No. 5 Dexter blanked Marian 2-0 in a quarterfinal field hockey game on Tuesday at Dexter. Abby Tamer and Kylie Richards each scored for the Dreadnaughts, who last year knocked off Pioneer to reach the D-1 finals before falling to Huron in the championship game.
Top-ranked Saline blanked visiting Forest Hills 4-0. Erin Reilly and Hannah Jarvie each scored twice for the Hornets.
Saline won both games with Dexter this season – 3-2 and 2-1.
On the other side of the bracket, Pioneer faces Huron in Thursday’s field hockey semifinal game. Both Pioneer and Huron won their quarterfinal matches on Tuesday to advance to the Division 1 semifinals where they will square off against each with a state finals championship game appearance on the line.
The River Rats are the defending champion at D-1, ending Pioneer’s three year run as state champs. This season, Huron defeated Pioneer 2-0 way back in August while the two teams played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 16.
Huron, the number three seed, knocked off visiting Novi 7-1 in its quarterfinal game. Allison Sabb and Anna Scott each had two goals for the River Rats. Megan Sabb, Minna Tremonti and Afua N’Kansah-Andoh each scored once in the win.
Pioneer, the number two seed, blanked visiting Detroit Country Day 5-0 in its quarterfinal.
Thursday’s semifinal match-ups at Saline features No. 3 Pioneer vs. No. 2 Huron at 4:30 p.m. followed by No. 5 Dexter vs. No. 1 Saline at 7 p.m.
Division 2
Fourth-seeded Gabriel Richard lost 3-1 to fifth-seeded Grosse Pointe South 3-1.
No. 7 seed Greenhills lost 1-0 to No. 2 Dearborn.
Jade Clasby scored in the first half for the Irish to tie the game at 1-1. But GPS scored two second-half goals to net the win.
COVER PHOTO: Dexter’s Kylie Richards (foreground) and Claire Vaughn focus on the ball in their game vs. Marian.