Hat Tricks for Aben and Ford in 9-3 Hornet Victory

The Hornets varsity hockey team improved to 3-2-1 with a 9-3 rout of  Ann Arbor Huron at the ice Cube Tuesday night.

DJ Aben and Wyatt Ford each scored three goals for the Hornets, who are suddenly looking like a very dangerous offensive team.'

Coach Drew Denzin said his team came out a little slow.

"I think maybe we didn't take them as seriously as we should have, and you can't do that. They're a good team," Denzin said. "But we picked it up and by the third period we were playing out game."

Denzin said the Hornets have three lines capable of dominating a shift, and when they are on, the Hornets are merciless.

Saline opened the scoring at the 12:22 mark of the first period when Aben scored from Mike McCullough. Huron Tied the game 12 seconds later on a goal from Drew Bonnee.

The game stayed that way for about eight minutes, when Ford scored on a setup from Colin Cederna and Tyler Baker. A minute later, Saline took a 3-1 lead on a goal by  Antonio Diaz-Levya.

Huron cut into Saline's lead in the second period on an unassisted goal by Glen Camfield.

The Hornets didn't give Huron much reason for hope, however. Just eight seconds later, Aben scored his second goal of the game, with assists to James Olson and Grant Ellis. Saline made it 5-2 when Tyler Gross scored from Ryan McNulty and McCullough.

Huron faced an onslaught in the third.  Diaz-Levya scored  from Mike Savage and Dino Travaras on to make it 6-2. Less than two minutes later, on the powerplay, Ford scored his second of the night, from Aben and Olson.. Aben completed his hat trick with 4:13 to play, scoring from Olson and Ellis. Just over a minute later, Ford did the same, scoring his third goal of the night, with McNulty and McCullough drawing assists.

Huron scored a late goal to complete the scoring.

The Hornets host Bedford at the Ice Cube Saturday at 5:15 p.m.

"We're playing well but we have a lot to improve on. I'm glad we have a longer practice tomorrow to work on stopping and starting, taking the body and issues that, tonight, weren't a problem, but will be in other games," Denzin said.