Legacy Lives On; Rice Extends D1 Reign
June 6, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
TROY — Morgan Macko is being modest when he says there are no superstars on this year's Birmingham Brother Rice lacrosse team.
Anyone who scores 11 goals in two career MHSAA championship games isn't just another good player.
Macko scored five goals and added an assist, as Brother Rice extended one of the most dominant dynasties in MHSAA history with a 16-7 victory over arch rival Detroit Catholic Central in the Division 1 championship game Saturday at Troy Athens.
The Warriors have won all 11 MHSAA Division 1 championships, going 54-0 in postseason play during that time. They are 159-1 against teams from Michigan since 2005, the lone loss being an 8-7 overtime decision at Detroit Country Day on April 16, 2014. Brother Rice, which tests itself regularly against strong opposition from Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, has a 223-27 overall record in those 11 seasons.
"There's a tremendous amount of pressure," Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. "I'd be sitting up here not telling you the truth if I told you they didn't feel it. They feel it. Every year, they don't want to be the guys that let the legacy down. We didn't shy away from talking about it. We didn't treat this like another game. We understood this was a state championship."
And nobody understands how to raise the level of his game with a championship on the line better than Macko.
Last year, Macko tied a Finals record shared by two other Brother Rice stars by scoring six goals in a 23-7 victory over Catholic Central. Like last year, Macko scored all of his goals in the first three quarters, not as stat-stuffers in the final minutes.
Macko's 11 goals in back-to-back finals broke the record of 10 set by Brother Rice's Jason Alessi in 2013 and 2014.
"It's really fun playing on these big stages in front of a pretty big crowd," said Macko, a junior who was brought up to experience the postseason as a freshman. "You feed off each other's energy, and it's a lot of fun out here."
Three of Macko's goals came during a back-and-forth second quarter in which Brother Rice held off a Catholic Central charge. His fifth goal, which opened the second-half scoring and increased Rice's lead to 11-4, was called the biggest goal of the game by his coach.
"He's a big-game player," Chawla said. "He finishes well. He produced for himself, but he also was the recipient of a lot of great dodges by a lot of guys. It's our unselfish plays that allow him to get goals when his guy slides off him and we find him. Overall, it was a great performance by Macko, but you have to credit that whole offense. The score speaks for itself."
Macko finished with a team-high 63 goals this season. He was one of four Warriors to record hat tricks in the game, with Bo Pickens, Riley North and John Lockwood all scoring three goals. It was the second Finals hat trick for Lockwood.
"There are just weapons everywhere," Macko said. "There are no superstars. The defense can't focus on one guy. You have to worry about everyone. There are threats all over the place."
So, even though Macko had six goals against them in last year's Final, the Shamrocks knew they couldn't sell out just to stop him.
"They have so much depth," said Catholic Central junior Rocco Mularoni, who scored five of his team's seven goals. "They play really well as a team. You can't pick out one individual guy to shut down."
Catholic Central (17-5) started strongly enough, opening the scoring on a goal by Mularoni with 9:15 left in the first quarter. Shortly after tying the score 1-1 on a goal by Pickens with 7:20 left in the first, Brother Rice called timeout. The Warriors came out of the timeout on fire, scoring two goals 34 seconds apart to grab a 3-1 lead. Brendan Kennedy and Lockwood scored to extend the lead to 5-1 after one quarter.
The Warriors (19-4) scored three goals in the first 3:39 of the second quarter to build an 8-1 lead.
Just when it appeared a rout was in progress, Catholic Central restored some drama to the game by scoring three times in a 43-second span to make it an 8-4 game with 7:23 left in the second.
The Warriors regrouped with goals by Pickens and Macko in the final 1:30 of the quarter to take a 10-4 lead into halftime.
"I don't think we were very worried," Chawla said. "Our guys had to settle down a bit. We know they play on streaks and emotion. Once our guys settled down, we got those two at the end of the half, which were huge goals for us. That took a bit of the momentum back."
Brother Rice had the only two goals of the third quarter, with Macko scoring with 9:48 left and North with 25.8 seconds to go.
North's third goal increased Brother Rice's advantage to 15-4 with 9:01 left in the fourth quarter, getting the lead within one goal of invoking a running clock. Mularoni ensured that wouldn't happen, scoring two goals 57 seconds apart to make it 15-6 with 6:57 left.
Goals by Pickens of Brother Rice and Zach Crawford of Catholic Central completed the scoring.
Catholic Central has lost to Brother Rice in the Finals five times and in the Semifinals once.
"We seemed to turn it over a lot against Rice," Shamrocks coach Dave Wilson said. "We know when we have the ball we're going to score; at least that's how we do against 99 percent of the other teams in the state of Michigan."
The Warriors' streak of dominance doesn't appear likely to end any time soon. They are set to return seven of their nine starters from the championship game, including Macko.
And there are always players who have yet to wear the Brother Rice uniform waiting in the wings, eager to carry on the tradition.
"If you come in and can play, you can play,” Lockwood said. “We have a lot of younger kids who are going to come up and keep getting better."
PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice’s Morgan Macko (13) drives on the net with a Detroit Catholic Central defender working to intercept. (Middle) Detroit Catholic Central’s Chris Clark looks upfield during Saturday’s Final.
Preview: New Champions Guaranteed as U-M Welcomes Boys Lacrosse Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 7, 2024
Both MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals on Saturday will crown new champions – and one contender is seeking to clinch a title for the first time in its program’s history.
