Overall Record: 14-4-3
National Rank: 410
State Rank: 19
Road to Regionals and Beyond
Sectional
Game 1
Forest Park vs. Tell City (10-0)
Game 2
Forest Park vs. Heritage Hills (2-1) OT
Following a pressure-cooked 94 minutes of play that featured a goal in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime, a thundering thread of physical play and an equally enthusiasticcrowd, Altmann and company held together against a practically parallel Heritage Hills squad.
The Rangers’ 2-1 overtime escape in Saturday’s Class 1A boys soccer sectional championship in Lincoln City provoked instant emotion of every order. With a tick under two minutes remaining in the second overtime period, Ranger forward Spenser Sermersheim touched a delicate pass into the penalty area, which teammate Ben Englert reached a split second before Patriot goalkeeper Nick Waninger.
Englert’s one-time tap past the goalkeeper rolled softly into the net, as the midfielder and his team erupted in euphoria. After withstanding the Patriots’ final efforts, the celebration recommenced. -Joe Jasinski
(Below) Forest Park’s Brandon Luebbehusen, left, Max Rickelman, Cody Flamion, Derek Hoffman, student manager Sam Russell, Blake Altmann, Joel Weyer and Spenser Sermersheim celebrated Saturday’s 2-1 overtime triumph over Heritage Hills that earned the Rangers a second straight Class 1A sectional title
Regional
Game 1
Forest Park vs. Evansville Mater Dei (1-0)
The Rangers (11-3-3) kick off their second straight regional bid against 12th-ranked Evansville Mater Dei (7-11-1) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. EDT Thursday at Fort Branch in a rematch of last year’s regional championship. -Joe Jasinski
(Below) Cody Tempel (23) and the rest of Forest Park’s defense changed course early this season, switching from a four-man wall to a three-man shield. The hope was for a continuation of stingy defense and a boost of offense, and the switch worked as the Rangers have reached the Class 1A regional for the second straight year.
Game 2
Forest Park vs. Washington Catholic (2-1)
The Rangers led by a goal earlier, forfeited the advantage and once again located the moxie to persevere. Label it their comfort zone, their preferred time to thrive or their finest moment. As the Rangers willed their way past the 13th-ranked Cardinals 2-1 in the Class 1A regional championship on Saturday at Fort Branch, the result once again pinpointed the team’s defining property.
“Anytime a team shows that much heart and composure, it’s tough to knock them off,” Begle said.
“We talked about it all season, how we were going to be the first team to make history. ... I’m glad we finally made it happen.”
A year after Forest Park notched the program’s first win in a regional, the Rangers once again added to the collection: a first regional title.
Just as they had in their previous two tournament contests, the Rangers (13-3-3) found the salvo to snap an all-squared match in the second half. And as was the case in their sectional title match against Heritage Hills, the game-winner came after the opposition had responded with an equalizer.
As the Rangers continued pressing in the opening half, freshman Evan Dilger flicked a nifty one-touch pass over the defense from just outside the 18-yard box. A streaking Ben Englert rushed onto the bouncing ball, took one touch past a defender and rifled a shot to grant Forest Park a one-goal lead in the match’s 28th minute.
From there, the Rangers relied upon their slightly altered defense to preserve the marginal advantage — no small chore given Washington Catholic’s offensive competence, Forest Park coach Brent Sicard said.
To counteract the danger, Sicard installed senior Derek Hoffman as a fourth defender, which allowed teammate Cole Henke to shadow Fuhs. Hoffman remained stout, as did center back Cody Tempel and outside defender Cody Flamion. Every attack the Cardinals (14-6-1) mounted seemed destined for one inevitable outcome: a booted clearance from someone on the Ranger back line.
Yet a split-second counterattack was all it took for Fuhs and company to formulate their rebuttal with 10:46 to play. Cardinal midfielder Brody Wilson slotted a through-ball to Fuhs, who barely outpaced Henke and slid a shot past a charging Blake Altmann in goal.
“It’s kind of one of those (goals) that takes all the air out of you,” Sicard said. “But these guys have responded … and made sure that they weren’t going to lose.”
Some four minutes later, Englert once again blazed down the right sideline and into the Cardinal penalty area, running onto a penetrating pass from Alex Russell. But before he could engineer a shot, a Cardinal defender bodied Englert to the turf inside the box, producing Begle’s opportunity.
“That’s a chance you’ve got to bury, too. It’s not a given,” Sicard said.
“You still need to step up and put it away. And that’s what Dakota did.”
And after six Rangers retreated into defense in the closing minutes, the clock finally displayed zeroes and the celebration was on. As the regional plate was presented, players and students barreled toward each other before converging in elation. Midfielder Joel Weyer and several other teammates found Sicard for spirited hugs. -Joe Jasinski
Forest Park’s Alex Russell won the ball from Washington Catholic’s James Brown.
Semi-State
Game 1
Forest Park vs. Speedway (2-1) OT
Game 2
Forest Park vs. Providence (0-1) OT
Forest Park shut down Providence for 94 minutes in Saturday's boys soccer semistate championship at Floyd Central, but one fluke sequence still dashed the Rangers' bid at playing for a state championship.
Providence scored on an own goal that deflected off a Ranger player and into the Forest Park goal in the first overtime session, and the Pioneers held on for a 1-0 victory to advance to next week's Class 1A state finals. The Rangers closed the season with a 14-4-3 mark after winning the program's first regional crown.
It was the second overtime skirmish of the day for the Rangers, who outlasted fifth-ranked Speedway (21-3) in a 2-1 semifinal victory. Dakota Begle notched the game-winner on a free kick in overtime, and Evan Dilger notched the first Ranger goal in the second half before Speedway knotted the game on a penalty kick. -Herald Staff Reports
-Joe Jasinski
