Margin Smaller, but Rice Streak Lives On

June 11, 2016

By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half

HOWELL — Ideally, the morning of a championship game arrives with as little stress as possible.

But junior Nick Dudley didn't catch a break with the timing of two important events in his life.

On the day that he took the field in the MHSAA Division 1 lacrosse championship game, he had to get up early and take the ACT test at Royal Oak Shrine High School.

"I think I did pretty well," said Dudley, who cites English as his strongest subject.

He will find out for sure soon enough.

But there is no disputing his performance on the lacrosse field later in the day.

Dudley completed his test at noon, was on the team bus to Howell at 1 p.m. and scored four goals for Birmingham Brother Rice in a 10-8 victory over rival Detroit Catholic Central on Saturday at Parker Middle School.

It was Dudley's first championship as a participating player, after being brought up to the varsity for last year's tournament. It was the 12th for Brother Rice in as many MHSAA tournaments. Only East Grand Rapids' boys swimming and diving team (15 straight in Class B-C-D from 1948-62) and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett's boys tennis team (13 straight in Class C from 1972-84) have won more consecutive MHSAA titles.

"There's pressure every single day," said senior Morgan Macko, who made huge contributions in Rice's last three championship victories. "We don't want to break the chain."

"Going into my senior year, there's pressure, but you've got to overcome it and keep going," Dudley said.

Chances are, Catholic Central will have a say in whether or not Rice's championship streak reaches 13.

The Shamrocks (17-5) have lost to Rice in the last three Division 1 championship games, and are 0-6 all-time against the Warriors in the Final.

Catholic Central was blown out 23-7 in 2014 and 16-7 in 2015. Rice's average margin of victory in the previous six MHSAA Finals was 8.7 goals.

"I will say, from our perspective, it's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when," 11th-year Shamrocks coach Dave Wilson said. "We feel confident in that. We are working very hard. My hat's off to Brother Rice. They played a phenomenal game. They're a fantastic team, but we will carry on."

The only Michigan team to beat Brother Rice since the MHSAA began sponsoring lacrosse in 2005 was Detroit Country Day, which won 8-7 in overtime in a regular-season game on April 16, 2014. The Warriors are 174-1 against in-state teams during that span, including 59-0 during MHSAA tournament games.

Few of those 59 victories were as tightly contested as Saturday's.

"It speaks to the expansion of lacrosse across Michigan," Macko said. "It's great for everyone. It's definitely a little more stressful, but that's what makes it fun. You can't complain about a game like this. Everyone likes to see a game like that. It's awesome winning by so much, but it's great for everyone when it's a close game."

Catholic Central, which lost 11-5 and 14-7 to Brother Rice during the regular season, established an early tone by scoring the first goal on a shot by sophomore Peter Thompson with 7:11 left in the first quarter. It was the only lead the Shamrocks would possess, but the score was tied five times and the margin was one goal or less for the first 29 minutes of the game.

Thompson finished with four goals.

"You want to feed the guy that's hungry and the ball's going in the net," Wilson said. "If we had more opportunities to get him the ball, we could've done a little more."

While Dudley and Thompson filled the net, the goal-scoring stars from last year's Division 1 Final performed admirably as set-up men.

Macko, whose 11 goals over the last two MHSAA Finals are a two-game record, had one goal and four assists for Rice (20-2). Catholic Central's Rocco Mularoni, who scored five goals in last year's Final, had no goals and three assists.

"The past two state championship games, there wasn't much individual effort on those goals," Macko said. "It was all teammates setting me up. I was in the right place at the right time. That really benefitted me. Today, it was Nick Dudley in the right place at the right time. That was huge for us."

The Macko-to-Dudley combination struck for back-to-back goals after Catholic Central's Collin Burgin tied it 5-5 just 33 seconds into the third quarter.

Dudley scored two goals one minute apart off passes by Macko to make it 7-5 with 6:53 left in the third for the first two-goal lead of the game.

"His vision is amazing," Dudley said of Macko. "It was him."

The Warriors broke it open to 8-5 on Ryan Scott's second goal of the game with 5:38 left in the third.

The Shamrocks weren't ready to concede another championship to Rice, however, getting within 8-7 with 3:52 left in the third on goals by Brennan Kamish and Thompson just 28 seconds apart.

