Brother Rice Answers Hartland's Championship Challenges
By
Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2021
HOWELL — Over the years, teams have learned not to blink an eye when facing Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice on the lacrosse field.
It really doesn’t take all that long for the Warriors to make an opponent pay.
Hartland learned that first-hand Saturday during the MHSAA Division 1 Final at Parker Middle School. The Warriors erased a two-goal deficit over the final 21.4 seconds of the first half, then proceeded to outscore the Eagles, 6-0, in the third quarter en route to a 14-9 victory.
“That was huge,” Brother Rice head coach Ajay Chawla said. “We’re down two, and they’ve taken the momentum over. We score two quick ones there at the end. That was a game changer. We went into the locker room and instead of being down two, we’re tied.”
Hartland had rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to grab a 5-3 lead with 1:15 left in the first half. Five Eagles scored, capped off with a goal by senior Charlie Anderson, who took a pass from freshman Drew Lockwood and scored to give his team its biggest lead of the game.
Brother Rice wasted little time answering. Sophomore Ben Eck scored the first of his two goals, battling his way through the Eagles’ defense to put one upstairs and cut the lead to 5-4. After gaining possession of the ensuing faceoff, Chawla called a timeout to set up one last play before halftime.
“We were talking (during the timeout),” said Warriors senior Luke Dudley. “I wasn’t really beating my guy to the net in the first half, but I was getting my hands free. I knew I had (Josh Schlackman) off the pick, hit him, bang.”
The goal certainly changed the momentum in favor of Brother Rice.
“We fell asleep a little bit, and there were a couple of plays that we needed to be dialed in on to end the quarter. That happens,” Hartland head coach Nick Levanti said. “They’re a good team, and if you give them opportunities to score, they’re gonna. We gave up some easy ones there.”
Brother Rice dominated the third quarter. Sophomore Sam Klein scored seven seconds into the second half, and Dudley scored three of his game-high four goals in the third.
“We were obviously a little worried at first, going down, it was a bit of a surprise,” Dudley said. “But we’ve got guys out here who can step up and score. The offense got together. The defense got together. And we talked things out and knew what we had to do. We came out, got some gritty goals.”
Hartland scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, snapping an eight-goal streak by the Warriors. Junior Ryan Krause took a pass from junior Bo Lockwood to make it an 11-6 game. But Brother Rice would answer with a pair of goals from Dudley to push the lead back to seven.
“If you want to play good lacrosse, state championship lacrosse, there’s a margin for almost no error against any team,” Levanti said. “Especially Brother Rice.”
Eight Brother Rice players scored in the win. Robert Reaume, Josh Schlackman and Eck each had two, while Zach Rivers, Paulie Fortino, Klein and Hunter Polonkey each added one. Seniors Tommy Kunz and Nate Randall combined to make 12 saves in goal.
It was the second-consecutive Division 1 championship for the Warriors, who have now won 15 of the 16 MHSAA Division 1 titles handed out.
“At halftime, we reminded them of what they can do,” said Chawla, whose team finished the season 18-2. “They've never lacked heart and hustle and energy this year. What we have lacked sometimes is a little execution. We just weren’t executing. And we started to execute there in the second half. You saw what kind of team we can be when we execute.”
Senior Noah Luck led the Eagles with three goals. Bo Lockwood finished with a pair of goals and four assists. Drew Lockwood (two goals), Krause and Anderson rounded out the scoring for Hartland (22-2), which lost only to Brother Rice (twice) this season.
The Eagles are a young team, and Levanti said he’s excited about the future.
“We had a lot of young guys who stepped up and helped us throughout the year,” Levanti said. “We learned a lot about ourselves, about how tough we really are. It’s incredible, the amount of work ethic these kids have. We have a lot of sophomores, a lot of freshmen. I think there’s a really bright future for this program.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice’s Ben Eck (38) works to get past Hartland’s Jack Sargeant. (Middle) The Eagles’ Joey Mattord (23) walls off Rice’s Connor Borkowicz.
Brother Rice Holds Off Familiar Foe to Take Back Division 1 Title
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 10, 2023
EAST GRAND RAPIDS – Riding the championship experience the program has built for decades, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice is back on top of Michigan Division 1 lacrosse.
