For seven Pioneer High School students, shortly after this past fall sports season ended, field hockey sticks were traded in for ice hockey sticks.

Shoes for skates. Balls for pucks.

Sure, the seven Pioneers - Sydney Supica, Shelby Supica, Emy Guttman, Beth Johnson, Meaghan Frost, Hanna Sturgis and Julia Franceschi - were still shouldering the weight of their 1-0 overtime loss to Huron in the Michigan High School Field Hockey Association state finals, but they also knew they’d be teammates again soon. Only this time, on an ice rink.

“It’s a bond,” said Franceschi, a junior. “It carries over (from field hockey) into ice hockey and all of our girls are really tight. We’ve been through a lot on both teams, so we really try to stick together.” Johnson said the field hockey players bring that bond to the rest of the field hockey team.

“We’re a really close bunch in field hockey and I think that’s a big strength for us in ice hockey,” she said.

Added fellow senior Guttman, “It’s really fun because during the hockey season we just know each other well. It makes the team close together and we all rely on each other. I love it. I love both sports.”

Naturally, Pioneer girls ice hockey coach Lon Grantham doesn’t mind the players’ passion for the game and unique familiarity with one another.

“It certainly helps that we got at least some of the team that has a bond and chemistry coming from field hockey,” said Grantham. “That’s nothing but positive.”

Despite the differences between the two sports - in field hockey you can only use one side of the stick to advance possession, for instance - many of the tactics and teamwork remain the same.

“From going to field hockey to ice hockey, it works really well,” said Johnson, “because we know how each other play. We can connect a lot easier. We know where each other are on the ice, like we did on the field.”

One stark contrast between field hockey and ice hockey is the protective gear. Leg, arm and shoulder pads donned on the ice heavily outweigh the simple shin guards worn on the turf. And with the added protection comes an increase in physical play, something the Pioneers welcome with open - and aggressive - arms.

“It brings out all of our rough sides, kind of,” said Franceschi, whose team showed it doesn’t shy from an added elbow or two on Wednesday when Pioneer and Grosse Pointe South players got into a third-period scrap before the referees broke it up.

“We’re not trying to be like that’s (fighting) our rep,” said Franceschi with a laugh. “But in field hockey it’s kind of hard sometimes to get angry. Ice hockey can bring it more out.”

And it doesn’t even have to be during a game.

“It’s nice to be able to just come out to practice and just take it (the aggression) out,” smiled Johnson.

Before losing in the finals this past year, the Pioneer field hockey team had won five straight MHSFHA state championships. Pioneer’s girls hockey team lost back-to-back state championship games to Grosse Pointe South in 2008 and 2009.

Guttman, Franceschi and Johnson - who all have a field hockey championship medals - hope to bring Pioneer its first girls hockey championship this winter.

“We’ve been there,” added Franceschi of the state finals. “We know what it’s like. We just have to pick up our skills and work really hard.”

Pioneer is currently 6-4 with all four losses by one goal, including an overtime loss to defending state champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.

“I think I told a couple people that we have the best 6-4 team in the country,” said Grantham. “A few breaks here and there, we could’ve won a few or all of those games. I think the challenge for us in the second half of the season is to find a way to win those.”

Kaleb Roedel is a sports writer for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 and e-mailed at kalebroedel@annarbor.com.