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D2 Preview: Familiar Opponents Reconvene at USA Hockey Arena
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 9, 2022
This weekend’s Division 2 Hockey Finals bracket includes three teams back from last season and a fourth that missed making that trip but is plenty used to finishing up at Plymouth’s USA Hockey Arena.
Reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice plus 2021 semifinalists Marquette and Trenton will be back for Thursday’s Semifinals, joined by top-ranked Hartland as it seeks its first championship since winning back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
SEMIFINALS – Thursday, March 10
Hartland vs. Marquette, 5 p.m.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Trenton, 7:30 p.m.
FINAL – Saturday, March 12 – 11 a.m.
Tickets cost $13 for both Semifinals (per session) and Finals and are available exclusively from GoFan. All Semifinals and Finals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv and viewable with subscription, with free audio broadcasts via the MHSAA Radio Network.
Below is a glance at all four Division 2 contenders taking the ice this weekend. Click for the full program.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 14-13-1, No. 4
Championship history: Six MHSAA titles (most recent 2021), two runner-up finishes.
Coach: Kenny Chaput, sixth season (104-47-9)
League finish: Fourth in MIHL North
Best wins: 3-1 over No. 3 Livonia Stevenson, 5-2 over No. 6 Trenton, 3-0 over Division 3 No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 5-2 over Division 3 No. 7 Calumet, 3-2 over Division 3 No. 4 Houghton, 3-2 over Division 3 No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 4-2 over Division 3 No. 10 Grosse Pointe South.
Players to watch: Andrew Marone, jr. F (12 goals, 18 assists); Peter Rosa, jr. F (26 goals, 18 assists); Matthew Herb, sr. D (1 goal, 11 assists); Luke DuCharme, sr. D (3 goals, 13 assists).
Outlook: Brother Rice is back after winning its first title last season since 2017, and has put together another solid run after starting this winter 4-7 while matching up with many of the state’s top programs. Marone, Rosa and Herb all are returning all-state first teamers, and DuCharme made the second team last season. Senior forward Luke Washe (11 goals/5 assists) and junior forward Jack Cassidy (8/10) also are among top contributors on the offensive end.
HARTLAND
Record/rank: 23-5, No. 1
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2018 and 2019, runner-up 2013 and 2014.
Coach: Rick Gadwa, 11th season (230-66-13)
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West and overall
Best wins: 3-1 and 3-0 over No. 3 Livonia Stevenson, 7-2 over No. 7 Canton, 3-1 over No. 6 Trenton, 4-3 over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 5-2 (Quarterfinal) and 7-3 over No. 10 Byron Center, 3-2 over No. 5 Muskegon Mona Shores, 3-0 over Division 1 No. 7 Rockford, 3-1 and 2-1 over Division 1 No. 2 Brighton, 6-3 over Division 1 No. 5 Saginaw Heritage.
Players to watch: Ashton Trombley, sr. F (19 goals, 16 assists), Jack Paweski, sr. F (18 goals, 13 assists), Ben Pouliot, jr. F (11 goals, 19 assists), Lucas Henry, jr. F (13 goals, 17 assists).
Outlook: Hartland has played plenty of top teams on the way to returning to the Semifinals after missing last season; in addition to the results above, the Eagles also have wins over Division 3 powers Calumet, Houghton and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s this winter. Juniors Braden (11 goals/17 assists) and Brendan Pietila (9/19) are two more major offensive contributors as the team has scored four or more goals in 15 games including all three during the postseason. Senior Kameron Ragon has a 1.31 goals-against average and four shutouts in goal.
MARQUETTE
Record/rank: 22-5-1, No. 2
Championship history: Five MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), four runner-up finishes.
Coach: Doug Garrow, ninth season (162-67-13)
League finish: Tied for first in Great Lakes Hockey Conference
Best wins: 7-1 over No. 9 Traverse City Central in Quarterfinal, 4-3 over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 3-1 over No. 5 Muskegon Mona Shores, 7-2 over Division 1 No. 10 Lake Orion, 2-1 over Division 1 No. 5 Saginaw Heritage, 5-0 and 7-3 over Division 1 No. 9 Traverse Bay Reps, 3-1 and 9-1 over Division 3 No. 4 Houghton, 3-1 over Division 3 No. 7 Calumet.
Players to watch: Kody Moyer, fr. F (19 goals, 15 assists); Brayden Grange, sr. D (15 goals, 22 assists); Jacob Garrow, jr. F (12 goals, 24 assists); Joe DeMattia, jr. D (8 goals, 14 assists).