Macko's only goal, on a patient individual effort around the net, made it 9-7 heading into the final quarter.

Cole Hyde re-established a three-goal lead for Rice with 7:41 remaining. Kamish's second goal got Catholic Central within 10-8 with 4:33 left. Mularoni rang a shot off the post with 3:03 left and Thompson had a shot stopped by goalie Teddy Lievois with 2:23 to go.

Rice was able to milk the clock down to 30 seconds following that save, leaving the Shamrocks no time for a comeback.

"They came in, they were inspired," Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. "We fought hard. CC's going to play hard against Rice every time they come in. We expected it. Coach Wilson did a nice job getting those guys ready. At the end of the day, we knew we were going to have a dogfight on our hands. The nice thing is we've played tough teams this year. We've been in these situations. Our guys were able to pull it out."

Lievois finished with eight saves. Catholic Central's Hunter Braun made 13.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice's Morgan Macko (13) works to stuff a shot past the Detroit Catholic Central defense. (Middle) Jack O'Hara gathers a ground ball for the Warriors.

DCC Striding Through Memorable Start

May 10, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The win was only one and came now a month ago, and the first of two possible rematches is Saturday.

So everything about this Detroit Catholic Central boys lacrosse season hasn’t been and shouldn’t be about a 10-9 overtime victory April 10 over Birmingham Brother Rice, the Shamrocks’ first over their rival since 1994.

But edging the Warriors also has served as a springboard for top-ranked DCC, which will face Brother Rice again in Saturday’s Detroit Catholic League A-Division championship game and quite possibly in next month’s MHSAA Division 1 Final for the fifth straight season.

DCC is the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for April, in part for overcoming the Warriors for the first time in decades, but also for a 12-2 record that includes a 9-0 mark against in-state competition.

The Shamrocks also own wins over No. 9 Rockford and Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids, last season’s champion in that division, and claimed a two-goal thriller against Toronto St. Michael’s College. Those are among performances that have given 13-year coach Dave Wilson an idea what his team is capable of heading into the two biggest regular-season games of the season and the MHSAA Regional starting next week.

“They’re willing to do some of the really little things, and listen and make sure we’re all on the same page,” Wilson said of his team. “And they just have a willingness to go to the next step.”

So far, those next steps have looked like six wins scoring at least 20 goals – and perhaps more impressive, 11 games giving up nine or fewer and seven giving up four or less. The losses came by only seven goals to undefeated Indiana powerhouse Culver Military Academy and five to Ohio’s Dublin Coffman, which had just one defeat entering this week.

DCC has a mix of experience with seven seniors and larger groups of juniors and sophomores. Senior attack Peter Thompson and junior attack Joey Kamish are returning all-staters. And Wilson recently was named to this year’s Michigan High School Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame class.

Senior midfielder Ethan Pattinson is among those leading the way on this run – “When things really get tough, he just puts it into another gear,” Wilson said. The coach also mentioned senior mid Patrick Brandemihl, who is among those doing those little things, providing great defense and the occasional goal while filling roles that frequently are unsung.

After Brother Rice on Saturday comes Division 2 top-ranked and undefeated Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central a week from today – and then another opportunity to take another giant step. And that takes us back to Brother Rice one more time – the Shamrocks fell to the Warriors by only a goal in last season’s Division 1 Final and by only two in the 2016 championship game.

“It’s given us a nice confidence booster,” Wilson said of the win over the Warriors on April 10. “But no matter how emotional a win, that’s still only one win.”

And yet, he’s learned something else promising about this team from that game and its mostly impressive first six weeks: “Just the intensity of when we’re on, we are really on.”

Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
March: Brighton hockey - Report
February: Marquette girls and boys skiing - Report
January:
Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer - Report
December:
Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October:
Beaverton volleyball - Report
September:
Shepherd girls golf - Report

PHOTOS: (Top) DCC’s Connor Beals works to gain possession of a face-off against Brother Rice last month. (Middle) Shamrocks’ coach Dave Wilson is recognized as part of the 2018 MHSLCA Hall of Fame class. (Photos courtesy of the DCC boys lacrosse program.)