On Tuesday night at FHC, Ottawa Hills gave FHC everything that they could. Ultimately, the Rangers pulled away with a three to zero victory over the Bengals. The Ottawa Hills team that FHC faced on Tuesday was a much more competitive bunch compared to the first time these two teams met. 

“I give them credit,” head coach Blair Lincoln said. “They had a good defensive scheme that they were working on. It’s very tough to score when they pack nine guys back.”

Ottawa Hills caused havoc on defense and matched the Rangers’ attack for all of regulation.  However, junior goalkeeper Jared Ireland felt that the Rangers came out with the attitude of thinking that they had already won the game. Early on, it looked like Jared was right.

The first goal of the game finally came in the first half of overtime. As a cluster of defenders started to hound freshmen midfielder Sam Postelwait, he let a shot loose. The shot ricocheted off of the goalkeepers hands and landed in the back net. Not a picture perfect goal, but it certainly put FHC where they wanted to be, and that was in control. Spectators did not have to wait much longer until the second goal was tacked on by senior captain Noah Saleh. This goal came off of an impressive set piece shot. After  the 2-0 lead, the Rangers could relax a bit. As time ran down, FHC added one more to the scoreline before the clock hit zero. The last goal was scored by junior Cole Dareshori.

Before overtime, FHC applied constant pressure on offense but could not find the back of the net. Sam knows that they did not do a fantastic job as a team during regulation.

“We just weren’t working hard enough,” Sam said. “We just need to apply more pressure, and everyone needs to step up as a team and create more opportunities.”

Certainly, opportunities will be needed at Lowell who will be trying to knock FHC off and kill their seven game win streak. This upcoming game holds much bigger implications than a mere streak. If FHC beats Lowell, they will leapfrog the Red Arrows and sit above them by a point and be tied with FHN for first place in the OK White conference. However, if FHC happens to come out slow like they did against Ottawa Hills, they could find themselves down early against a tough opponent with high stakes.

Lincoln knows how important Thursday will be for his team.

“We’re going to ride this win into Lowell and compete for a conference championship.”