The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Hornets lose 1-0 heartbreaker on road at Huron
Rats score with 3:09 left after Hornets' 'keeper yellow-carded
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2008
In 2007, the Saline girls' soccer team and Ann Arbor Huron played to a scoreless draw. And for 77 minutes Friday night, it looked like the teams' first meeting in 2008 would end the same way.
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Unfortunately for Saline, it didn't.
With just 3:09 left in the game, the homestanding Rats pounced on a loose ball in the Saline penalty box and punched a shot past stand-in goalkeeper Angie Hollis, handing the Hornets a 1-0 defeat.
The loss dropped Saline to 7-2-1 overall on the season and 5-1-1 in Southeastern Conference play, but Hornet head coach Dave Tapping wasn't about to worry too much about a hard-fought, one-goal loss on the road.
"We're all right," he said. "We came in prepared and the girls played their heart out tonight. We're still in the (SEC) hunt. It would have been pretty arrogant of us to expect to go through the SEC undefeated.
"What's disappointing is that the game had to be decided on a junky kind of goal."
That goal came following a key play with 10:57 left in the game. A pass over the top by Huron sprung a Rat forward free and Hornet goalkeeper Hannah Ulrich came out quickly to make a sliding save with her right hand. But with the save coming outside the penalty area, Ulrich was yellow carded for handball and forced to miss all but the final 57 seconds of the game.
That necessitated moving regular starting defender Hollis into the Saline net. She saved well on a direct shot on goal on the ensuing free kick and was quick to gather in both a later corner kick and an attempted Huron through-ball.
But following an obstruction foul, Huron's decisive 35-yard free kick popped loose in the box, and there was little Hollis could do on Lisa Masini's close-range shot.
"There's not a lot of players who wouldn't even want to step into that situation," Tapping said of Hollis' role reversal. "She made some great plays for us. (That situation) was just a huge change for our defense."
Saline began the game aggressively on offense, with a Kellie Stepaniak cross nearly finding the foot of Emilee Kaminski five minutes in and a volley from inside the Huron box from Andrea Sulavik sailing wide with 28:30 left in the half.
Despite a period of Huron possession, the Hornets produced their best chance of the match with 7:45 to play in the half. A long pass up the field was controlled by Kaminski, whose pass set Jena Cooper free on a breakaway. But Cooper's shot drifted high and the game went into halftime scoreless.
The Hornets looked to take the lead with a series of corner kicks early in the second half, but Saline was unable to turn any of them on net. And, despite increased pressure, neither side was able to generate any clear chances until Ulrich's card turned momentum toward the Rats.
"Our defense was solid," Tapping said. "With those four corner kicks, we need to get one of them in."
Saline made short work of Lincoln at home the day before, mercy-ruling the visiting Railsplitters 8-0. Scoring for Saline were Janine Sulavik and Stephanie Burke with two goals each, and Autumn Jacobs, Katrina Hollis and Lauren Birdsong with a goal apiece.
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