The Northville Prep hockey team has obvious- ly saved its best hockey for last. The Broncos, 21-8- 1 overall, have roared through the preliminary rounds of the Great Lakes Prep Hockey League Playoffs and Michigan Amateur Hockey Associ- ation District playoffs. As a result, Northville will play in the League semifi- nals on Saturday, Feb. 25 and have qualified for the state championship tour- nament to be held March 9-11 in Jackson. Strong goaltending, an improving defense and quick-strike offense have all contributed through- out the playoff run, which has seen Northville out- score its opponents 24-13. Northville 5, Lakeland 4 The Broncos started out District playoff play with a hard-fought 5-4 win over Lakeland on Feb. 1. North- ville went on top quick, springing to a 3-0 first- period lead. Ryan Bloom scored off a perfect pass from Dominic DiComo for the first goal of the game. Nick Strom then fed Christopher Tripi, who scored on a breakaway. Nick Stegmeyer made it 3-0 on the power play goal with 71 seconds left in the period off a pass from Troy Youmans. Lakeland kept the game tight and pulled within 3-2 midway through the second peri- od. Bloom pushed the lead back to two goals with 4:35 to play in the peri- od with Youmans pick- ing up his second assist. The Eagles cut the lead to 4-3 just over a minute later, but Bloom netted the eventual game-win- ner with another set-up from DiComo in the wan- ing seconds of the game. Lakeland tallied a goal midway through the third period but it could not get an equalizer against goal- ie Nick Zalewski. Clarkston 3, Northville 1 Despite beating Clarkston in their two regular season matchups, the Wolves dom- inated Northville on Feb. 4 in a 3-1 victory in the open- ing league playoff game. After a scoreless first peri- od, Clarkston went on top 1- 0 early in the second peri- od. Bloom evened the game minutes later with assists from Tyler Marcotte and DiComo. Clarkston came back with goals late in the period to go up by two goals. The Broncos attempt- ed a furious rally in the third period, outshooting the Wolves 11-3, but they could not cut the deficit. Clarkston outshot North- ville in the game 32-20. Northville 4, Clarkston 1 Two days after play- ing Clarkston in a league playoff contest, North- ville faced the Wolves in a District playoff and this time the result was more favorable, a 4-1 win. Clarkston hopped on top 1-0 early in the second period. Tripi tied it at 1-1 with 6:18 left in the peri- od with assists to Steg- meyer and Tim Eis. Mar- cotte tallied the even- tual game-winner less than two minutes lat- er. Stegmeyer and Hen- ry Chang both assisted on the goal. The Broncos added two more goals in the third period. DiComo scored off a pass from Sean O’Malley and Kyle Wright finished the scor- ing with assists to Tay- lor Turner and Cameron Layne. Zalewski got the win in goal. Northville 4, Shamrock Prep 3 (OT) Needing a win to clinch an automatic spot in the state championship tour- nament, Northville used overtime to beat Sham- rock Prep 4-3 on Feb. 11. Tripi gave the Bron- cos a 1-0 lead just over six minutes into the game with assists to Alex Ridener and Chang. The Rocks respond- ed by scoring the next three goals. Northville had a two-man advan- tage for nearly three min- utes, but was unable to capitalize on it. Howev- er, the Broncos were able to earn two goals in the final 7:16 of the period to even the game at 3-3. Bloom started it off with a wrist shot from 5-feet out with assists going to Wright and Layne. Kel- lan Flayer tied it at the 3:31 mark with a close- range shot with Eis and Turner picking up the assists. In overtime, Tri- pi stole the puck in the Shamrock zone and sent a pass back to Chang near the blue line who fired in the game-winning goal. Goalie Jeremy Onofrio had several big saves in recording the win. Northville 3, Farmington Unified 1 Three third-period goals, including two by Bloom, propelled North- ville to a 3-1 league play- off win over Farming- ton Unified on Feb. 12. The Flyers netted their only goal 50 seconds into the game. Bloom evened it at 1-1 at 13:10 of the third period with assists to Stegmeyer and DiCo- mo. Just over three min- utes later, he put North- ville ahead for good with an unassisted goal. Riden- er sealed the victory when he converted a pass from Strom with under two minutes left. Zalews- ki earned the win in goal. Northville 4, Novi 1 Another strong defen- sive effort and a hat trick were the needed ingredi- ents in a 4-1 league play- off victory over Novi on Feb. 15. Bloom scored the first two goals of the game and gave the Bron- cos a 2-0 lead after one period. He notched his first goal off a pass from Stegmeyer and then got his second tally when he tipped in a shot from Sean O’Malley. After Novi cut the deficit in half mid- way through the second period, Bloom set up You- man’s goal from 30 feet out. Bloom then capped the scoring with an emp- ty-netter with just over a minute left. The defense comprised of Youmans, Chang, Strom, Chaudoin and Drake Eaton played one of its best games of the year and helped Ono- frio pick up the win in the nets. Northville 7, Shamrock Prep 3 The Broncos secured a spot in the league semi- finals with a 7-3 win over Shamrock Prep on Feb. 17. The Rocks scored first, but North- ville responded with five straight goals to put the game away. Eis started the spurt and was joined by Stegmeyer and Bloom in the scoring column during the opening peri- od. Flayer and Bloom added goals in the sec- ond period to push the margin to 5-1. The Bron- cos finished the scoring with third-period goals by Eis and DiComo. Zalews- ki registered his fourth playoff win. — By Bob Tripi Hometown Weeklies | Thursday, February 23, 2012 (NR) LOCAL SPORTS online at hometownlife.com B4 Northville Prep hockey team heading to state championships, league semis The Northville Prep Hockey Team celebrates Henry Chang’s goal that advanced the Broncos to the state championship tournament March 9-11 in Jackson. Northville. Senior Alex Moynes lit up the score- board as she put on a scoring clinic, single- handedly pouring in 24 points, nearly surpass- ing Mott’s team total. What’s more impressive is that she only played the first three quarters of the game. Senior Meredith Wil- liams added eight points in the winning effort. “Offensively we just pounded the ball inside but didn’t force it,” said Gudith. “It was an obvious mismatch, size wise, and Alex finished well around the rim.” The Mustangs jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter and held it as they entered half- time with a 21-14 advan- tage. They increased their lead in the third quarter with 16 points while holding Mott to just five. The two teams each scored six points in the final stanza. Northville also rebounded well, grab- bing 35 boards on the night to Mott’s 20. The Mustangs are now 12-7 overall. MUSTANGS Continued from page B1 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @hometownlife NOVITOW NS H IP BOARD The N oviTwp. Board will hold a public hearing on th e p ro p o s e d to w n s h ip b u d ge t fo r th e 2012-2013 fis ca l y e a r on M arch 13,2012 a t 7:30 p m a t 44020 C o ttis fo rd . A cop y of th e b u d get is a va ila b le for p u b lic in sp ection at 44020 C ottisford . In d ivid u a ls w ith d isa b ilities requ irin g a s s is ta n ce m a y co n ta ct th e cle rk a t (248) 231-6210. P u b lis h : F e b r u a r y 23,2012 O E08769005 – 2x1.5