Early Hornets Offensive Explosion Too Much for Wildcats

The Saline Hornets put five quick goals up against the Plymouth Wildcats Wednesday night. The two teams spent the remaining three quarters exchanging goals, and Saline pulled out a 10-6 victory.

“We were a little disappointed with our games last week with Dexter and Okemos, so we really wanted to come out and make a statement. This is the last game that counts before they do the seeding for the state tournament so the guys wanted to come out and make a statement that they belong in the top group,” said Saline head coach Matt Ceo.

The Hornets opened the game with an offensive barrage. Colin Cederna started Saline’s scoring, followed by Brian Merk, Cam Frotten, Matt Baxter and another by Merk. Plymouth answered with one of their own before the end of the first quarter, a solid offensive possession that ended with Phil Flesch’s shot finding the back of the net.  Saline led 5-1 when the horn blew.

“We need to play smarter and take less penalties. We really killed ourselves in that first quarter, going down five nothing. We traded goals the rest of the game, but once we were down, it was hard to come back,” said Wildcat head coach Brian Walsh.

Plymouth’s Drew Leist opened the second quarter scoring, but penalties and frustration got the better of the Wildcats, and Cederna and Brad Harris added to Saline’s lead. The Hornets went into the half up 7-2.

Saline’s Tom Hickey started the second half scoring, but then Gabe Osorio added a goal to the Wildcat’s total.  Cederna’s third goal of the evening put Saline back ahead by six, but Jeremy Cigile scored with 6.6 seconds left in the third, leaving Plymouth trailing 9-4 to start the fourth quarter.

Plymouth applied more and more pressure in the fourth quarter, but was unable to climb back into striking distance. Saline’s Max Mortimer, relieving Hornet net-minder Austin Burd, made some quality stops and the Hornet defense allowed only two Wildcat goals, the first by Leist and the second by Osorio. Sandwiched between them was Ryan McCall’s lone tally of the night for Saline. The final horn blew and Saline had their 10-6 win.

“Defensive midfield played their best game of the year.  We usually know what we’re going to get from our long poles down low, but it usually depends on our midfielders. Today, they were the most active group, calling out picks and things like that,” said Ceo.

The Hornets travel to Ann Arbor Pioneer on Friday, May 13, and Plymouth hosts Walled Lake Western on Saturday, May 14.