Balanced Northville girls lacrosse team powers past Plymouth

Playing with the unselfish style head coach Kayley Dahring embraces, Northville’s girls lacrosse team spread the wealth (goals) during Saturday’s Kensington Lakes Activities Association showdown against host Plymouth.

After the Wildcats’ always-dangerous senior captain Maggie Kime rocketed home a shot in the first few minutes to give her team a 1-0 advantage, the Mustangs shifted into stampede mode, tallying eight straight goals (from four different players) before galloping away with a decisive 16-5 triumph.

Now 3-1 and riding a three-game winning streak, Northville will host unbeaten Salem Monday at 7 p.m.

“I like how we’re playing well together early in the season,” said Dahring. “I appreciate how we always talk about being a  family, trusting each other and working together, and the girls are doing that.

“We’ve been trying to hone in on moving the ball and playing as a team, and it’s been working well so far.”

To check out video highlights from Saturday’s game, click here.

Gubing gets it going

The Mustangs’ first two goals were propelled into the back of the net by super sophomore (and second-year varsity player) Addison Gubing, whose early scoring prowess led later in the game to her assist on Miranda Link’s goal when Plymouth’s defense collapsed on the hard-charging No. 33.

“Addison is a great controller behind the net,” Dahring said. “We’ve been working on her playing that X position, being able to crease roll and pass to her teammates. We’ve been working on her versatility back there. She’s a very strong player and she’s smart.”

Sophomore Molly Wierengo tallied the Mustangs third and fourth goals, before Gubing tacked on their fifth just before the first quarter ended.

“Molly does our draw controls; she’s a calming controller for the team,” Dahring said. “Molly leads our midfield and our starting attack.

“I thought our defense did a great job today. They stepped up and worked together. We tried some new grouping out and I loved the way they meshed.”

Quick quarter

The final quarter was played with a running clock, which kicks in once one team earns a 10-goal advantage in the second half. The clock may have started running a lot sooner if not for the outstanding play of Wildcats goalie Shivani Patel, who made at least five saves from shots taken on the doorstep or just beyond.

“I thought their goalie was fantastic,” Dahring said. “We had to work on placing our shots better as the game went on because she was making some strong saves.

“I thought their team played really well in transition. Their number 52 (Kime) is a great player. We wanted to hone in on controlling her without losing focus on playing our own game.”

Northville goalie Madison Gugala was stellar in the crease as she held the Wildcats’ attack in check with help from the Mustangs’ hustling defenders.

Link scored the first of her three goals just over two minutes into the second quarter to extend Northville’s lead to 6-1. Gubing made it 7-1 with a net-finder after carrying the ball from mid-field to within eight yards out when she let loose a perfectly-placed top-shelf shot that Patel had little chance to deflect.

Pedal to the metal

Northville’s River McCorry capped the first-half scoring with a sweet wrap-around goal from the left side of the net.

Plymouth continued to battle, registering the first goals of the second half — both from senior captain Ava Lemon.

Wierengo then threaded a sweet pass to Eleanor Davis, who beat Patel with a hard-to-stop laser. Plymouth countered quickly on Jaclyn Schlanser’s goal that brought the hosts to within 9-4, but the Mustangs closed the third quarter with five unanswered goals: two from Wierengo; and one each from Davis, Link and Elena Czarnecki.

Czarnecki’s goal extended Northville’s cushion to 14-4 and started the running clock.

Gubing and Link scored fourth-quarter goals for the winners while Val Pierzecki rounded out the scoring for Plymouth, which slipped to 0-2.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.