Preview: League Rematches Reloaded
June 10, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
No. 1 will take on No. 2 in both MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals on Saturday at Howell’s Parker Middle School.
It just so happens that both championship games will pit opponents who already have faced each other twice this season with league titles on the line.
Brother Rice downed Detroit Catholic Central 11-5 and 14-7 in Detroit Catholic League A play, and they’ll face off once more in the Division 1 Final at 4:30 p.m. Starting the day at 2 p.m. in Division 2 will be Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and East Grand Rapids, with the Rangers looking to add a third win to their 15-9 and 14-13 victories in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier I play this spring.
Both Finals will be broadcast on MHSAA.tv, available with subscription, with audio available on MHSAANetwork.com. Click for more information, including all tournament results.
Below is a look at all four contenders, with player statistics through Regional Finals.
Division 1
BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 19-2, No. 1 at end of regular-season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Ajay Chawla, third season (57-10)
Championship history: 11 MHSAA championships (most recent 2015).
Best wins: 9-6 over No. 6 Clarkston in Regional Final, 16-3 over No. 9 Midland in Regional Semifinal, 11-5 and 14-7 over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central, 8-3 over No. 3 Detroit Country Day, 13-9 over Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids.
Players to watch: Morgan Macko, sr. A (70 goals, 55 assists); Riley North, sr. A (49 goals, 38 assists); Jack Kelly, jr. M (47 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Brother Rice has played through a couple closer games than perhaps usual this spring – but is again the heavy favorite as it seeks to continue its sweep of every Division 1 title since the tournament was started more than a decade ago. The only losses this spring were twice to Indiana powerhouse Culver Military Academy, and the Warriors took on and beat some of the best from Ohio and Illinois as well. Macko is finishing off one of the most productive runs in MHSAA lacrosse history and also starred the last two seasons.
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 17-4, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Dave Wilson, 11th season (149-71)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up five times (most recent 2015).
Best wins: 13-5 over No. 3 Detroit County Day in the Semifinal, 13-5 over No. 7 Brighton, 16-10 over Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 17-10 over Division 2 No. 3 Okemos.
Players to watch: Rocco Mularoni, sr. A; Justin Baker, sr. A; Brennan Kamish, jr. M (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: DCC will play in its third straight Final trying to break the hold of rival Brother Rice on Division 1. Seven seniors start for a team with plenty of big-game experience; midfielder Alex Jarzembowski is another veteran standout among many. Similar to Brother Rice, DCC also played strong programs from other states and Ontario. The Shamrocks have shown the ability to lock down top teams; they held opponents to fewer than 10 goals in all but six games and have given up only 11 goals total over four postseason games.
Division 2
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 15-5, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in O-K Conference Tier 1
Coach: Rick DeBlasio, fourth season (first of second tenure; 48-13 overall)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2009), three runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 16-15 (2OT) over No. 3 Okemos in the Semifinal, 9-3 and 9-3 (Regional Final) over No. 4 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 8-6 over No. 5 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 6-4 and 9-7 over Division 1 No. 5 Rockford, 15-5 over Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Country Day, 16-5 over Division 1 No. 10 Ann Arbor Pioneer.
Players to watch: Hub Hejna, jr. A (67 goals, 30 assists); Matt Solberg, sr. A (43 goals, 49 assists); Ben Keller, jr. A (46 goals, 15 assists).
Outlook: East Grand Rapids will play in its first championship game since finishing runner-up in 2011, and has taken on plenty of strong teams to prepare. The losses came to Brother Rice, Detroit Catholic Central, twice to Forest Hills Central and to Okemos in the season opener – and the Pioneers avenged that loss Wednesday. Those four teams are the only ones to score more than seven goals on the Pioneers this season. DeBlasio formerly coached the team from 2002-04.
GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS CENTRAL
Record/rank: 19-2, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Jake Seiler, second season (36-5)
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2012), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 15-9 and 14-13 over No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 17-8 over No. 3 Okemos, 20-8 over Division 1 No. 5 Rockford.
Players to watch: Bryce Clay, soph. D (95 goals, 53 assists); Tanner Hallock, jr. A (51 goals, 34 assists); Max Kuiper, sr. A (38 goals, 28 assists).
Outlook: Second-year coach Seiler has Forest Hills Central back in a Final for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2013 and after having lost this season only to Country Day in double overtime and Culver. Although Clay is the most productive scorer, there’s lots of balance with six Rangers tallying at least 20 goals heading into the week – and plenty of help in goal as senior Kadin Schermers and freshman Jack Nolan have combined to give up six goals per game this spring.
PHOTO: Brother Rice's Cole Hyde moves the ball upfield during last season's Division 1 Final against Detroit Catholic Central.
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.)