Ann Arbor Pioneer wins the MHSAA field hockey title again, 1-0 over Saline on Gabby Haudan’s 17th-birthday goal

ANN ARBOR — Ann Arbor Pioneer is the state field hockey champion again. Junior Gabby Haudan scored the only goal on her 17th birthday, and Pioneer beat Saline 1-0 on Saturday in the MHSAA Final at Michigan State University’s Ralph Young Field.

Haudan scored with 29.3 seconds left in the first quarter. Senior Zoe Shuchman carried the ball up the right side and sent it toward the front of the Saline goal, and Haudan won the battle with Saline defenders and got her stick on it, MHSAA.com reported.

“I just knew I had to get a stick on it in order to get the ball farther,” Haudan said. “It was kind of straight to me and I had to put a lot of power into it.”

A third win over the same rival

The two schools are about seven miles apart and both play in the Southeastern Conference Red. Pioneer beat Saline 5-0 in August and 1-0 in September, and Saturday’s win means Pioneer handed Saline all three of its losses this season. Saline finished 19-3.

“However many times you play, that game is what counts,” said Pioneer coach Jane Nixon, who is in her 28th season.

Saline’s best chance came in the first quarter while the game was still scoreless, when a shot by junior Ella Arvai was deflected and hit the crossbar. Arvai came into the Final with 30 goals, according to the MHSAA preview. Pioneer cleared the ball and did not give up another real look. It finished with a 4-3 edge in shots and a 5-2 edge in penalty corners.

A defense that never broke

Pioneer (18-3) did not lose to a Michigan team all season; its three losses were to out-of-state opponents. It went through five postseason games without allowing a goal, after outscoring its first four tournament opponents 19-0.

“We played them twice and we know what their plays are, how they pass and who they like to pass to,” said senior defender Olivia Rollins, a first-team all-state pick last season.

Saline coach Sophia O’Connor said nearly every player on her roster scored at least once this year, and she praised a group led by 10 seniors. “I’m proud of how they played today and how they kept playing even though (Pioneer) scored in the first quarter,” she said.

The streak

MHSAA counts the win as Pioneer’s 32nd field hockey state title overall and its sixth straight, including the two since the association began sponsoring the sport last season. Before that, titles were decided by the Michigan High School Field Hockey League.

Sources:
MHSAA.com, Keith Dunlap, “Haudan Makes 17th Birthday Unforgettable with Pioneer’s Repeat-Clinching Goal,” Oct. 31, 2026, and Geoff Kimmerly, preview, Oct. 30, 2026 (score, goal, quotes, records, shots, corners, title count, season series), https://www.mhsaa.com/sports/field-hockey/stories/haudan-makes-17th-birthday-unforgettable-pioneers-repeat-clinching-goal
Photo: Ashlyak, “Hockey Game,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hockey_Game.JPG

Ann Arbor

Tags: Ann Arbor Pioneer · Saline · Field hockey · MHSAA Finals · Girls sports · Ann Arbor