Rivalry week. Adrenaline flew and tension built as FHC JV Soccer tied 0-0 with district rival FHN. Physicality was certainly present as the penalty cards flew.

“That’s not how we like to play at FHC,” head coach Nick Bartlett said. “I don’t usually do well with dirty play, but  they were working hard and it is what it is.”

Sophomore Beck Norris commented on how chippy the game became down the stretch.

“It was a little rough going out there,” Beck said. “We played a little too chippy today, but we stayed composed and in better shape than we did before. Still, we got a little out of hand tonight. I guess calls just didn’t go our way.”

Despite three yellow cards and a red going against the Rangers, they managed to stay even with the Huskies. The 0-0 scoreline can be deceiving on the overall performance of the FHC offense.

The energy started high right off the bat. Two early opportunities presented themselves to put one in the net. Sophomores Kyler Williams and Micah Gschwind both jumped into the action early, firing a shot on goal a piece.

The Rangers best opportunity, however, came from sophomore Aaron Engelmann. With 15 minutes left in the half, Aaron delivered a fantastic pass to a streaking Reece Walli, only to be well defended by FHN in the corner. The final shot for the Rangers in the half came from Aaron on an attack down the middle.  Although an impressive strike,  his shot was corralled by the Husky goalkeeper.

“We needed to step to the ball better,” Aaron said. “We needed to hustle to balls better.  We just had a lot of chances we didn’t take, and some unlucky footwork”

Bartlett also commented on the missed opportunities tonight from the Ranger offense.

“We have to concentrate on our finishing. We played a pretty good game, but we just could’t finish. We just have to concentrate on that.”

The Rangers look to gain sole lead of the conference Tuesday night as they take on the Ottawa Hills Bengals.

The Ranger defense picked up some slack tonight, regardless of offensive woes. Playing without starting sophomores Geoffrey Batterbee and Josh Koets, FHC had to fill the empty gaps.

“They played well,” Bartlett said. “We’re pretty dynamic in the back, and we’re still missing one of our players back there. We played solid and did well with the weather.  I couldn’t have asked for much more than what they gave.”