Junior Kyle Webb came down the left side of the field early in the game against sixth-ranked South Christian. With Kyle’s insane dribbling ability, he was able to fool the Sailor defenders; panic ensued for the South Christian goalie. Kyle put the ball in the net, knotting the game up at one apiece. In the end, though, the Sailors would have the last laugh, and the boys varsity soccer team came up short in a 6-3 loss.

“I was very proud of our guys tonight,” head coach Paul Kramer said after the game. “We are one of two teams who scored three goals against South Christian. Our guys played well for how good they are.”

With games on back-to-back days, the team was on short rest going into the season finale against a very difficult, undefeated South Christian Sailors team.

The start of the game was very fast. In a matter of 6 minutes, the Sailors had 3 shots on goal, but the Ranger defense was playing physically. It wouldn’t take long, though, as the Sailors’ killer offensive attack finally struck gold. On a rebound, the Sailors capitalized on it and put it in the net right past sophomore goalkeeper Kasey Dantuma. It was 1-0 for the Sailors, but still very early. 

After South Christian’s goal, the Rangers started to put on the gas. Senior Ben Taylor had a great shot just seconds after the Sailor goal, but he was called offsides and the possession halted. Right after Ben, junior Omar Hadzimujic had a shot on goal but his attempt couldn’t squeeze by the Sailors’ keeper; he played a key part in the South Christian’s success all night. The Sailors had a shot on net after Omar’s shot, however, it was saved by Kasey and the offense was rolling down the field again. Kyle netted his goal to tie the game at one, and quickly, the game was getting very interesting.

The key for the Rangers for the next 10 minutes was the play of Kasey in the sticks. Within those next 10 minutes of the first half, Kasey had 5 saves, and eventually, his great run came to an end. At the 23-minute mark, the Sailors got another one in the net. One of the Sailors was surrounded by a pack of Rangers but was able to snipe one in from far out that went off the left post and in. It was 2-1 South Christian, but not for long. The defense stepped into high gear again, with senior Ryan Fitzgerald and Kasey teaming up on a series that included a clear and 2 saves. This gave clearance for the offense to attack. It was junior Henry Kostbade’s turn to score, as he came up the left side as well. Henry drew out the Sailors’ goalie too far and was able to sneak one past him, scoring the second goal of the day for the Rangers. 

With a 2-2 tie, the Rangers let up a little bit, but South Christian didn’t. The Sailors answered in less than 2 minutes after FHC’s goal with a great one-timer. It was 3-2 now with the Sailors having the advantage going into halftime. 

The halftime speech was pretty simple from Kramer to his boys: capitalize on every error the Sailors made and keep pressuring them into taking bad shots and making bad passes on defense. 

“At halftime, the boys and I were just wanting this win badly,” senior Sam Kelly said. “We were hyping each other up and just telling ourselves that this game is ours.”

The second half started and it was clear that both teams wanted this win badly to go out on a high note. In the first 4 minutes of the half, both teams had great offensive possessions, and eventually, the Sailors got the first strike with a shot that got through a pile of Sailors and Rangers and snuck in for the 4-2 lead. Both teams traded shots for the next 20 minutes and the Sailors struck gold. This time, it was off of a very nice pass that went from the sideline to right in front of the goal and was put in for a 5-2 lead at the 64-minute mark. 

Not even 2 minutes later, the Rangers finally hit yet again. Junior Myles Shoham got another goal in back-to-back games, and this one was right in front of the Sailor goalie and snuck in. The 5-3 lead for the Sailors was a good one, but with 15 minutes left, the Rangers looked to push. Ben had a great chance at a goal at the 72-minute mark on a free-kick, but it went just wide left. With time winding down, the Sailors kept piling on. South Christian put one in at the 76-minute mark when it put a rocket into the right corner of the net to take a 6-3 advantage. It would stay this way the rest of the game with South Christian taking home a 6-3 win over the Rangers.

“Overall I’m very proud of our guys,” Sam said. “We’re looking forward to Northern again on Monday. We are very confident as a team that we can beat them again.”

The boys finished the season with a record of 6-8-1 and a conference record of 4-3. Next up, they will face off against Forest Hills Northern for the second time in the past week in the opening round of the OK White Conference Tournament. This game will be on Monday, October 4 at 6:45 PM at Ranger Stadium.