Girls 14u t1

Team comes from behind to beat Little Caesars, 2-1, on March 4 in Taylor

The 14 and Under Honeybaked girl’s team had to battle a couple of obstacles before being crowned state champions this season.

After a midseason coaching change, Honeybaked also had to overcome a one-goal deficit in their 2-1 victory over Little Caesars in the Girl’s 14 and Under National Bound state final on March 4 at the Taylor Sportsplex.

Down 1-0, Honeybaked forward Stephanie Lang solved Little Caesars’ goalie Caitlin Nosanov to provide the equalizer with just under five minutes left in the second period.

“The first goal was huge,” Honeybaked assistant coach Paul Moretz said. “We had been generating a lot of shots on net but were having a tough time scoring before this weekend. To get that first one by her was huge. We had to have it and it came at a great time.”

Little Caesars outplayed Honeybaked in the opening period, getting eight shots on net, five powerplays and several scoring chances, including a Casey Dockus breakaway chance that Honeybaked goalie Lauryn Ebersole stopped. Tanis Lamoureux finally put Little Caesars on the board.

In the second period, Honeybaked applied pressure and the puck came out of the corner to Lang in front of the net. While stumbling, she lifted it over Nosanov to tie the game, 1-1.

Honeybaked killed a Little Caesars’ five-on-three advantage for nearly a minute at the end of the period to keep the scored tied.

“Our penalty killing has just been tremendous the last two or three weeks,” Moretz said. “We’ve had several five-on-threes that we’ve killed. It’s something we teach the girls to take away the middle of the ice, be aggressive when they need to be and they did a good job at it.”

Honeybaked’s winning goal came with 5:34 left in the game by defenseman Amy Henderson. Henderson’s wasn’t the prettiest of goals but she went to the net and the puck bounced the right way just as Moretz had predicted.

“I have no clue,” Moretz said on what happened on the goal. “I told them this game I want everything on the ice and I want everyone crashing the net and that’s what happened. I told them on the bench this game is going to come down to an ugly goal and unfortunately it’s going to be an ugly goal that wins it.”

The goal won it for Honeybaked, giving the championship to a team who less than a month ago was unsure who would be coaching them.

“This team lost their coaches about three and a half weeks ago and Kevin Cahill stepped in at the time and put his name down as the head coach,” Moretz said. “He approached me to coach this team saying, ‘I have my name down there on the roster as the head coach but they’re yours.’ He trusted me with it and I’m glad he did.”

The team learned quickly it wasn’t going to be as easy with the State Tournament looming so close to the coaching change.

“When I first got the team they were really excited to have a new coach and then when I tried to change their style of play and I think it was a little frustrating, but it started to pay off this weekend,” Moretz said.

The state title sends Honeybaked to the National Tournament in San Jose, California.

“It’s unbelievable,” Moretz said. “I’m just happy for them. After all they’ve gone through this year I’m just extremely happy for them.”

Girl’s 14U Notebook

Honeybaked’s Emily Wybo was named MVP of the tournament. “She’s just a good solid player. She works hard and earns everything she gets,” said her coach Paul Moretz… Rachel Schrieber scored a hat trick and Jessica Thiry made 36 saves in Dearborn Brand’s 4-1 win over Victory Honda… Casey Dockus notched two goals in Little Caesars’ 5-1 victory over Grand Rapids in which Grand Rapids goalie Mandy Montgomery turned away 32 shots… Shiann Darkangelo scored two goals in Honeybaked’s 3-0 victory over Belle Tire… Anna Salvaggio made 30 saves in Victory Honda’s 4-1 loss to Little Caesars… Mallory Ursul had two goals and an assist for Grand Rapids and Erin Grant had two goals for Dearborn Brand in the teams’ 3-3 tie… Rachel Schreiber scored Dearborn Brand’s winning goal in the third period in the team’s 2-1 win over Belle Tire… Greer Hindle had five points, two goals and three assists, in Little Caesars’ 8-0 win over Dearborn Brand.

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