Oxford residents Samantha Morrow, Lindsey Rancilio and Kylie Rancilio helped their hockey team, the USA Wild Flowers, beat the Sylvania, Ohio North Stars 5-3 to win the Michigan Girls Hockey League U12 Tier 3 Playoff Championship, which was played in Brighton on Saturday, March 22.
The girls all attend St. Joseph School in Lake Orion. Lindsey Rancilio, an eighth grader, scored the second goal of the game which put the USA Wild Flowers up 2-1 midway in the second period.
Kylie, a fifth grader, scored the fourth goal of the game early in the third period which ended up as the game winning goal, and Samantha, a fifth grader, played aggressive defense to help shut down the continuous offensive attacks of the North Stars.
The team plays in the Michigan Girls Hockey League, the other teams within the U12 Tier 3 divisions are from Ann Arbor, Traverse City, Kensington Valley, Farmington Hills, and Sylvania, OH.
The USA Wild Flowers U12 are associated with the USA Hockey Club of Michigan and play out of the Detroit Skate Club which is located in Bloomfield Hills.
Walt Bartels is the Head Coach of the team which is made up of players from Bingham Farms, Shelby Township, Beverly Hills, Rochester, Huntington Woods, Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Northville, Birmingham, Sterling Heights and Oxford.
To learn more about girls hockey in the Michigan visit the Michigan Girls Hockey League at www.mghlhockey.com and to learn more about the USA Wild Flowers organization which has teams playing in the U10, U12, and U14 age groups visit www.usadschockey.com
? Photo and story submitted.