The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Hornets pick up big W's
Saline too much for Tecumseh, downs Northville 8-5
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2008
For the second time in two weeks, the Saline lacrosse team dropped a tough midweek game against a strong opponent. For the second time, the Hornets responded with a solid win in their next game out.
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Following a 12-6 loss to Novi April 23, the Hornets rebounded with a dominant 15-6 win over visiting Tecumseh. Four goals from Scott Harris helped Saline to a 9-1 lead early in the second quarter and the Hornets never looked back.
"We did a really nice job tonight of taking care of ball and played fairly well on defense," said Saline head coach John Harris. "We were able to give everyone a lot of playing time, which is real important as get ready for our playoff stretch."
The comfortable win was especially satisfying after what Harris called a "disappointing performance" against Novi. Saline fell behind the Wildcats 3-0 at the end of the first quarter and 5-1 at halftime before a five-goal burst from Novi put the visitors ahead 10-3 entering the fourth, essentially finishing off the game.
"Novi's a very good team and we didn't match their skill or their intensity," Harris said.
Shane Jay-Garfein scored a pair of goals for Saline, while Harris added one score and a pair of assists. Ryan Luke, Evan Kourtjian and Jacob Fosdick each also added single goals, while Bobby Bianchi, Nick Schineman and Kourtjian each recorded an assist.
It was a different story for Saline against the Indians. Harris fed Jay-Garfein for a tap-in goal 3:30 into the game, the first of what would be seven first-quarter goals. Bianchi fed Harris for Saline's second just 32 seconds later, followed by scores by Harris, Schineman, Harris again and Jordan Hartman.
Matt D'Agostino would polish off the period with a tally with 48 seconds left, sending the home team into the second quarter with a commanding 7-1 advantage.
"One of our goals as a team was to play more efficiently, to make smart decisions, move the ball, not carry it too much," Harris said of Saline's offensive success. "And I think tonight we played with that efficiency and crispness."
Harris, Tom Golden and Matt Dysko each added second-quarter goals as Saline went into halftime up 10-2. A pair of Bianchi goals kept the lead at 12-4 at the end of three with one score from Schineman and two from Golden — on assists from Harris, Brad Crimmins and Hartman — finished the Saline scoring.
The disruptive defense of Crimmins, Brad Perino, Preston Mueller, Alex Smith and Nate Sovitch combined with the more poised Saline offensive performance led to a big advantage for the Hornets in terms of possession — the key to victories, Harris said, as the season begins to wind down and the schedule continues to challenge.
"That's where we're looking to improve," he said. "If we can play offense more than our opponents, we're going to win more games than we lose."
Saline 8, Northville 5
The Hornets improved to 6-4 on the season with a road victory Saturday over what Harris called a "tough" Northville team.
Harris finished with three goals and two assists to again spearhead the Hornet attack. Jay-Garfein, Bianchi, Schineman, Fosdick and Rob DeHaan each added a goal.
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