The Saline Reporter
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Pioneers hand Hornets season-opening loss
Saline falls 14-1 in first-ever meeting between the schools
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 27, 2008
It won't be a second straight undefeated season for the Saline lacrosse team.
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The Hornets were never expecting one, but Ann Arbor Pioneer made it certain with a 14-1 thumping of visiting Saline in both teams' season debuts on a frigid Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.
In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, Saline struggled against the favored Pioneers from the opening face-off, falling behind 5-0 after the first quarter and trailing 10-0 at halftime.
"I think we came out very flat and we ran into a team that was more prepared and more ready to play than we were," said first-year head coach John Harris. "We were tentative, and lacrosse is a game where you can't be tentative. They made us pay."
To their credit, the Hornets responded to Harris's halftime challenge to "go out and win the third quarter" by nearly doing just that.
While a renewed Saline defensive effort limited the Pioneers to a single goal in the frame, the Hornets began to force the Pioneer goalkeeper into a handful of saves. A little more than halfway into the period, Brad Crimmons found Matt Dysko in front of goal for the first score of the Hornets' 2008 season.
It would prove to be the only goal of the game for Saline, but Harris was nonetheless much happier with his team's second-half effort than their first.
"Our defensive intensity really improved. We were sliding to the ball and did a much better job communication," Harris said. "We started to play more offensively than we did in the first half."
One unresolved position issue for Saline remained unresolved after the game as Ian Evans drew the start in goal and senior Kyle Brown — likely better known amongst Saline fans for his time quarterbacking the Hornet football team — took over after halftime.
"The switch was in no way a reflection of Ian's performance. We just wanted an opportunity to assess both goalkeepers," Harris said. "Kyle made a couple of key saves and I do think that helped our guys' momentum in the second half."
Even with the improvement in the third and fourth quarters, Harris said his team still had plenty to work on before returning to Ann Arbor Thursday to take on Ann Arbor Huron, who will be out for revenge after Saline eliminated the River Rats in the first round of the 2007 playoffs in dramatic fashion.
"We need to focus on winning more ground balls," Harris said. "Once we get possession, we also need to be a little more deliberate, a little more patient on offense. A few times tonight we won possession and gave it away again with an inadvertent pass. Some of that's explained by first-game jitters, but we're going to have to a do a better job Thursday."
Harris said he doesn't see his team dwelling on the loss for too long.
"That's the true test of a team, to take a tough loss like this and come back with a great practice and a better performance next time," he said. "We've played one game and we've got 16 more to play. We're focused on the task at hand."
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