Forest Hills Central took on the Sailors from South Christian in its last game. Coming into this game, the Rangers knew the Sailors would be a challenge. 

“Coming into the game, we knew they would be a tough team to beat,” Ryan Brom said. “Their varsity team is undefeated, so we had an understanding of how good they were going to be.”

The start of the game was a basic start; both teams struggled to get offensive looks. Early in the game, South Christian had a corner kick and got an opportunity to score. The Sailors got a shot on net but it was waived due to an offside call. Later in the first, South Christian had a great opportunity to score, but Matthew Taylor blocked a shot from easily going in; it was a huge save for the Rangers as they remained tied 0-0. 

Goalie Brendan Ramsey was active in the first half. He had multiple saves that should have been goals. As Ramsey was making these impressive saves, the defense showed obvious signs that it was falling apart. South Christian took advantage of this and almost scored with 15:35 remaining. The Sailors set up a corner kick and would capitalize on the low communication from the Rangers. They scored the first goal of the game, making it 1-0.

South Christian would have another chance three minutes later. Penetrating the middle of the defense, the Sailors would shoot a screamer and score. At this point, the Ranger defense was shouting to communicate more. Almost a minute after its second goal, South Christian would score again to make it a 3-0 game. 

A common theme throughout this game was South Christian attacking in spurts. The first spurt was from 16 minutes remaining to 10 minutes remaining. The Sailor’s last goal of the half would come with 10:19 remaining. Being down 4-0 at the half was not ideal, but the coaching staff had a simple and effective message to the team. 

“You guys need to have more fun when you’re playing. Find your love and joy for the game in this second half and finish the season off strong,” Head coach Robert Otterbein said.

This simple message seemed to have worked. In the second half, the Rangers came out energized and focused. A mix of halftime adjustments and the message seemed to fire FHC up. There were not many shots on goal during the second half for both teams. South Christian’s second shot on the net turned into a goal, giving the Sailors a 5-0 lead. About three minutes later with 19:48 remaining, the Sailors attacked the Rangers and scored again.

Being down 6-0 was not perfect, but FHC turned up late in the game. Chris Dongmo had a near-goal with a shot on the net with 14:24 remaining. Finally, with 6:15 remaining, FHC ended their scoreless run. Nathan Rushman got the ball and bombed it into the net. The Rangers would shut down the Sailors the rest of the game. They fell to South Christian 6-1. 

The boys JV soccer team ends the year with a 5-6-1 record after the loss to the Sailors. Although ending on a loss to end the year is not ideal, Jackson Savin had an interesting perspective on the loss.

“Obviously we did not want to lose to end the year,” Jackson Savin said. “But, we stiffened up in the second half and played together. Moving forward, our chemistry as a team has to continue to keep FHC a solid soccer program.”