THIS STINGS: No. 1-ranked Saline ends Salem’s splendid season
Salem junior Alex L’Heureux settles the ball while being closely guarded by a Saline defender.
It turns out the buzz surrounding Saline as the best high school girls soccer team in Michigan is legit.
The Hornets didn’t play a flawless game against Salem in Thursday’s MHSAA Division 1 quarterfinal, but they were pretty darned close.
Following junior Sadie Walsh’s break-away goal in the eighth minute that singed the net just inside the right post, Saline methodically locked down the Rocks’ talented corps of forwards and scored just enough to earn a 4-0 victory and a berth in Wednesday’s semifinal round against the winner of Friday’s Macomb Dakota-Troy Athens match.
To the Rocks’ credit, with the exception of Walsh’s ice-breaking goal, they played the Hornets step-for-step throughout the first half, which ended with a 1-0 score.
The epitome of a juggernaut
Saline, which improved to 20-0-2, had beaten nearly half of its previous 21 opponents by at least seven goals — while registering a mind-blowing 17 shutouts — prior to Thursday’s match.
On the rare occasions Salem players maneuvered to within reasonable range of the net, their shots or passes would seemingly carom off a Hornet defenders’ shin guards and out of harm’s way.
Saline center back Lydia Zajchowski was what strong safety Brian Branch is to the Detroit Lions — a scoring threat minimizer who was always in the right place at the right time.
The Hornets’ defense was so suffocating, once Makenna Means’ goal five minutes into the second half (giving Saline a 2-0 advantage) was fished out of the net, it felt like Salem would need something close to a mini-miracle to draw even.
No quit in Rocks
Although the Rocks continued to hustle and play hard, penetrating the Hornets’ staunch backline proved elusive.
Sienna Snyder and Laynie Tousa capped the scoring for the victors with goals at the 13:48 and 9:31 marks of the second half.
The match marked the high school finale for Salem senior standouts Cali Schwartzenberger, Katie Sarkesian and Isabelle Prantera, all of whom were instrumental in their team’s success-loaded season.
Future bright for Salem
On the bright side for Salem, many ultra-talented players — seniors-to-be Aubrey Krischano, Lauren Fowler and Alex L’Herueux, to name three — will return in 2026, along with sophomore-to-be Stella Stotz, and current sophomores Alik Yeremian, Kendall Jaskolski, Peighton Wagner, Adeline Jones and Avery VanWashennova to help continue the program’s consistent level of excellence.
Somewhat surprisingly, super-strong Saline will return all but five seniors next spring.
Which means the buzz will continue to ring in the ears of the Hornets’ opponents for at least another season.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
