Saline Wins Hornet Invite

The Saline Hornets swept their way through day two of the Hornet Invite to take first place in their tournament.  Games one and two went much smoother than game three, with 11-2 and 7-1 victories over Seaholm and Dexter, respectively.  Game three ended tied in regulation, and saw Saline win 10-9 in the shootout.

Game one for Saline was a rough start followed by an extremely strong finish.  Seaholm pulled out to a fast 2-0 lead, and Saline looked sluggish.  Strong defense by Alex Wagner led to the Hornet’s first goal, when Wagner stole a pass and proceeded all the way down the pool to score unassisted.  Stephanie Bundas led Saline’s scoring barrage with three goals, while Karleen Koskinen, Bailey Workman and Abbey Wrobleski each added two.  Ellie Brigger rounded out Saline’s scoring with the final goal of the game, giving the Hornet’s an 11-2 victory in the opening round.  Emy Farsakian was strong in goal for Saline, clamping down and allowing no goals after the initial two by Seaholm.

Game two saw more Hornet domination in the pool.  Stephanie Bule stopped some big shots early, and Saline’s offense started rolling in the second quarter.  Up 2-0 on goals by Caitlin Sisken and Workman starting the second, the Hornets unleashed four more tallies and only allowed one to go in at the half up 7-1.  Dexter fought back in the second half, but was unable to make up much ground as Saline powered into the finals 10-4.  Workman led Hornet scoring with three goals, and Bundas, Koskinen and Sisken added two each.  Wrobleski’s lone score opened Saline’s four-goal second.

Game three was a physical, give-and-take affair that saw six ties and two lead changes before the final whistle.  Bundas took control of the Hornet offense, scoring five of the six goals in regulation.  Workman had Saline’s other score.  Saline led 1-0 after one period, but Skyline tied or led most of the rest of the game.  With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Bundas put Saline ahead for the first time since the opening period, but saw that one goal lead evaporate with :17 left on the clock.  Wagner, Workman, Wrobleski and Bundas all put their shootout opportunities past Skyline’s goalie.  Farsakian stopped Skyline’s final two shots to give Saline the trophy. 

“A lot of times, the whole team can get stagnate and it takes one person to light the spark.  I think that was what [Bundas] did in the third game.  [The defense] played pretty well, but there were still some things we focused on and need to still work on.  I don’t like going to overtime.  It’s nice that we won, but if we would have played better defense at the end, we would have won in regulation.  [Emy] played well all day, and it was her game all the way through and she did great,” said head coach Mary Chatigny.

Skyline took home second place, and Dexter beat Grand Haven for third.  Saline hosts Grand Ledge on Tuesday, April 26.