After an almost flawless defensive effort by the Rangers, Northview finally broke the shutout with a goal with only 6 minutes to go in the 2nd half. The Rangers ended up on top though, improving their record to 4-3, earning a key conference win along the way.

“The back line is coming together nicely,” head coach Blair Lincoln said. “They played very well and had a shutout until the last 6 minutes of the game.  The senior heavy back line stepped up today and showed what they were capable of.”

This strong defensive performance led to more scoring opportunities for the Rangers on offense. Freshman Sam Postelwait banged in a goal with 19:10 left in the 2nd half and credited the defense for it.

“The defense did a very good job today and helped open up space in the other half,” Sam said. “This led to more scoring opportunities for the team as a whole. It felt good to score in front of the home crowd.”

The key to the Rangers defensive performance tonight was staying focused for the whole 80 minutes.

“We stayed very focused throughout the whole game, and we made sure we kept our defensive shape,” junior Nolan Vandergrift said. “We made sure that we did not let any through balls into our half.”

Nolan is one of seven players returning from last year’s championship roster.

This victory gave the Rangers their first home win of the year after losing multiple tough matches in the previous home games.

“It felt very good to bounce back after tough losses to Portage Northern and Rockford,” Coach Lincoln said. “Finishing was the key to success tonight and getting two goals was good for our offense.”

The defense for FHC was very strong tonight compared to the previous match in which they allowed 3 goals.

“Our defense came back and was really solid,” Nolan said. “We only let one goal in this game, which was a big change from the games before.”

The Rangers have a tough matchup at Forest Hills Northern on Tuesday and look to carry the momentum from this game into the next.