Sports
Hornets Fall to Spartans In Boys' Soccer
Fast start not enough as Saline gives up four straight goals.
The Saline Hornets dropped a 4-2 decision to the Livonia Stevenson Spartans on Tuesday night. Saline jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not stop the Spartan onslaught and let four consecutive goals in over a 45 minute span.
The game started with Saline on an early offensive. The opening five minutes saw Luke Collins put a header over the crossbar on a corner kick and Ryan Gauche pull an open run at the keeper to the left. Victor Pintilie finally broke through for the Hornets at 16:45, beating the Spartan keeper with his ball skills and hustle. Eric Williams made it 2-0 in favor of Saline on a penalty kick at 10:35.
“We came out and executed our game plan well. We held possession, moved with the ball and off of it. I was very happy with our start,” said head coach Dana Restrick.
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With time winding down in the first half, Stevenson attacked. Zack Atwood scored the first of his three goals with 4:49 left, beating Hornet keeper Kyler Jacobs on a penalty kick. Chris Liepa evened the score with a rebound on a corner kick with 1:32 left before the buzzer. Saline was unable to muster a counter before the horn ended the half tied 2-2.
“They scored a goal. I think it affected us mentally. We were still in the lead, but that’s what we struggled to remember. We saw a ball go in the back of our net and got a little nervous; that’s when the second [goal] came,” said Restrick.
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The second half went much the same as the end of the first. Atwood scored his second goal less than two minutes into the half, and the Spartans kept the pressure on for much of the half. Jacobs made back-to-back saves to keep the deficit at one around the 31 minute mark. Saline’s counterattack started at 18:50, but Stevenson’s keeper came up with two big saves. Atwood put in his final goal at 13:02 on a header off a throw in to finalize scoring. The Hornets would put pressure on until the very end, but could not put any more in the net.
JV Team Wins 1-0
Saline’s junior varsity squad came away with a 1-0 victory in the earlier match. Tom Nissen scored the game’s only goal.
On to Athens
The Hornets travel to Athens on Thursday 25 for their next match.