Leading by just a goal with 4:47 to play, the Warriors would capitalize on their offensive opportunities and score three consecutive goals to put the Division 1 Final with Detroit Catholic Central out of reach, eventually prevailing 14-11.
“It came down to our players, and it always does in these big games,” Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “Our guys won a lot of 50/50 balls. We just had a lot of gutsy performances today. Everybody stepped up today when they needed to. It was a team win, and that is what it takes in these championship games.”
In 2022, Brother Rice (20-2) lost the MHSAA Final for just the second time in history, falling in overtime to Hartland, 11-10.
Led by 14 seniors, the Warriors displayed championship poise during the key phases of Saturday’s Final.
“Those seniors were in the locker room last year and had to listen to the (Hartland) celebration. They never forgot that,” Chawla said. “They started working the next day, and it never stopped. This day is a culmination of all that work. You could see today that they were determined not to lose that game.”
One of the seniors who made a big impact in this win was Hunter Polonkey. The midfielder was dealing with a torn meniscus in his right knee, but gutted it out and racked up three goals and three assists.
“When you are out on the field with your adrenaline rushing, you don’t feel it too much,” Polonkey said of the knee injury. “I am sure I will be feeling it later, but I wasn’t going to let that keep me from this game.”
Polonkey scored the opening goal in the second minute to give Brother Rice the initial lead, but Catholic Central (19-3) would answer with three consecutive goals to establish a 3-1 advantage, which was the largest lead the Shamrocks had in the contest.
With momentum all on the side of Catholic Central, Polonkey fired off a desperate shot in the closing seconds of the first quarter that managed to find the net. It put the Warriors down only 3-2 after one and sparked a five-goal rally that carried into the second period.
Polonkey would assist on two goals early in the second period and help the Warriors to a 6-3 advantage.
“Hunter Polonkey, he’s going into surgery next week. He battles out there today and just crushes it,” Chawla said.
Catholic Central would answer the Brother Rice rally with one of its own. Jack Cyrek and Lachlan Moffatt scored before halftime to make it 6-5 at the break. Sean Donahue would then start the second half with a pair of goals to put the Shamrocks up 7-6 in the third, which was their last lead.
Polonkey ended the Catholic Central run with his third goal midway through the third period. Sam Klein and Caiden Ramos followed with goals to put the Warriors back up, 9-7.
“Our guys did a good job of withstanding the runs, and that’s a big deal,” Chawla said. “That’s a real sign of character and leadership from our guys.”
Catholic Central would cut its deficit to a goal three times, but the Warriors had an answer each time.
When Moffatt scored with 4:47 to play to cut the Rice lead to 11-10, the Warriors answered just 20 seconds later on a score from Johnny Kunz.
Rice goalie Cam Sims then made a key save that opened the door for goals from Christian McNulty and Klein to lock up the title.
“Sims is a great goalie, and he’s been making big saves for us all year,” Chawla said.
Cyrek would get his fourth goal for Catholic Central with 1:20 to play, but the Shamrocks couldn’t generate any more offense after that.
“A lot of people want to be at this game, but only two can. When you get to this point, if you make a mistake, the opponent is going to take advantage of it and make you pay for it,” Detroit Catholic Central coach Dave Wilson said. “We made some mistakes down the stretch and (Brother Rice) made us pay.”
Cyrek finished with four goals and four assists for the Shamrocks, while Donahue scored four times. Catholic Central goalie Charles Graves also had a strong showing, recording 12 saves.
“Charles was seeing the ball pretty well today,” Wilson said of Graves. “Goalies need short memories, so when he gave up one he thought he should have had, it just motivated him more. He made some incredible saves today.”
Klein finished with three goals for the Warriors to go with the three for Polonkey. Sims finished with 10 saves in net.
Brother Rice has won 16 MHSAA Division 1 championships, while reaching all 18 Division 1 Finals.
“It’s a credit to our coaching staff, our parents, our kids and to the whole school,” Chawla said of the success of the lacrosse program. “It takes a lot of work from everyone, but everyone has been committed and that is what it takes to build the championship culture we have at Rice.”
PHOTOS (Top) Brother Rice including Hunter Polonkey (14) celebrates Saturday. (Middle) Polonkey works for position against. DCC’s Cal Taulbee. (Below) Jack Cyrek (7) looks for an opening with Rice’s Robert MacMichael (28) among those defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)