Lockwood's OT Winner Locks Up Hartland's 1st Finals Title in Epic Fashion
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 11, 2022
HOWELL – With 12 minutes to play Saturday, Hartland (19-4) could see the finish line with a two-goal lead against Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, the dynasty in Division 1 lacrosse.
Rice rallied to tie the game at 10-10. The game eventually went into overtime, when Hartland became the first non-Detroit Catholic League team to earn the Division 1 title on Bo Lockwood’s goal to pull out a dramatic 11-10 victory at Parker Middle School Stadium.
“I don’t know if I’ll go to sleep tonight,’’ said Lockwood. “I have been dreaming of this my whole life. Glory to God. I’m just so grateful.
“On my goal it was a great pick by Mac Tognetti. They had been playing well on me the whole game. I got an opportunity, and I buried it.’’
Hartland was attempting to avenge last year’s 14-9 Division 1 loss in the championship game. Rice had won 15 of the 16 title games played in Division 1, succumbing only to Catholic League rival Detroit Catholic Central 11-10 in 2018.
Rice (15-7) had won this spring’s regular-season game against Hartland 15-11.
“They worked their butts off,’’ Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “Hartland got the last goal today. I thought it was a pretty even game, back-and-forth. We had many opportunities at the end to win. We couldn’t convert at the end. We took a bad shot. We’re a young squad. We made a number of mistakes. It’s sad for our seniors. We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with next year.’’
For now, it was Nick Levanti’s team’s time to celebrate.
“The opponent isn’t as much to us game in, game out,’’ the Hartland coach said. “Obviously they are a great team. An historic program in Michigan. We looked at the game as focusing on what we could control. We were making some mental mistakes, but our confidence was high.
“Bo has done stuff like that since I met him as a freshman back in 2019. That’s just every day for Bo Lockwood.’’
Hartland dominated the offensive end for the first seven minutes and finally hit pay dirt when Lockwood scored to give the Eagles the first score. The lead didn’t last long as Rice’s Cashton Papadelis scored seconds later to tie the game, 1-1.
Ryan Krause responded for Hartland to put the Eagles up 2-1. He finished with three goals.
Rice junior Will VanLear tied the score near the end of the first quarter, but Krause countered with his second goal to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. Teammate John Weber added another, and Joey Mattord opened up a three-goal advantage for Hartland, 5-2 with 10:45 to go in the first half.
Christian McNulty ended the Rice scoring drought with a goal to trim the deficit to 5-3, and Papadelis scored his second to get Rice within a goal with 3:08 left in the half. But Tognetti ended it on a high note for the Eagles, scoring just before the buzzer to give Hartland a 6-4 halftime advantage.
Rice (15-6) got an immediate third-quarter spark from Luke Washe, who scored his first goal of the championship to trim the deficit to 6-5. Rice erased the deficit completely when Sam Klein tied the score at 6-6. With momentum clearly on the reigning champs’ side, Papadelis scored his third goal to give Rice its first lead at 7-6 with 8:32 to play in the period.
Krause delivered his third goal for Hartland to tie the score, 7-7. Dylan Ayotte regained the lead for the Eagles with a goal to make it 8-7 with 5:12 still to play in the third.
Klein scored his second goal to tie the game 8-8. Drew Lockwood regained the advantage for Hartland with a goal with 2:38 left in the third. Brother Bo Lockwood followed suit 30 seconds later to give Hartland a two-goal lead.
McNulty scored with a little more than eight minutes left to cut the Rice deficit to 10-9. With 3:55 left in regulation, Sam Klein scored his third goal to tie the game 10-10.
The next goal was Lockwood’s overtime winner. Lockwood also finished with four assists, and Hartland finished the season 18-4.
“I dreamt of this my who whole life,’’ said Krause. “It’s nice to finally see it pay off.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s Drew Lockwood (7) defends as Brother Rice’s Ben Eck (1) considers his options Saturday. (Middle) A Hartland player makes his move. (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
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.)