Last-Second Goal Earns Lasting Fame
June 8, 2019
By Jeff Bleiler
Special for Second Half
HOWELL – Justin Glod recalls vividly the feeling of watching another team celebrate a Division 1 lacrosse championship last year.
He wasn’t about to endure that pain again with his senior season winding down.
With his Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice team trailing by one against reigning champion Detroit Catholic Central and the clock ticking precariously close to zero, Glod scored the game-tying goal with 1:55 left in regulation. He followed it with the championship-winner with one second to play Saturday at Parker Field in Howell to complete the Warriors’ fourth perfect season in school history and add their 14th Finals championship trophy in 15 seasons.
When Glod’s game-winner crossed the goal line to put his team ahead 14-13, he was chased down and mobbed by teammates.
“I turned back to the crowd, put my hands up. It was the best feeling in the world,” Glod said. “I saw my teammates run after me. It was incredible. I lost a state championship last year, so I went from the lowest of the lows to the highest of the highs.”
Brother Rice finished a perfect 23-0 with three victories over Catholic Central, the last one a back-and-forth affair that could have gone either way. Catholic Central’s season ended at 20-4 a year after wresting the championship away from Brother Rice in an 11-10 final. It was the fifth runner-up finish for Catholic Central over the last six seasons.
“We had to hold for the last shot, and we knew if we had the ability to shoot and score, it’s gonna happen,” Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “We ran through a play, missed a shot with eight seconds to go, and at that time you got to put it in the guys’ hands, the ones you can trust. Joey’s been there before, he’s a senior, he’s a leader. It’s awesome.”
Catholic Central took a 13-12 lead with 2:29 to play on Joey Kamish’s sixth goal of the game, on an assist from fellow senior Ryan Birney.
It marked just the third Catholic Central goal of the second half after the Shamrocks netted 10 in the first half.
Glod then tied the game with a shot from a sharp angle, and the Warriors got the all-important possession on the ensuing faceoff, milking the clock until there were 15 seconds left. A missed shot with eight seconds to play set up Glod’s heroics.
“Obviously we’d prefer to have the ball there at the end, but they got it,” Catholic Central coach Dave Wilson said. “They timed it well, they played it well. I think the ball just went in. So it was close, it was close all the way through. If you give Brother Rice extra opportunities, they’re going to capitalize.”
Catholic Central quickly captured its opponent’s attention by opening the scoring on a goal by Birney with 7:53 to play in the first quarter. After Pat O’Hara’s goal tied the game for Brother Rice a minute later, Kamish scored back-to-back goals 22 seconds apart to put the Shamrocks in front 3-1.
O’Hara’s second goal of the first quarter pulled Brother Rice within one with just over three minutes to play in the opening frame before Ryan Sullivan reestablished a two-goal Shamrocks lead with 1:31 to play. Kamish’s third of the quarter with six seconds left saddled Brother Rice with a four-goal deficit to start the second.
True to form, the Warriors were swift to answer, scoring five straight goals over the first 6:43 of the second quarter. O’Hara, DJ Dixon, Dylan Braddock and Michael Cosgrove all found the back of the net, with Braddock scoring twice. His second put the Warriors ahead 7-6, and the Shamrocks appeared to be reeling.
But the last four minutes of the second quarter were starkly different than the first eight minutes for the Shamrocks, who had only a handful of possessions in the early going of the quarter with most ending in missed shots, turnovers or balls in goalie Dom Dadabbo’s mesh.
Birney found pay dirt with four minutes to play to knot the game and again three minutes later to put Catholic Central in front again. Connor Beals’ goal with 1:04 to play in the half came just seven seconds after Birney’s, and Kamish put an exclamation point on the first half with a goal with six seconds to play to give the Shamrocks a 10-7 halftime lead.
Glod scored less than two minutes into the third quarter, and Dixon capitalized on a Shamrocks penalty with eight minutes to play to pull Brother Rice within 10-9. Kamish scored his third late-quarter goal, this time with 29 seconds to play in the third to make it 11-9 Catholic Central entering the final quarter.
Dixon and Braddock scored early in the fourth to square the game, before Birney scored and Jacob Hanewicz answered to keep it tied. Kamish then put Catholic Central ahead 13-12 with his final goal.
“Those last 3 minutes, I was kind of in shock,” Glod said. “It’s been an incredible ride. Ever since the day after the last state championship game, we got at it. We had this in mind the whole year. We knew we were going to get back here and knew we had to do everything we could to win this game, and it happened.”
Wilson had a simple message for his heart-broken team postgame.
“I told them I loved them,” he said.
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice raises the Division 1 championship trophy Saturday. (Middle) Brother Rice and Detroit Catholic Central players chase down a loose ball.
