Hornets Use Their Heads in Win

The Saline Hornets came away with a 1-0 win to start Southeastern Conference play on the right foot Tuesday night. Actually, it was a Hornet’s head that got Saline on the board against Tecumseh: Devin O’Neil’s head.

O’Neil scored less than seven minutes into the game. When Saline’s Eddie Mussi put a boot behind a ball from deep in the offensive zone, O’Neil tore through teammates and defenders both. Lunging head-first into a clump of players, he pounded the ball past Tecumseh’s keeper at the 33:49 mark. Saline would make the goal stand through the remaining 73-plus minutes remaining in the match.

“Devin is definitely the hungriest, never-say-die guy. I’ve never coached any player like him. He just flat out wanted it more than anyone else. He deserved it,” said head coach Dana Restrick.

The Hornets came out in the second half and used a possession style of play to dominate the remainder of the evening. While they never put any more in the back of the net, the team easily had three or four more extremely close plays. Mussi, who received a yellow card while attempting a bicycle kick midway through the second half, had a ball go just over the crossbar late, and assisted on another almost-goal that did not quite have enough on it to go over the line.

“[Possession] was one of our key things at halftime. We thought we were forcing it too much in the first half and just giving it to their keeper. The possession and the patience in the second half were very nice for us,” said Restrick.

The defense throughout the game was superb. The greatest challenge Hornet goal keeper Kyler Jacobs faced was keeping the mosquitos off of him. The Saline defense, led by captains Eric Williams and Mark Sulavik, kept Tecumseh from putting much pressure on Jacobs throughout the night.

The Hornets travel to Ypsilanti on Wednesday, Sept. 7 to continue conference play.

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