The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hornets survive OT thriller vs. Huron, 9-8
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 31, 2007
The Saline lacrosse team kept their dream season alive. Barely.
Advertisement
The undefeated Hornets withstood a serious challenge from Ann Arbor Huron in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs May 23, winning a 9-8 thriller on a Shane Jay-Garfein goal just 10 seconds into sudden-death overtime.
Saline never led in regulation and entered the final minute trailing 8-7 before a Bobby Bianchi goal with 55 seconds remaining forced the game into overtime.
"They have been so resilient all season long and they showed it again tonight," said head coach John Phillips. "It comes down to our senior leadership. They didn't want this to be their last game. They refused to lose."
Bianchi's score capped a wild fourth quarter in which the visiting River Rats held four separate one-goal leads, only for Saline to respond with a tying goal all four times.
Ryan Crawford's goal with 8:41 to play capped a beautiful four-pass sequence by the Hornets and pulled the home team even at 5-5.
Huron would take a 6-5 lead just 18 seconds later, but Scott Harris got his second assist of the period with 5:58 to play, feeding Bianchi for the 6-6 tie. The Rats retook the lead with 4:36 left, only for Crawford to equalize 16 seconds later on an Evan O'Reilly assist.
But again Saline could not maintain the tie and fell behind 8-7 with just 3:10 remaining. Huron looked to be in excellent shape after forcing a late turnover and bringing the ball past midfield with less than 90 seconds to play, but senior midfielderBen Donahue's head-first, diving stick-check forced the ball out of bounds and back to Saline.
"Such a headsy, gutsy play," Phillips said of Donahue's effort. "It shows a lot of heart and a lot of guts. It was a tremendous play."
Saline would lose possession again, but a Rat pass toward midfield was intercepted and the Hornets were able to get the ball to Jay-Garfein near the goal. The junior found the cutting Bianchi and the sophomore sent the game into overtime tied at eight.
The Hornets wasted no time in the extra frame. Scott Merk won the face-off and got the ball to midfielder Grant Telfer, who fed Jay-Garfein in the attacking zone. Jay-Garfein turned toward the center of the field and fired high into the net over the Rat goalie's right shoulder, setting off a raucous Hornet celebration and eliminating the dejected Rats from the postseason.
"Grant picked it up and got it to me, and I just ducked past my guy and shot," Jay-Garfein said of the play. "It felt really good. We wanted to win this game for the seniors."
"He was a horse down low," said Phillips, who gave Jay-Garfein his first career start against Huron. "(The winning goal) was a very patient shot. He got position, used a little half- fake to freeze the goalie ... he didn't rush it."
The Hornets entered the playoffs seeded third in Division 1, Region 3, and by avoiding the upset from the sixth-seeded Rats advanced to face No. 2 seed Novi Wednesday in Novi. Saline improved to 18-0 overall on the year.
Saline trailed 2-0 in the first quarter before a Kelly O'Sullivan goal cut the lead in half entering the second, and a Jay-Garfein score -- on another Harris assist -- evened the game at two with 8:18 to play in the first half.
Huron would go on to take a 3-2 lead at halftime and a 4-2 lead in the third quarter on a stunning shorthanded goal. The Hornets regrouped, Jay-Garfein netting his second and Donahue adding one with 42 seconds left in the period to send Saline into the fourth trailing 5-4.
Staff Writer Jerry Hinnen can be reached at 429-7380 or at jhinnen@heritage.com.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
Staff Blog, "Inside The Newsroom"
TOP JOBS
