The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hornets not there yet
Three-goal stretch in five minutes gives Riverview 3-2 win
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 1, 2007
For 40 minutes Thursday, the Saline Hornet hockey team played well enough to come away with its first win of the season.
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But for five minutes at the start of the third period, Saline did not. The result was a 3-2 defeat to visiting Riverview that dropped Saline to 0-11-4 on the season.
"We have to play the full 45 minutes," said head coach Drew Denzin. "That's been our problem. It's the small, little things that are hurting us.
"It's frustrating for the guys. They're playing hard; they're in every game. But every game we make a couple of mistakes, and the mistakes are ending up in our net."
Entering the third period, the Hornets were more than in the game; they were in the lead. Junior Randy Schilke took a pass from Kelly O'Sullivan in the first period and scored, giving the Hornets an early advantage.
The Saline defensive lines then held strong through the second half of the first period and the entire second. The Pirates looked increasingly dangerous on the power play, but an excellent kick save at the 7:53 mark from goalie Nick Colarossi kept the visitors off the board.
Saline had its chances to extend their lead in the period, as well. Bobby Schilke's shot from the right wing was narrowly blocked by a Pirate defenseman with 10:29 in the second. Senior Grant Phillips narrowly missed at the 4:30 mark, and again from point-blank range with 50 seconds left in the period.
The missed opportunities would haunt the Hornets as the third period began. Riverview began the period on their sixth power play and finally converted, with Zachary Taylor scoring on a slap shot with 14:24 left in the game to tie the score at 1.
"Penalties hurt us all night," Denzin said. "You're not going to go 6-6 killing penalties against Riverview. At some point, the dam is going to break."
Riverview would take the lead barely more than a minute later. Justin Dilsure would score following a Drew Judge pass with 13:11 left, and the Pirates were in control. They extended the lead at the 8:03 mark through Kevin Wilson. After leading entering the third period for the first time this season, Saline was suddenly in a 3-1 hole.
To their credit, the Hornets continued to fight. David Spallina came close with 8:47 left. With 5:44 to play, Ryan Luke stabbed the puck home after a goalmouth scramble to trim the lead to one.
Luke came close again in the final minute after Colarossi has been pulled, but the tying goal to force overtime would not come and Saline remained winless.
Despite the loss, there were some positives for Denzin, who said that freshman Colarossi, in his first start, "did everything we could have asked him."
Denzin also was happy that his team continued to battle despite its long string of narrow losses.
"They realize that it's not like we don't have any business being on the ice with these teams," he said. "Every game's tight. We just keep getting the short end of the stick."
De La Salle 4, Saline 1
The Hornets traveled to the Great lakes Arena in Fraser to meet the De LaSalle Pilots for an evening contest Saturday. The Pilots wasted no time showing whose home ice it was, scoring less than 30 seconds into the game.
They dominated the first two periods, scoring again in the first on the power play and with just eight seconds remaining in the second, again with the man advantage. The Pilots would go on to score a shorthanded goal in the third period to stretch the lead to 4-0.
Late in the third, Saline sophomore defenseman Sean MacNeil scored, stick handling in deep before beating the goalie with a forehand shot along the ice. David Spallina and Bobby Schilke got the assists on the play.
Saline will try again for its first win 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Ann Arbor Huron at the Ann Arbor Ice cube.
Staff Writer Jerry Hinnen can be reached at 429-7380 or jhinnen@heritage.com.
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