The Saline Reporter
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Saline dispatches Holt East Lansing, 10-6
Hornets move to 2-1 on the young season after win
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 3, 2008
After scoring just one goal against Dexter following a season-opening 13-1 win over Chelsea, the Saline girls' water polo team wanted to get back to its high-scoring ways in its March 26 game against Holt-East Lansing.
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Consider that mission accomplished, as the homestanding Hornets put 10 past the H.E.L. goalie and won 10-6 to move to 2-1 on the young season.
"Since last Thursday (and the Dexter loss), all we worked on was getting better on offense and that paid off tonight," said head coach Brad Silverman. "Defensively, we're only giving up around three goals a game, so far. If you can do that and score consistently, you're going to win a lot more games than you lose."
Only three of the 11 girls on the Hornets' varsity roster are sophomores, but that didn't stop them from providing half the Saline scoring as Alli Littlejohn posted her second three-goal game of the year and Gabby Thornton scored a pair of fourth-quarter goals.
"Our younger girls are stepping in and really filling their roles," Silverman said. "Gabby's got a cannon for an arm. It's just a matter of using it at the right time and every shot she took tonight was a smart shot.
Alli knows exactly where she needs to be and goes where she needs to go. This is a game of positioning and you can see in the number of goals she's scored she's been in the right positions."
The Hornets were in control throughout, holding the visitors scoreless through the first two quarters. Captain Laura Kuzma and junior Brittany White got Saline on the board with two goals in the first quarter, and a pair of tallies from Littlejohn gave the Hornets a commanding 4-0 lead at the break.
H.E.L. got on the board in the third quarter, but responses from Littlejohn and Carly Haller kept Saline up five, 6-1, entering the final period.
The visitors would trim the lead to four goals at 7-3 midway through the quarter, but goals from Thornton and Kuzma would push the lead back to six and effectively seal the win. Senior Kristen Kotlarczyk also scored in the period as the Hornets held off H.E.L.'s attempted rally.
"We played a little bit on cruise control in the third quarter," Silverman said. "We stressed before the fourth quarter we wanted to see more intensity and score some more goals rather than sitting on the lead. And that's what they did."
Saline lost the JV game by shootout after the two teams tied 9-9 in regulation. Thornton scored five for the Hornets with Stephanie Bundas, Lea Allen, Andrea Frailey and Bailey Workman also scoring.
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