The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Deep Hornets look for breakthrough
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
For four consecutive years, the Saline girls' soccer team has won its district and fallen in either the regional semifinal or — the past two seasons — in the regional championship game.
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But with all 10 field players who started the Hornets' playoff defeat to Northville back on the roster, head coach Dave Tapping believes this could be the season that his program breaks through to the state semifinals.
"We feel like this is the team that's going to do it," Tapping said. "We're very skilled, very experienced, and the girls are very hungry this year."
It won't be easy — Saline's district now includes Ann Arbor rivals Pioneer and Huron — but the Hornets have plenty of reasons for optimism, starting with 13 returning lettermen on the 19-deep roster and what Tapping says is already shaping up to be outstanding team synergy.
"Our numbers are a little bit smaller," he said, "but the energy is already there; the chemistry is already there. This is the closest the team has been before the season and we're going to keep building."
The Hornets will feature experience and depth all over the field, but maybe nowhere more so than in defense, where the back line of senior Monica Mezger and juniors Angie Hollis and Claire Phillips returns intact in Tapping's 3-5-2 formation.
Sophomore Meghan Stephens also will likely see time in the Saline defense.
"Without a doubt, they're what gives us the freedom to attack," Tapping said of his defenders. "That's where things start."
In the midfield, Saline will begin the season without junior Meredith Faas as she recovers from an offseason knee injury. But central midfielders Andrea Sulavik and Autumn Jacobs should be more than capable of holding down the center of the field, while seniors Kellie Stepaniak and Kacy Hartman return to their places on the wing.
Junior Lauren Birdsong also saw plenty of playing time in 2007, and juniors Patti Vaassen and Kim Kurtz and freshman Emilee Kaminski also will be expected to contribute.
Saline will rely on a number of seniors up front. Forward Stephanie Burke could also see time in the offensive midfield while the dangerous Jena Cooper, Katrina Hollis and Megan Johnson also will look to get on the score sheet. Sophomore Janine Sulavik will be in the mix, as well.
Between his aggressive midfield and experienced forwards, Tapping doesn't see goal scoring as a problem.
"We can attack from anywhere on the field," he said. "Someone's going to step up and score goals for us. Right now, what we have to work on is actually being more selfish. We need to take more shots and not look quite so much to lay off."
The one true hole from last year's team might be at goalkeeper, where All-State, multi-year starter MacKenzie Gilmore has moved on to play for Ohio State. But Tapping is more than confident junior Hannah Ulrich is ready to take over the job.
"She's more than capable," Tapping said. "She's got great foot skills; she's got experience playing at a very high level. We're not going to miss a beat back there."
It was Cooper who scored the winner in Saline's 1-0 scrimmage win over Regina Harper Woods in last Saturday's Hornet Classic, a multi-team tune-up tournament for Saline's season-opener Tuesday at Huron at 5:30 p.m.
Tapping is confident that it's just to start to a season in which the Hornets will live up to their 2008 team slogan: W.I.N. ("What's Important Now").
"The pieces of the puzzle are in place," he said. "This is what we've been building toward."
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