The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hornets make state for 2nd straight year
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 22, 2008
Once might have been a fluke. But twice doesn't leave much doubt.
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At last weekend's East Regionals, the Saline girls' water polo team announced it was ready to remain a force on the state level by earning its second straight — and second-ever — state tournament berth.
The Hornets never trailed in their all-important opening-round game against Okemos, downing the Chiefs 5-3 to punch their state ticket.
"We're excited," head coach Brad Silverman said. "This was important for our program. Our freshmen and sophomores who have gone to state every year, they're going to have the mindset going into next season that we're going to make state every year. It's a big step for us."
The victory was especially sweet, Silverman said, given that the Hornets entered this season with only two seniors and far less experience than the veteran 2007 squad.
"This one feels even a little bit more special than last year," he said. "I would say it has been a tougher road this year. But the girls have worked hard and had maybe a more competitive mindset that's helped overcome the loss of (last year's) talent."
Silverman admitted the Hornets might have been "nervous" before the game, but after a stop on the Chief's opening possession and quick counter-attack, Saline quickly got their legs underneath them.
The Hornets would go on to take a 2-0 first-half lead before Okemos fought back to force the game's only tie at 2-2.
Saline would re-extend the lead to 4-2 by the end of the third quarter and put the game away with a fifth goal in the fourth.
The Hornets' balanced attack saw the five goals come from five different goal scorers. Kassia Zalewski, Carly Haller, Kristen Kotlarczyk, Alli Littlejohn and Stephanie Bundas each found the net.
The Hornets entered the game with a lot of confidence, Silverman said, after having defeated Okemos in the regular season and seen the other three teams from their district go 3-0 in the first round.
"We knew that if we played our game, there wasn't any way we could lose," Silverman said. "We felt like we were in control the whole game."
For the second time in as many tournaments, the Hornets were dropped from the semifinals into the consolation bracket by top-seed Ann Arbor Pioneer, this time by a 9-3 score. Haller, Alyssa Hart and Littlejohn provided the goals.
But whereas at Districts Saline had followed up its loss to the Pioneers with a win over Birmingham Groves in the third-place game, this time the host Falcons handed the Hornets a 4-2 defeat.
Haller scored both goals for Saline.
"The coaches from Groves all agreed that our two teams could play 50 times and we'd both win 25," Silverman said. "You couldn't have two more evenly matched teams. With them in their home pool and wanting that little bit of revenge, it was tough."
In the end, even the loss wasn't enough to take the shine off of a win that will allow Saline to compete for a state title in their home pool. The Hornets will host the state championship tournament starting 4 p.m. May 30, with the home team making its debut against West Region No. 1 seed Rockford at 6:30 p.m. that day.
"We were disappointed we didn't take third," Silverman said, "but we were happy with our weekend as a whole."
Senior captain Hart was named to the All-Region first team. Littlejohn was named to the second team and Laura Kuzma received honorable mention honors.
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