Norsemen defeat Eaglets in hockey quarterfinal

West Bloomfield Eccentric

ST. CLAIR SHORES--Grosse Pointe North broke a 1-1 tie with three third-period goals Wednesday and defeated Orchard Lake St. Mary's in a Division 1 hockey quarterfinal game, 4-1.

The Eaglets, the two-time defending state champions, scored first at 11:36 of the opening period at St. Clair Shores Civic Arena on a Zak Thompson goal from Ian Brambs.

The sixth-ranked Norsemen tied the score with 7:13 remaining in the first period with a power-play goal by John Neveux, who was assisted by Benjamin Scarfone and Justin Kovacs.

Following a scoreless second period, Kovacs scored what proved to be the winning goal from Matthew Lucchese in the first minute of the third (14:05).

Scarfone scored an unassisted power-play goal with 4:12 remaining, and he added an empty-netter from Scott Dornbrock and Nick Hartman with 40 seconds left.

The No. 5-rated Eaglets (21-6-1) won the 2007 state title, 4-2 over Marquette, and they tied with the Redmen last year, 1-1, after a record eight-overtime game in the final.

North had a 26-25 edge in shots on goal. Eric Rohrkemper was in net for GPN and Max Oslund for St. Mary's.

The Norsemen (19-8-1) will play Howell (24-3-1) in a state semifinal game 8:30 p.m. Friday at Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township.

That game will be preceded by the other Division 1 semifinal between Novi-Detroit Catholic Central (23-3-2) and Marquette (23-3-1) at 6 p.m.

Prep Hockey

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