Early in a makeup game for the boys varsity soccer team against West Catholic, junior Noah Gleason came up the right side of the field and was very close to going out of bounds. Yet, he would keep his balance, blow by Falcon defenders, and snipe the net for a huge goal at the start of the first half. It was this goal that raised the tempo for the rest of the game, leading the Rangers to their fourth win of the season against West Catholic 2-0.

“It wasn’t our greatest performance,” head coach Paul Kramer said, “but we did what was needed to secure the victory.”

After a comeback tie against East Grand Rapids two days prior, the boys looked to bring some more energy to the squad after playing three games within the span of six days.

After Noah’s early goal, West Catholic put on the defensive clamps. With the man defense being the Falcons’ main strategy, it was time to make a change early. The Falcons went into a zone-man hybrid by defending the horn of the Ranger offense. It stopped a lot of the production, as both teams wouldn’t get anything going until halftime. It was the Rangers with a 1-0 advantage at the 45-minute mark.

At halftime, coach Kramer drew up a plan to keep the Falcons’ defense from stopping the offensive drives. FHC moved the ball quickly and positioned themselves wider on offense to catch the Falcon defense off-guard. This gave more room for the attackers to make some threatening runs to the box. Senior Jayden Savin made a run on the right side and shot at goal, but despite his miss, junior Omar Hadzimujic put it back in to take a 2-0 lead. The Rangers played excellent defense throughout and secured a 2-0 win.

“It’s great to see the boys continue to learn and grow,” coach Kramer said. “They’ve surpassed their win total from last year halfway through the season along with getting their first away win in two years. This group is really starting to put things together and I’m excited to see how this season plays out.”

After a nice win over the weekend, the boys are 4-5-1 and will look to get their second conference win of the season against Northview on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:45 PM at Ranger Stadium.