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Schools

STATE CHAMPS: Blue Devils Clinch Girls Hockey Title

Junior Claire Boyle nets hat trick to lead Grosse Pointe South girls hockey team to Division 1 state championship.

The Blue Devils did it again.

For the third time in four years, the girls hockey team claims the state championship with a victory over Ann Arbor Pioneer 6-2 Sunday afternoon.

The two teams battled for the title in 2008 and 2009 with the Blue Devils winning both years. This season, the teams split during league play, but they won when it counted most.

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"I’m really proud of the girls,” said Grosse Pointe South girls hockey coach Joe Provenzano. “They’ve been working hard all season.” 

Grosse Pointe South junior Claire Boyle netted a hat trick and sophomore goaltender Anastasia Diamond was strong in the victory.

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“Claire Boyle played an outstanding game and Andrea Marshall played an outstanding game today,” said Provenzano. “Anastasia Diamond played really well in net. She’s had to make some big saves throughout the tournament and she’s really helped us out defensively."

Ann Arbor Pioneer opened the scoring at 10:53 in the first period on an unassisted goal by junior Julia Franceschi. Franceschi intercepted the puck at half ice, beat a GPS defender with one move and Diamond with another.

GPS returned the favor at 6:32 in the same period to tie the game at 1-1. Boyle provided a nice pass to teammate Dylan McColl and her shot was initially saved by Pioneer goaltender Sydney Supica. The ensuing rebound was pounced upon by Boyle and buried into the back of the net.

Shortly in to the second period at 14:20, and just as the teams were announced at full strength after a Pioneer penalty, Boyle scored her second and the go-ahead goal of the afternoon. Working hard from behind the goal, she carried the puck around the outside, lost it twice, fell, won the puck back and promptly made the game 2-1.  This goal was also assisted by McColl.  

Ann Arbor had plenty of time to get their offensive momentum going, as they enjoyed power plays at 12:10 and 9:34 in the second period. Both times, however, the GPS defense played strong and Diamond came up with big saves to keep the Blue Devils’ lead.

“We’ve been working on the defensive zone of our game a lot, especially trying to clog up the middle,” said Provenzano. “When someone’s got a power play and you can kill it off, that’s a huge momentum swing. We did really well with that.”

Still in the second period, Blue Devils’ senior Elizabeth Clem buried a shot into the upper corner of the net to boost the lead to 3-1 at 5:36.  Marshall, a senior, scored unassisted at 4:18 to go ahead to 4-1.

“Ann Arbor has a great team and it always comes down to who works the hardest,” said Provenzano. “I thought our girls worked every shift, they tried to win every battle and I think that ended up being the difference.”

Boyle completed her hat trick at 12:45 in the third period by going end-to-end unassisted, making it almost look easy and bringing the score to 5-1.

“I’m so excited because we worked so hard this year,” said Boyle. “It’s just really rewarding to see all of our hard work pay off. We really came together and pulled it off. Anastasia was incredible in goal, and I’m really proud of her.”     

Pioneer senior Hannah Bogard got behind the Blue Devils’ defense at 3:07 to grab a goal to make the score 5-2. 

Then Marshall hit an empty net to cement the final at 6-2.

“It’s a good moment right now because we all worked so hard,” said Diamond. “I was used to all the pressure, so it wasn’t really that big of a deal for me but it gets to you after a while.”

“I’m happy for the girls,” said Provenzano. "We made it to the state finals last year and lost in double overtime. Our seniors were working so hard this year and they kept everyone on the same page the whole season. This is just an accumulation of all of their effort on and off the ice. I’m really happy for them because they are not only good hockey players, they’re a really good group of girls too.”

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