After coming off of a faulty weekend, the FHC boys varsity lacrosse team outperformed their opposition in their game Tuesday night against Forest Hills Eastern. Winning 18-7, the boys are slowly returning back to their usual routines. The emotion attached from the last few games have pushed them to the realization of becoming more focused as a team.

For junior Bryce Clay, the excitement of a new day and a new game helped him guide the team in scoring 4 of the 18 goals.

“We came out with some fire burning,” Bryce said. “I was kind of pissed off about the loss this weekend. Tonight we came out a little slow, but the boys, we know how to work, we know how to grind. Nick Carter played good, running up and down the field, taking the ball away, having some fun. We scored some goals, dropped some dimes, that’s how it’s done.”

After an outstanding performance, senior attackman Tanner Hallock scored 6 of the 18 goals. Creating several opportunities in the second half of the game proved the Rangers dominance over the Hawks.

“Focusing on the second half was key,” Tanner said. “In the beginning, we were a little lackadaisical and that’s why it was so close in the first half. We came out serious in the second half. It feels good to beat a Forest Hills team. Friday will feel better against Northern, because I feel like there is more tension there. But beating any Forest Hills school always feels nice. I’m excited, it’s a good win. I think we can play better, but it’s still a good win.”

During the first quarter of the game, the Rangers struggled to keep Eastern off the scoreboard. FHC scored the first and second goal, but that was not enough. Eastern saw it out as an opportunity to come back. Scoring 3, the Hawks led for a while before the Rangers tied it up at 4-4 going into the second quarter.

“Coming off the weekend it ignited the fire for sure,” Tanner said. “Losing to East Grand Rapids is never fun, I haven’t lost to EGR in a long time, so it built some more motivation for me. A couple of the guys and I went to the field Sunday after the game to work on some things like shooting and defense and stuff like that.”

For assistant coach Andy Shira, there are still things he wants to improve on at practice. As the pressure starts to apply coming closer to the middle of the season, the boys plan to do nothing but work hard.

“We never like to lose, especially to East, it’s a nice bounce back for the kids,” Andy said. “Especially when we’re facing Northern another rival school for us. We’re going to take everything one game at a time. We’ll get back to business at practice. During practice, we’re going to keep the tempo up, keep using the speed and energy level we talk about. It’s great competition for ourselves in practice. The best competition we’ll face is against each other.”