The last time Skyline and Saline met on the soccer pitch, the coaches from each team agreed before the game to try the MHSAA's new option of using extra time and then a shootout to decide draws in the regular season. That match ended in a 2-2 draw, and after two seven-minute sessions of extra time, Skyline went on to win the shootout.

After the fact, Southeastern Conference officials ruled the result of the game was a draw, since the conference had not voted to adopt the new MHSAA rules.

This time around, Skyline left nothing to chance.

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Skyline's Jeff Robbins scored in the second minute of the game, as the Eagles needed no more than the eighty minutes of regulation to complete a 2-0 win over Saline.

Skyline coach Chris Morgan said the official result change didn't affect his team's spirits much, but the 2-0 win in regulation over Saline was a boon to his players.

"That bothered them," Morgan said of the result change. "But they still came away from that overtime win and the shootout feeling on cloud nine. (Saline) has great history the last ten years, with the final fours they've been to. We stress Saline, Pioneer, Huron—those are big stars on our schedule."

Robbins put Skyline (6-4-2, 4-1-2 SEC) on its way to the win with his early goal, making a cool strike on a volley from just outside the 18-yard box. The ball bounced once en route to the goal, before finding its way into the net at the far post.

Robbins credited his teammate Peter Bakker with getting the team fired up even before the goal went in.

"Peter gave us the best pep-talk ever," Robbins said. "Then we got the early goal and everything fell into place and we started playing harder and harder."

Jarrid McHenry put the Eagles up 2-0 in the 50th minute, as he and teammate Jake Hirschl ran at the Hornet defense on a counterattack. Hirschl played a ball forward on a run to McHenry, who slipped it past Saline keeper Ryan Brophy on the first touch.

Both teams mustered ten shots at goal, and possession was split fairly evenly during the game, but the result in Skyline's favor came down to finishing opportunities.

"Getting behind early is a tough position to put yourself in," said Saline coach Brian Lampman. "When you get opportunities you have to make the most of them. We haven't scored many goals, so each one is big."

For Skyline, it was no mistake that each of the goals came on the striker's first touch.

"We've been focusing on finishing in practice," Morgan said. "We know Saline is going to challenge everything, so we two-touch at most with this team."

For Skyline, the win over Saline is a big milestone for a program that has come a long way already, in its first year as a varsity team.

"In the beginning of the year we got rocked. We were getting annihilated," Morgan said. "Now at this juncture of the season we are a little better prepared."

Specifically, Morgan cited his team's understanding of the importance of quick touches and ball movement at the varsity level. Robbins echoed those ideas when he was asked about competing against older, bigger teams.

"When you're playing two-touch and possession, size doesn't come into play much," he said.

Saline (4-6-5, 4-3-2 SEC), for its part, have been dealing with injuries. But Lampman isn't letting that become an excuse or a distraction for his team.

"We're playing with the guys we have and we're going to do our best," he said. "We have five games to work on what we need to work on and hopefully we can make a patented Saline run in the playoffs."