Saline Sinks Grand Ledge, 11-4, Advances in Distrct

The Saline Hornets girls’ water polo team advanced in district play Friday night with an 11-4 win over Grand Ledge.

Alex Wagner, Abby Kowalczyk,  Elle Brigger and Caitlin Sisken each scored two goals for the Hornets. Erika Glatz, Kailey Kermath and Abby Wrobleski also scored for Saline. Emily Farsakian made nine stops in goal.

Saline faces highly ranked Okemos at 10:15 a.m. Saturday as district action continues at Saline High School.

Saline coach Mary Chatigny was happy with her team’s play.

“Our defense was really good early. We pressed them and we forced caused turnovers and limited their opportunities,” Chatigny said.

The Hornets applied pressure early but were turned aside by Grand Ledge goalie Lydia Bailey. Saline broke the ice with a goal by Kermath half way through the first quarter.

Saline continued to press but Bailey was tough in the Grand Ledge net. Farsakian wasn’t tested much in the first period, but she came up with a big save on a five-meter shot late in the quarter. The save seemed even bigger a few seconds later when Glatz scored to give Saline a 2-0 lead.

Early in the second, Grand Ledge manufactured good scoring chances, putting two shots off the goal posts. But with 2:58 to play, Sisken scored to give Saline a 3-0 lead. Grand Ledge’s Rachel Kehren scored 25 seconds later to make it 3-1, which is where the score remained until halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Saline’s Wagner and Grand Ledge’s Grace Haggerty traded goals.

With three minutes to play in the quarter, Saline began to pull away. Wagner scored her second of the period for a 5-2 lead. With 1:15 to play, Wrobleski scored to make it 6-2.

Grand Ledge tried to climb back into the game with a goal by Haggerty on a five-meter shot with 14 seconds to play in the third. But Sisken scored a backbreaking goal at the buzzer to give Saline a 7-3 lead as the teams went into the fourth quarter.

Kowalczyk and Brigger each scored twice in the fourth quarter for the Hornets.

“I think our defense wore them down and that allowed us to take over late in the game,” Chatigny said.

Saturday’s game won’t be easy, Chatigny said. Saline lost to Okemos 11-2 last time they played. But there’s reason for hope. For one, it’s never bad to have home pool advantage in the playoffs.

“We need to stay focused on defense. The last time they played us, one girl scored nearly all of their goals. So we’re going to need to find a way to stop her,” Chatigny said.

Dexter will play Pioneer in the other semifinal. The winners of the semifinal matchups play in the final at 2 p.m.