Those opportunities were created when Hartland defeated reigning Division 1 champion Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice to advance, and Ada Forest Hills Eastern ended a repeat attempt in Division 2 by Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central. A championship Saturday also would be the first in FHE history – but the Hawks must take on 2023 runner-up Detroit Country Day, which won their regular-season meeting 11 weeks ago. Hartland faces reigning Division 1 runner-up Detroit Catholic Central, the first time these two will meet for a Finals title.
Both games will be played at University of Michigan Lacrosse Stadium for the first time, and below is a glance at all four contenders. Rankings as part of “best wins” are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula. Tickets cost $11 and are good for both games, and may be purchased online only at GoFan.
Both games will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv.
Division 1
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/MPR: 20-3, No. 2
League finish: First in Catholic High School League Central
Coach: Dave Wilson, 19th season (269-99)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2018, nine runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 16-5 over No. 1 Rockford in Semifinal, 19-4 over No. 8 Brighton in Quarterfinal, 15-2 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 13-3 over No. 7 Birmingham Seaholm, 10-8 over Division 2 No. 1 Detroit Country Day, 17-8 over Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Joe Curtin, sr. D; Charles Graves, sr. G; Lachlan Moffatt, jr. A. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: DCC returned to the championship game last year for the first time since 2019 and has dominated this spring, suffering its only in-state loss to Brother Rice 16-10 on April 9 but avenging it in the CHSL Central championship game a month later. The other two losses were by a goal apiece to Ohio powers Cincinnati St. Xavier and Dublin Jerome (the latter in overtime). Those three defeats were three of only four games during which the Shamrocks gave up more than eight goals; they’ve given up two or fewer in nine wins. Moffatt, Curtin and Graves all made the all-state second team last season.
HARTLAND
Record/MPR: 19-3, No. 4
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Nick Levanti, fifth season (80-12)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2022, runner-up 2021.
Best wins: 11-10 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in Semifinal, 17-2 (Quarterfinal) and 14-13 (2OT) over No. 3 Lake Orion, 17-6 over No. 8 Brighton, 12-9 over Division 2 No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 11-7 over Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Dylan Ayotte, sr. A (44 goals, 16 assists); Jacob Ross, sr. A (67 goals, 23 assists); Drew Lockwood, sr. M (64 goals, 59 assists); Jake Lewis, sr. A (69 goals, 40 assists).
Outlook: After breaking through the DCC/Brother Rice hold on the Division 1 Final in 2021, Hartland will now make its third championship game appearance over the last four seasons and after avenging a mid-April loss to Brother Rice to get here. The other defeats came to Rockford by a goal in double overtime and also to St. Xavier, and the Eagles otherwise have mostly dominated as well with 10 wins giving up three or fewer goals including their first four of the postseason. Lockwood made the all-state first team in 2023, and Ayotte and Ross both made the second team.
Division 2
ADA FOREST HILLS EASTERN
Record/MPR: 16-4, No. 3
League finish: Third in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Tony Boggiano, second season (30-9)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2021 and 2019, Division 1 runner-up 2013 and 2011 as part of cooperative with Forest Hills Northern.
Best wins: 11-10 over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in Semifinal, 13-8 over No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 17-9 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 16-9 over No. 7 Byron Center, 17-5 over No. 10 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 14-1 over Division 1 No. 7 Birmingham Seaholm.
Players to watch: Preston Hoexum, sr. A (72 goals, 34 assists); Will Morgan, sr. A (60 goals, 32 assists); Jackson Arnold, jr. M (28 goals, 25 assists); Mark Fuehrer, sr. A (53 goals, 19 assists).
Outlook: Forest Hills Eastern avenged a 15-11 loss to Forest Hills Central from April 29 to advance to this weekend, and its only other losses were to Division 1 Rockford and Grand Ledge and 16-7 on March 23 to Country Day. Hoexum and senior Noah Benedict (24 goals, 21 assists) made the all-state first team last season, and Morgan earned an honorable mention. Senior Camden Klaes has been strong in goal giving up 7.9 goals per game and saving 54 percent of shots he’s faced. Boggiano played at Forest Hills Eastern as part of the school’s first cooperative seasons from 2004-07, and he also previously served as Country Day’s offensive coordinator from 2015-19.
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/MPR: 18-2, No. 1
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Chris Garland, sixth season (79-22)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2014), three runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 15-7 (Semifinal) and 12-9 over No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 18-4 over No. 9 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in Quarterfinal, 13-9 over No. 7 Byron Center, 14-6 over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 14-7 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 16-7 over No. 3 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 9-8 over Division 1 No. 7 Birmingham Seaholm, 13-8 over Division 1 No. 6 Grand Ledge.
Players to watch: Caden Daley, sr. A (50 goals, 16 assists); Will Thompson, sr. A (50 goals, 30 assists); Oliver Aaron, sr. A (22 goals, 18 assists); Kellen Curby, jr. G (5.47 goals-against average, .570 save %).
Outlook: Country Day has finished runner-up the last two seasons, and the majority of last year’s top contributors are back for another title attempt after the 2023 lineup included only one senior starter. Daley, senior defenders Shafeek Halabi and Trevor Corless, and senior long stick midfielder Andrew Gryzenia all made the all-state first team last season, while Aaron and Curby made the second team and Thompson made the third. Sophomore Keaton Yearego (50 goals, 15 assists) is another big-time scorer as well, and four more players not listed above have found the net at least 17 times this spring.
PHOTO Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s Will Morgan (2) maneuvers to get off a shot during his team’s Semifinal win over Forest Hills Central. (Photo by Michigan Sports Photo.)