The opponent was Flint Powers, but St. Mary's had the real power Saturday.

Two power play goals helped the Eaglets complete a dominant late-season run with a 3-1 victory over Flint Powers Catholic in the Division 3 playoff final, giving the 11-year-old St. Mary's hockey program its first state title.

"We've arrived as a program," said St. Mary's coach Brian Klanow. "We've been building something here the last five years. We've finally gotten to the crescendo."

St. Mary's had blitzed its previous three opponents by a combined score of 30-2. But defense ruled on both sides of the ice duirng Saturday's game, played at Plymouth's Compuware Arena.

The Chargers "executed a system where they played a lot of man-to-man coverage," Klanow said. "We weren't able to get a lot of things through down in their zone. Although we held onto the puck a lot - we controlled the play - they had a very strong defense."

But the Eaglets' ability to control the puck also limited Flint's scoring chances.

The ultimate difference was St. Mary's power play. The Eaglets scored on two of their three full power plays. Flint was 0-for-2 with the extra man.

"The power play's worked for us all year," Klanow said. "We know that we're going to score eventually on it and again, tonight, it proved to be the equalizer."

Shane Dwyer had the game's first good scoring chance, taking a pass from Krystian Dziubinski in the slot and firing a quick backhander, but Flint goalie Bruce Simms went down to make the save.

Eric Roman opened the scoring with a power play goal 11:23 into the first period. The senior defenseman went deep in the Chargers' zone, took the puck around the net to the right side, then tried to pass it in front. The puck deflected off a Flint defender and went in the net.

"Zack Doyen was calling for the puck," Roman said. "I tried moving it to him pretty quick. It hit a guy's shin pad and went in. Pretty lucky goal."

Flint answered with a deflection of its own in the final minute of the period when Andrew Gregson threw the puck into the slot from the right point and Matt Gregson re-directed the pass into the net.

The best of Eaglets goalie Shane Trexler's 17 stops came four minutes into the second period, when the senior made a glove save on a drive from the slot.

Doyen, who had several good chances Saturday, was stopped at point-blank range on a power play midway through the period. But St. Mary's strong forecheck paid off later in the period. The Eaglets pressured Flint into a turnover, and Maciej Sulka got the puck to Patrick Nagorsen in the left faceoff circle. Nagorsen spun and shot the puck through Simms' five-hole with 4:58 remaining in the period.

"I didn't even take a look, I just shot it," Nagorsen said. "I saw everybody celebrate. I didn't even know it went in."

Flint's Matt Gregson then took a tripping penalty, at 10:55 of the second period. Nine seconds later, the score was 3-1.

From the face off, Nagorsen took the puck in the left corner and centered it to Alex Prough, who knocked it out of the air past Simms.

St. Mary's employed a more defensive style for the remainder of the game, but Trexler still had to make a couple of strong saves to preserve the lead. He went to his knees to stop Mike Crowder at point-blank range late in the second period, then stood up to stone Crowder early in the third, after the Flint forward broke in alone.

The Chargers pulled Simms for an extra skater with 1:05 left, but Todd Davis had the only scoring chance as the clock wound down, hitting the goalpost on a shot from center ice.

St. Mary's outshot Flint, 24-18.

Flint finished the season 25-3-2. St. Mary's improved to 20-6-3 and ended the year on a 15-game winning streak.

"The team just got better and better and we peaked at the right time," Nagorsen said.