Outlook: This will be Marquette’s fourth-straight trip to the Semifinals, and after another impressive run not only through the best of the Upper Peninsula but against downstate powers as well. Senior defenseman Owen Riipi (4 goals/15 assists) made the all-state second team last season, and DeMattia earned an honorable mention. Junior forward Ethan Phillips (12 goals/11 assists) and sophomore forward Caleb Fries (10 goals) also have put up double-digit goals, and senior forward Drew Dellies (9/23) is among 10 with double-digit assists.
TRENTON
Record/rank: 17-11, No. 6
Championship history: 14 MHSAA titles (most recent 2014), eight runner-up finishes.
Coach: Chad Clements, eighth season (143-73-7)
League finish: Tied for second in MIHL South, first in Downriver League
Best wins: 5-3 over No. 7 Canton in Quarterfinal, 7-5 over No. 5 Muskegon Mona Shores, 4-2 over No. 10 Byron Center, 3-2 over Division 3 No. 10 Grosse Pointe South, 2-1 over Division 3 No. 2 Warren De La Salle Collegiate, 2-0 over Division 1 No. 3 Salem.
Players to watch: Nickolas Fields, sr. F/D (13 goals, 16 assists); Hayden Oboza, sr. F (20 goals, 26 assists); Micah Kneidling, jr. F (6 goals, 27 assists); Zach Anderson, sr. F (15 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Trenton is running its Semifinals streak to five seasons as part of a strong stretch of eight wins over 10 games – and after starting this winter 2-5. Fields earned an all-state honorable mention last season and is one of eight Trojans with at least 14 assists; he teams with senior Xaver Gradinscak (2 goals/18 assists) as the top defense pairing. Senior forward Matthew Krueger (14 goals, 15 assists), junior forward Carter Allen (10/8), junior defenseman Jacob Wiseman (9/15) and senior defenseman Aaron Brow (9/14) also have shown plenty of scoring touch.
PHOTO Marquette's Caleb Fries (9), Joe DeMattia (4), goalie Wylen Cambensy, and CJ Carter (16) and Houghton's Jace Deforge get ready for a faceoff in Marquette's zone during their February matchup. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)
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Hockey Team Becomes Romeo's Next Champ
March 12, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
PLYMOUTH — The students in the large Romeo cheering section might have been nervous.
Some of his teammates might have been getting nervous too.
Nolan Kare, however, couldn't allow himself to give in to the natural human reaction as the MHSAA Division 2 hockey championship appeared to be slipping away from the Bulldogs' grasp.
After scoring three straight goals during a frantic 5:02 stretch of the second period, a seasoned Livonia Stevenson squad held a 4-2 lead over a Romeo team that had never played on the biggest stage in Michigan high school hockey.
Kare stopped the last 11 shots he faced over the final 22 minutes and 21 seconds, backstopping Romeo to a 6-4 come-from-behind victory over Stevenson on Saturday at USA Hockey Arena.
"I know we kind of let up a little bit, but our team has so much heart," Kare said. "I know that if I just make the saves I'm supposed to make and try to rob a few that our team is going to give us the best chance to win. I know if I'm doing that, then I'm going to give them the best opportunity to put us in a position to get back."
Senior star Logan Jenuwine's tip-in goal during a five-minute power play with 10:21 left in the game snapped a 4-4 tie. Steven Morris scored an empty-net goal with 29.1 seconds left to seal the first MHSAA hockey title in the 15-year history of the Romeo program.
Suddenly, a school that had no MHSAA team championships going into the 2014-15 school year has three over the past 16 months. It began with the volleyball team winning the 2014 Class A championship and continued when the football team upset Detroit Cass Tech in the 2015 Division 1 title game at Ford Field.
"Before the game, we were saying if the football team could beat Cass Tech with 20 Division I (college) players coming up, we could beat Livonia Stevenson," Romeo senior forward Nick Blankenburg said. "Shocking the world and being part of such a great team feels incredible. To win a state championship for our school, to get those rings like our football team and volleyball team, I'll remember this my entire life."
Like the football and volleyball teams, the hockey team benefitted from a huge outpouring of support in a matchup that was witnessed by two passionate and energized fan bases.
"There's just something special about Romeo," said Kare, who finished with 29 saves and led the state with all 27 of Romeo's victories. "It's a small-town feel. You could see it out there. The entire town's out there for us. Just like football, just like volleyball, we had the whole community behind our back. We're just unbelievably blessed to have the best fan base, the best family, the best support out of anybody."
