Coming off of a tough 5-1 loss against the Grand Haven Buccaneers, the boys varsity soccer team hit the road in the first away game of the season to play Grand Rapids Christian, a team the Rangers fell to by a whopping 5-0 last year. This year, however, saw many improvements as the two teams went on to tie 0-0. Seniors Sammy Postlewait and Micah Gschwind provided most of the opportunities on offense, while the trio of seniors Ethan Hale, goalie Kyler Williams, and junior Matthew Mahoney were lockdown on defense.

To start the game, the two teams went back and forth. Freshman Noah Gleason created a turnover deep in the Eagle half almost immediately, but his shot was off target. GRC got some offensive opportunities at the net early as well, but FHC responded with some shots of its own. However, the tide quickly changed again and Christian started to get many shots and control the game. Towards the end of the half, things started to pick up for the Rangers as Sammy had a one on one opportunity with the goalie that missed and senior Micah Gschwind had a header and a shot saved by the Eagle goalie. 

Christian started to cross the ball into the middle constantly from the wings as they noticed a weakness in the FHC defense. It was working for a while, but sophomore Sam Kelly was impactful in coming in to make plays and stop these crosses. When GRC did get shots on goal, Kyler continued to make big save after big save. Ethan and Matthew continued to make big plays by winning lots of 50/50 balls and, for the most part, shutting down the Eagle forwards. FHC and GRC went into the half all tied at 0. 

The two teams battled back and forth in the second half just like they did in the first half. The defense did a good job of getting balls to Sammy and the offense, but the forwards couldn’t put any shots in. Senior Richie Alvarez had a long-distance shot saved by the Eagle goalkeeper, which was probably the team’s best chance of the half. 

The defense continued to do a good job of winning 50/50 balls and clearing out chances from GRC. As time was winding down, the Eagles were crossing left and right. The Ranger defense continued to play great and stop the passes from connecting, but GRC did have a couple very threatening chances. Both teams continued to go back and forth, but it wouldn’t get either team anywhere, as the game ended in a tie 0-0. 

The tie puts FHC’s record at 0-2-1 on the season. FHC will have an opportunity to claim its first victory on Tuesday against the Greenville Yellow Jackets. To win this game, the Rangers will need to finish at the net and the defense will need to continue to play lockdown.