Clay, Forest Hills Central Score D2 Fame
June 11, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
HOWELL — Bryce Clay's contributions to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central's first MHSAA boys lacrosse championship were minimal.
He can be cut some slack, however. He was only in fourth grade, unable to perform an on-field role for the Rangers.
"Back in 2010, I was the water boy for them as a youngster," Clay said. "They won a state title that year. I looked up to guys like Collin Schlosser, an All-American, Chris Bosscher. I just wanted to be like them someday. It's a humbling experience looking up to them and to finally be on the level they were on."
Clay's role is considerably more significant these days.
He broke the state single-season goal-scoring record on Saturday, scoring three times for the Rangers in a 10-6 victory over rival East Grand Rapids in the MHSAA Division 2 championship game at Parker Middle School.
With 104 goals in 22 games, he eclipsed the mark of 102 set by Colin Theisen of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in 2015. Add that to the 81 goals he scored last season, and Clay is on pace to obliterate the state record of 276 career goals — because, you see, he's only a sophomore.
It's a fact that excites Forest Hills Central faithful and is a source of angst for rivals.
"He's an absolute animal," said Rangers junior Drew Bailey, who scored the tie-breaking goal with 8:55 left in the game. "He's hard to defend. He's physical. He finishes every shot. He's only a sophomore. He has a huge future ahead of him."
"You have to pay attention to Bryce," said East Grand Rapids coach Rick DeBlasio, whose team lost three times this season to the Rangers. "He's one of the best attack guys. Unfortunately for us, he's only a sophomore."
Clay had an instant impact when he arrived in high school because he's been playing the game longer than most teenagers. He was in first grade when he joined a youth league, playing on the same team with current teammate Patrick English and East Grand Rapids star Hub Hejna.
"I fell in love with it at an early age," said Clay, whose brother Andrew is a senior defender for the Rangers. "If you want to be good at it, you've got to start early."
Clay may be young, but he's mature enough to spread the credit for one of the greatest individual lacrosse seasons since the MHSAA began sponsoring the sport in 2005.
He was held off the scoresheet in the first half, yet the Rangers held a 3-2 lead in the lowest-scoring first half ever in an MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Final. Tanner Hallock scored the first two goals of the game off passes from Bailey, while Max Kuiper had the third goal for the Rangers. Ben Keller and Drew Poortenga scored for the Pioneers.
"They run a heavy zone, which can be tough for a player," Clay said. "But I've got great teammates who can really move the ball and play a great style of lacrosse. My success is from my teammates. I owe everything to them. We're all one big family, and we love to play with each other.
"Honestly, if I'm not having a great day, guys like Tanner Hallock, Max Kuiper, Drew Bailey, Jack Uecker can carry the team. They can get it done in crunch time."
East Grand Rapids (15-6) never led, falling behind 1-0 on Hallock's goal 3:29 into the first quarter. But the Pioneers kept battling, getting a huge momentum boost heading into the final quarter when Hejna scored with three seconds left in the third to tie the game, 5-5.
"We never got into our game," DeBlasio said. "We played way too much defense and had difficulty with transition when we had the ball. When you don't play offense, it's hard to get into a rhythm. We struggled. When we went into the fourth quarter tied with these guys, even knowing how powerful they are at scoring, I liked our chances."
Momentum can be fleeting, however, especially against an offense as dangerous as Forest Hills Central's.
Bailey took a pass from English in front of the net and buried a low shot with 8:55 left in the game to put the Rangers ahead for good, 6-5.
"We started that quarter in a new formation, so we could get different looks," Bailey said. "I knew I was going to be open at the crease. I just had to finish my shot."
Bailey's goal ignited a three-goal outburst by the Rangers, as English scored with 5:46 left and Uecker tallied with 2:50 on the clock.
Hejna kept the issue in doubt when he completed his hat trick with 1:46 remaining, cutting Forest Hills Central's lead to 8-6.
Clay erased all doubt when he scored into an empty net with 51 seconds on the clock. Ty Collins completed the scoring with two seconds left.
Finally, the Rangers (20-2) were back on top of Division 2 lacrosse after losing to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood by one goal each of the last three seasons, including overtime Semifinal losses in 2014 and 2015.
"I'm fairly new to the program, so I haven't experienced the total disappointment that these kids have,” second-year Forest Hills Central coach Jake Seiler said. “They won it in '12 and were in it in '13. They've come so close, this group of seniors. They've tasted it, but they haven't won until today. I'm just excited we were able to give these seniors the championship they've been looking for since their freshman season."
Kadin Schermers made seven saves for the Rangers, while Nick Milanowski made 12 for the Pioneers.
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Central junior Ty Collins looks upfield during Saturday’s Division 2 Final in Howell. (Middle) Sophomore Nick Milanowski guards the goal for East Grand Rapids.