Rice Passes Final Test From Rival DCC
June 10, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
HOWELL – The chain remains intact for another year at Birmingham Brother Rice.
But adding a 13th straight Division 1 championship took a gallant effort over the final 14 minutes Saturday against an opponent that couldn’t be more familiar – or dangerous after a couple of close meetings earlier this spring.
Detroit Catholic Central too leads twice during the third quarter of the Division 1 Final at Howell’s Parker Middle School. But Brother Rice scored the equalizer with 1:01 to go in the third, and senior Cameron Gould netted the game-winner with 4:27 to play for an 8-7 win over the Detroit Catholic League rival Shamrocks, who finished runners-up for the fourth straight season.
“They’re always going to be a tough team. They’re always going to be our competition in the state,” Gould said of his DCC counterparts.
“(Our) streak’s a huge deal. No one wants to break the chain, but at the same time I’m overwhelmed with emotion. I’m just very happy for my team and all of my brothers.”
Brother Rice has won every Division 1 title since boys and girls lacrosse became MHSAA-sponsored sports in 2005.
The Warriors (20-4) had beaten DCC by one and five goals in their previous matchups this season after downing the Shamrocks 10-8 in last season’s Final. This was the third time during Brother Rice’s run that it was pushed to within a goal in a championship game – Catholic League mate Detroit U-D Jesuit played the Warriors to 12-11 scores in both 2005 and 2009.
For obvious reasons, it’s become expected for Brother Rice to be playing on the last day of the season. But earlier this week it had to survive an 8-6 Semifinal against Rockford – and DCC was as poised as could be to end the streak.
The Shamrocks scored first, a little more than three minutes into the game on a Peter Thompson shot. Rice twice built two-goal leads but never broke further away.
DCC scored the first three goals after halftime, with sophomore Joey Kamish delivering the first and senior Brennan Kamish the next two.
“We only have five seniors, but they work so hard,” DCC coach Dave Wilson said. “We were just trying to give them some reminders: Why are you here? What is your goal? And there was no fear. They wanted to win.”
Rice didn’t lose to an in-state opponent this season, but did go 5-4 again out-of-state competition. Seasoned seniors took over Saturday when it counted – Jack Kelly broke the DCC scoring run with a goal with 8:21 left in the third quarter and had the equalizer seven minutes later. Neither team scored during the fourth quarter until Gould netted his game winner.
The eight goals tied for Rice's second fewest in a win this season. DCC's seven goals were its second fewest in a win or loss.
“If you would’ve told me we were going to get held to eight I would’ve told you Dave (Wilson) would’ve won too,” Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “Our defense came up big. We’ve been waiting for that game from them for a while. That’s why we go out and play tough teams, so when we get in these situations, we can bear down.
“We play tough opponents every day, whether in practice or games. That’s why we go out of town to play, so for games like this when it comes down to, barrels down to the last quarter or last goal, they’ve seen it before. They’re not afraid. They know how to handle it.”
Gould had a game-high four goals, and Kelly had three. Senior Daniel Reaume had Rice’s first goal and two assists.
DCC finished 15-6 this spring, with its only other in-state loss to East Grand Rapids.
Thompson had two goals Saturday to match Brennan Kamish’s team-leading total.
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice's Daniel Reaume winds up for a shot during Saturday's Division 1 Final. (Middle) Detroit Catholic Central's defense including Liam Cunningham (12) and Brennan Kamish (9) close a gap.
Country Day Wins Close to Close Title Run
June 7, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
TROY – Detroit Country Day this spring earned one of the most notable wins in Michigan boys lacrosse history.
But despite handing Birmingham Brother Rice its first in-state loss since 2002, by a score of 8-7, the Yellowjackets also lost four one-goal games – and coach Michael Cappelletti wasn’t sure how his team would respond when Saturday’s MHSAA Division 2 Final began to play out in a similarly low-scoring way.
Reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood pulled within two of Country Day’s lead just 12 seconds into the fourth period. But this time the Yellowjackets finished like champions and hoisted their third MHSAA championship trophy after a 12-8 win.
Country Day didn’t allow another goal over the final 11:48, and only two shots with a chance before the Cranes fired off a quick volley during the final minute.
“It’s the hardest-working group of kids I’ve been around in my life, the best team I’ve coached in my life,” said Cappelletti, who took over the program this year after previously coaching in North Carolina and Rhode Island. “They’re together, from the kid who knows he’s not going in ever to the kid who had the best game, which I can’t tell you who that is right now – which is the best part about coaching this team.”
Country Day previously had won Division 2 championships in 2011 and 2005 and finished runner-up in 2012. Cappelletti is the team’s third coach in three seasons, but inherited what he called a “lunch pail and hard hat group.”
The Yellowjackets (17-6) were disappointed to fall in the rematch to Brother Rice, 11-9, and then by a goal apiece to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and East Grand Rapids. But they gave the history-making win over the Warriors even more merit by finishing off an impressive tournament run that included wins over four top-10 teams, including 11-8 over East Grand Rapids when they met again in the Semifinal.
“Brother Rice was a huge win. … We’ve been rivals with them since sixth, seventh, eighth grade, and we knew this year we had a chance to beat them,” Country Day junior Devon Callaghan said. “We just seized that opportunity.
“(But) this was always our main goal, the state championship game.”
Country Day and Cranbrook-Kingswood had combined for 35 goals during the regular season when Country Day earned a 21-14 victory.
The low-scoring rematch might not have played to the fast-strike Yellowjackets’ best-known strengths. But while offense often gets headlines in lacrosse, Country Day’s defense was just as impressive.
Cranbrook-Kingswood’s eight goals tied its second-lowest output of the season – and came despite five from senior Matthew Giampetroni, who will join NCAA champion Duke next season.
The Yellowjackets were keyed on their side of the field by a trio of sophomores. Defenders Matt Dolan and Jonathon Boos were assigned to Giampetroni and junior all-state attack Johnny Wagner, who was held scoreless. Sophomore goalie Jackson White had 16 saves including a handful from close range.
“(Bowes and Dolan) have never been in a game like this, and we just said, ‘Hey guys, you’re on an island, limit their touches. … You take care of you, on them,’” Cappelletti said. “It was nothing fancy. Those kids are just tough kids.”
Six players scored for Country Day, including five who scored twice. Junior attack Emilio Sosa netted three goals.
Despite drawing even three times, Cranbrook-Kingswood never led and trailed by as many as five goals, five minutes into the third period.
“We got down, and it’s hard to use a lot of energy coming back,” Giampetroni said. “Then we had some bad turnovers later, and they had the ball the last 10, eight minutes. It’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball.”
Junior goalie Ryan Rosenthal, however, was up to the task of facing plenty of shots, stopping 26 in a gallant effort.
Cranbrook-Kingswood finished 12-9, but 11-5 against in-state opponents.
“The fact that we made it to this point is a testament to the seniors. They were great leaders,” Cranes coach Mat Wilson said. “The good news is we’ve got a ton of juniors coming back, and the future is very bright.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day celebrates one of its goals during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Country Day’s Nick Martin (6) looks to get past Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Michael Langdon.