When the highlight of the night is the singing of the national anthem, you know its going to be one of those nights.

After being introduced with the starters for last Monday’s Northern Ohio Conference inter-divisional girls soccer game against the Mayfield Wildcats, Lakewood freshman Abby Boland raced up the steps on the home side of Lakewood Stadium, ran into the press box and belted out The Star-Spangled Banner on the stadium public address system. Unfortunately for Lakewood soccer fans the only sounds the rest of the night were Wildcat fans cheering as Mayfield cruised to an easy 6-0 victory.

The Rangers girls’ soccer team entered the Mayfield match short-handed with four starters out due to injury. The Rangers makeshift lineup, featuring three freshmen in the starting 11, proved no match for Mayfield’s high-powered offense.

Mayfield forward Rachael Kravitz got the scoring started in the fourth minute when she received a throw-in at midfield and raced up the left side of the field and around the Lakewood defense to find the back of the net and put the Wildcats on top 1-0.

Kravitz, who scored 10 goals in the Wildcats first three games, scored again in the 15th minute after taking a pass from Megan Puskar and shooting past Ranger goalkeeper Carrie Moran.

Moran, a senior captain, faced 21 shots making 15 saves and keeping Lakewood in the game until the second half. After the game, second-year head coach Joshua Thornsberry had strong praise for Moran who was ranked third in the state in saves after three games. “Carrie’s performance this season has been outstanding.

“We have had so many injuries; we have a lot of girls playing out of position. Carrie didn’t get a lot of help out there tonight.” Among the injured for the Mayfield game were seniors Tessa Endress, Caleigh Prebel, Cecily Rus and junior Ericka Schmidt.

One of the few bright spots for the Rangers in the match was the play of freshman Gina Mack. Mack, a forward, broke free of the top-ranked Mayfield defense on numerous occasions but was unable to get a shot past Wildcat goalkeeper Laura Arnold. Through three games Mayfield still had not allowed a goal all season, outscoring their opponents 16-0.

Despite the loss to Mayfield, the Rangers remained at the .500 mark (2-2-0) and Thornsberry believes these early season games could help the team come October. “Tonight showed we have a lot of work to do,” Thornsberry said. “But the freshman are definitely learning the ropes and gaining valuable experience.”

The Rangers, who won their first conference title in school history in 2007, look to be in the chase for the Northeastern Ohio Conference Lake Division crown again this year. The Rangers main competition should come from a Twinsburg Tigers that nearly upset defending Division II state champion Hathaway Brown before falling 2-1 in their season opener. Lakewood and Twinsburg will face off Saturday at 7 PM at Garfield Middle School.