Junior Noah Gleason had the ball. He came up from midfield halfway through the first half, trying to break the tie. In a series of dribbles and moves, Noah was able to find a slot to shoot the ball, and it found the net to give the boys varsity soccer team an early 1-0 lead. Even though the Rangers had the early momentum, the boys fell to Byron Center on Monday 2-1.

“It was a very tough game,” head coach Paul Kramer admitted. “After a couple of tough games between Forest Hills Northern and Greenville, it was a tone-setter game for us going into the playoffs.”

In the first half, both teams were playing sound on defense. Sophomore Lance Childers played great in between the sticks, and senior Ryan Fitzgerald was also not letting anything through leading the defensive front. For the first 20 minutes of the game, it was a back and forth, defensive match. However, once Noah broke the ice with his goal, the Rangers looked to capitalize on some early momentum. Although they played great for the next 10 minutes, the Bulldogs found a seam. Byron Center scored two unanswered goals right before the end of the first half, and suddenly, the momentum shifted in the Bulldogs’ favor.

In the second half, both teams had a lot of great chances at scoring a goal, but neither team could find the net. The Rangers did find a groove and were able to keep the ball away from the Byron Center attack, but the Bulldogs clamped down. The Rangers could not break the shell defense until late in the second half. With ominous thunderstorms in the area, the game was suspended with 10 minutes remaining and was eventually called. The Bulldogs stole a short-ended match by a score of 2-1.

“We need to have a short memory of this game and focus on the Cedar game on Thursday,” Kramer said.

With the end of the regular season now behind the Rangers, they look to travel to Cedar Spring on Thursday, October 14, to take on the Red Hawks at 6:45 PM.