The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Big Reds 'bus'-ted in Grosse Ile
Milan rebounds from 2-0 defeat with win over Jefferson
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 10, 2007
The Milan varsity girls' soccer team was geared up for their face-off against Grosse Ile last Wednesday, a match to determine first place in the Huron League.
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They were ready to go.
Instead, when they went, they waited.
The Big Reds spent 1-1/2 hours on a crawling bus inching its away through horrific traffic on the first confusing day one of two bridges to the island was closed for repair.
A trip that normally takes an hour turned into a 2-1/2-hour ordeal. The Big Reds arrived 15 minutes late and had only a short time to warm up.
"It was a nightmare," said coach Phil Zuber, who was reluctant to blame the long ride for Milan's 2-0 loss to the Red Devils, but said it certainly didn't help.
"We seemed like a different team in the first half," said Zuber. "It felt like a weird game."
Grosse Ile scored early on a defensive breakdown that left a wide-open net.
Milan held the Red Devils scoreless through the remainder of the half and late into the second.
"The second half was a totally different game," said Zuber. "We seemed to get our feet under us."
But the Big Reds couldn't find the back of the net, producing only one shot on goal, and fell 2-0 when Grosse Ile scored late.
The nightmarish bus trip aside, the Big Reds' defense was also struggling with injuries. Lead defender Stephanie Roe went down the game before with a torn ACL that has her out for the season and Katy Hoevemeyer suffered a hip injury early in the Grosse Ile game.
"We're really hobbled right now," said Zuber. "It will help to get some of our injured players some rest."
Milan gets another shot at the Red Devils at home May 21. Grosse Ile is only one point ahead of Milan in the league standings after the Red Devils tied a game against New Boston, a team the Big Reds defeated 4-2.
Zuber is looking forward to the rematch, one that won't involve any bridges.
"The lovely thing is that we get Grosse Ile at home," said Zuber. "We're in control of our destiny and fortunately that destiny has Grosse Ile at home."
Milan bounced back from the Grosse Ile defeat on Friday, taking out Monroe Jefferson 4-1.
The Big Reds outshot the Bears 19-3, going up 2-0 in the middle of the first half off goals from Jessica Young and Brittany Auten. Assists went to Tiffany Stacy and Meredith Rizor.
Jefferson scored late in the first half, but Milan responded in the second with two more goals off the feet of Rizor and Stacy. Kaitlin Eisen earned an assist as did Young.
Young's assist was her 70th career point, crowning her the school's leader in career points. The old record was 69 set by Andrea Howe last year. With 48 career goals, Young is only one goal away from topping the career goals chart now held by Natalie Brown.
Coming off the win over Jefferson, Milan defeated Riverview handily in the heat 3-0. Young scored twice and Rizor earned the third goal. Assists went to Jennifer Dennison, Sarah Towler, and Stephanie Sell.
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