The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hornets advance in district tournament
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 31, 2007
The Saline girls' soccer team won its final game of the regular season 6-0 and eliminated what might have been the toughest opponent in its district tournament with a 3-1 first-round win at home Tuesday night.
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But that doesn't mean head coach Dave Tapping is happy with his team just yet.
"We're still waiting for that statement game," he said after the Hornets' two-goal win over Brownstown-Woodhaven in the team's playoff opener. "That's what we're waiting for ... Woodhaven's a very good team. In the second half we got the ball wide and did some good things. But we didn't play very well in the first half."
Tapping was frustrated enough with his team's play in opening 40 minutes to make a halftime change in formation, abandoning the Hornets' usual 3-5-2 for a four-person back line featuring Monica Mezger installed as a sweeper behind three other defenders.
The teams had gone into the break tied at 1 after a Kellie Stepaniak goal was evened out by a 20-yard Woodhaven strike late in the half.
But the reorganized Saline defense stuffed the Warriors in the second half and junior Katrina Hollis scored a pair of goals to give the homestanding Hornets the 3-1 win. Hollis's first came 10 minutes into the half following a precision cross from the right wing by Stepaniak.
Hollis doubled Saline's lead just five minutes later. Megan Ward earned the assist, attacking the endline and pulling the ball back to a waiting Hollis for the finish.
"These are our bench players who were scoring the goals and getting the assists," Tapping said. "That's what we want to see, our players come off the bench and want to be the hero and try to earn one of those starting spots."
Tapping allowed that his team was also unsettled by the loss of senior forward Chrissy Gentile, who was taken to the hospital with a leg injury during the first half.
"We rallied around her in the second half," Tapping said.
With the win, Saline advanced to Thursday night's district semifinal against familiar Southeastern Conference foe Ypsilanti-Lincoln. The Hornets defeated the Railsplitters 2-0 May 8 and would be the favorite both in that game and a potential district final Saturday against either Bedford or Monroe.
But Tapping is taking nothing for granted after Saline's surprising 1-0 loss on the road at Bedford Tuesday, May 22. The Hornets had drilled the Mules 5-0 in the teams' first meeting but could not score in the rematch despite a whopping 17 shots on goal. Bedford, by contrast, finished with only two.
"It was very, very frustrating," Tapping said. "We had chance after chance. But we've got to put the ball in the net."
Saline bounced back two days later with a 6-0 whipping of visiting Adrian on the team's Senior Night. Ward got the Hornets on the scoreboard seven minutes in, followed by a strike from Andrea Sulavik from 28 yards out seven minutes later. Saline would go into halftime up 4-0 after a pair of goals in the half's final five minutes, one from Lauren Zahn following a corner kick and one a hard low shot from Mezger.
Meredith Faas pushed the lead to 5-0 within a minute of the start of the second half and usual goalkeeper Mackenzie Gilmore, enjoying a rare appearance as a field player, finished the rout with a breakaway goal with 26 minutes to play.
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