The atmosphere in which the Romeo and Stevenson players competed is one of the things that sets high school hockey apart from its competitors. Senior forward Ben Kowalske, who played in three MHSAA Finals for the Spartans, said neighbors will stop him and congratulate him on how the team is performing. Kowalske is the lone holdover from Stevenson's 2013 MHSAA Division 2 championship team and is a member of the MHSAA's Student Advisory Council.
"Being on the Council, you learn ideas and what other schools do," Kowalske said. "It's really amazing people are so interested in what we're doing. To have everyone come out to the game really means the world and really means a lot to us that we're doing something right here. You saw Romeo, too. They had the city support. It's cool. You try not to let it distract you during the game, but now that it's over, it's cool. It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but we did the best we could. It's really cool the community could come together over something and just forget about the world for a couple hours and just have fun."
A defensive battle that was tied 1-1 for the first 23 minutes changed in a hurry as the second period neared its midway point.
Romeo (27-2-1) grabbed a 2-1 lead at 6:18 of the second period on a goal by Jenuwine, but that only served to wake up the Spartans.
As Jenuwine's goal was being announced, Nick Beers scored the equalizer for the Spartans just 19 seconds later. Stevenson took its first lead 44 seconds later on a goal by Shane Leonard. Riding the crest of that momentum, the Spartans built their lead to 4-2 at the 11:39 mark on a goal by Nate Sudek.
With the game possibly slipping away, Romeo coach Nick Badder called what proved to be a critical timeout.
"We were down, they had all the momentum," Badder said. "I was telling (Adam) Krefski and the other assistants, 'Right now, they have all the momentum. We're on our heels, and we felt it. We calmed down the boys. Once they calmed down and realized it was shift by shift, we kind of took over."
Romeo got right back into the game before the second period ended, getting within 4-3 on Brett Lanski's second goal of the game with 2:34 left in the period and tying it when Luke Kaczor tipped in a shot from the point by Logan Ganfield with 1:30 to go in the period. Between the teams, six goals were scored during a 9:13 span.
Romeo was presented with a golden opportunity to break the tie when a Stevenson player received a five-minute major and game disqualification at 4:38 of the third period.
A power play that featured the highest-scoring player in the state wasn't going to miss over the course of five minutes. Jenuwine, who had 46 goals and 50 assists this season, scored what proved to be the game-winner at the 5:39 mark when he redirected a shot from the right point by Ganfield.
"It was going wide," said Jenuwine, who had two goals and three assists. "That's what I've been trying to work on mostly is get to the front of the net. I'm not really a guy to get to the front of the net; I did. It was a good shot by Logan Ganfield, and I got a tip on it."
Stevenson coach David Mitchell didn't blame the penalty for the loss.
"To say it turned there, it turned because they capitalized," Mitchell said. "They still had to capitalize, so you give them credit for capitalizing. We still had multiple chances to score and they had multiple chances to score. As a coach, it's so tough to explain to a bunch of 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids that it's not one moment, it's an entire game. There were 51 minutes that were played out there where multiple other things happened."
Stevenson (22-7-1) had three offensive-zone face-offs in the final 1:25, but couldn't generate a scoring threat.
There might have been another had Morris' shot from inside his own blue line missed the target, but he found the center of the net for the game-clinching empty-netter with 29.1 seconds to go. For good measure, Morris blocked a shot in the final seconds.
Before Saturday, the Bulldogs' only playoff run beyond the Regionals came last season when they lost 8-2 to Grosse Pointe South in the MHSAA Quarterfinals.
"Last year's loss in the playoffs hurt," Badder said. "Grosse Pointe South took it to us; they kind of owned us. We didn't have a playoff game plan; we didn't have a playoff style last year. This year, I was so hard on these guys. We lost two games, and I was still, 'Guys, we're not doing this right, we're not doing that right.' They're like, 'Coach, we just won 6-1.' I was trying to get a point across to them that you've got to be a playoff team. You have to hit. You've got to block shots. You've got to get the puck in your own end. It's not the high-flying (Blankenburg) and (Jenuwine) show. We're a team, and the team will win in the end."
PHOTOS: (Top) Romeo players raise their first MHSAA championship trophy to the crowd after Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Romeo’s Steven Morris (36) and Stevenson’s Sam Judd work to gain possession of the puck. (Click for more from Andrew Knapik.)