In the first matchup of the season between the two crosstown rivals, freshman Ruthie VanSkiver scored a brace to lead the Rangers to a victory over the Forest Hills Northern Huskies. After losing to the Huskies both times last year, the returning girls on the team really wanted to pull off the victory after falling short the previous year.

The first half was a very different story than the first half, as the score heading into the locker room was 1-1. For the first 20 minutes of the game, there wasn’t much going on offensively for either team. The Rangers struggled to get very many shots up, as they repeatedly made things too complicated in the final third. With 19 minutes to go in the half, Ruthie started off the scoring, hitting one with her left foot just inside of the 18. Eight minutes later, the goals continued as the Huskies knotted things up at 1, bringing the score to a tie at half time.

The beginning of the second half was very similar to the first, as both teams struggled to score until freshman Addi Tack broke the deadlock. With 15 minutes to go in the game, a handball was called on an FHN defender inside the box, giving the Rangers a penalty kick; Addi stepped up and buried it in the left corner.

Within the next ten minutes, the goals kept scoring and the offense kept flowing, as 2 more goals were scored to secure the win. Ruthie scored her second of the day via multiple deflections outside the box, giving her an advantageous position on top of the box that she could score from. Sophomore Ashley Bowen then secured the win two minutes later with a goal from the corner of the 18, beating two defenders with a step-over move and hitting it past the FHN goalkeeper.

With this win, the Rangers move to 4-1-0 on the season. With such a big rivalry win, this game can be used as momentum moving into the early stages of the conference season. The girls’ next game is another conference game against Northview, who they beat badly last year.