you can afford to not take as many chances, but as the season ramps up against better competition and in win-or-go-home games, taking every chance possible will be essential. Rowan led the way with five goals, and Tomsheck followed suit with a hat trick of his own. Senior Luke Matelic put on an impressive display in the midfield, forcing turnovers defensively and pushing the tempo in transition; as a result, he had two goals come his way on the night. Sophomore Magnus Salmon and junior Jack McNamara had a goal and an assist each, while junior Miles Duiven and senior Collin Ward both added a goal. 

With a final score of 14-2, head coach Andy Shira and the Rangers were happy with the win but certainly not satisfied with the performance.

“Overall, I don’t think we played poorly, but we didn’t play our best either,” Shira said. “We’re still learning and growing with so many new faces and young guys on the team. We’re two-thirds of the way through the season though, so hopefully things start to click and we can maintain things. We have to be playing our best lacrosse in late May and early June.”

With this win, the Rangers are now 7-3 on the season and remain undefeated in Tier 1 of the OK conference. The boys will take on arch-rival East Grand Rapids on Thursday, and the winner will clinch the conference championship. Not only that, but there are playoff seeding implications on the line as well; with MHSAA using the MPR ranking system to determine seeds, EGR currently sits above FHC. That being said, a win for the Rangers would certainly catapult them above the Pioneers and all but clinch the top seed in the division. However, Shira and the Rangers are just looking forward to the chance to prove themselves and check off the first goal of their season with a conference championship on Thursday.

“We just have to make sure we’re taking care of our business and putting our best showing out each and every game,” Shira said. “I can’t wait for Thursday. It’s always a fun game against [EGR] Coach [Rick] DeBlasio.”