The Saline Reporter
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Hornet season ends in overtime, 2-1
Woodhaven eliminates Hornets but Denzin happy with season
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 6, 2008
It was the kind of game in which "you know one bounce was going to decide it," said Saline head ice hockey coach Drew Denzin.
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Unfortunately for the Hornets, the bounce ended up costing Saline a fifth straight berth in a regional championship game.
Less than a minute into overtime of the Hornets' pre-regional final against Brownstown-Woodhaven Feb. 27, a Warrior pass glanced off the stick of Saline defenseman Brandon Neeb, caught Hornet goalie Brad Perino off guard and trickled into net to give Woodhaven a sudden 2-1 win.
The loss ended Saline's season with a 13-12-1 record.
"I'm proud of the way the team played. They left it all on the ice the way we hoped they would," Denzin said. "We just couldn't generate a lot of offense. It was a close game, a difficult game to lose."
The game was tense and tight throughout as Woodhaven defended in numbers and neither team was ever able to create much in the way of offensive opportunities.
"There were few chances, either way," Denzin said. "Woodhaven likes to clog the middle of the ice, get a lot of guys in front of the net, and they forced us to take a lot of shots from the blue line. There wasn't a lot of flow to the game, and that's not the way we like to play.
"But we had opportunities. We just didn't take advantage of them."
Despite their difficulties, it was the Hornets who would get on the scoreboard first. Defenseman Sean MacNeil found Daniel Filipsson midway through the second period and Filipsson capitalized on the chance to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
Saline would take that lead into the second intermission, but Woodhaven would respond with a goal in the third period to even the score at one. The game would go into overtime still knotted at one thanks, in part, to some solid Saline defending and goaltending from Perino.
"Brad played very well and made several saves to keep us in it," Denzin said. "We had a great game from everyone on our defensive lines. It just came down to those missed opportunities."
In the end, it was the Warriors who found the net first and advanced. It was the second playoff heartbreaker for Saline in as many seasons after the Hornets saw a four-goal lead slip away against Milford in 2007.
But Denzin said even a defeat as bitter as the one to Woodhaven shouldn't obscure what his team accomplished — a winning season and a Southeastern Conference Red division championship — just a year removed from a 2007-2007 campaign that resulted in just two regular-season wins.
"They've really grown as players and as people," Denzin said. "Especially after last year, to beat the other in-rink teams, to finish a game over .500 with the schedule we played, to win our SEC division, it's been very satisfying.
"But what I've really enjoyed is seeing the guys grow as a group. Our last practice you could see them enjoying themselves and having a good time on the ice. Enjoying a sport and competing as hard as you can — that's the goal in high school sports, and we did that this season."
Denzin gave much of the credit to his senior class of Scott Peck, captain Cory Farrell, Randy Schilke, Cory Corker, Kevin Fisher, Jack Wallace, David Spallina and Perino.
"It starts with our captain, and Cory has been there through thick-and-thin, all the back-and-forth, and has done a great job of keeping everyone focused and upbeat," Denzin said. "These seniors have helped make ice hockey a competitive winter sport here at Saline. The classes before them raised expectations for the program and they've carried that torch."
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