Hartland Ices Rematch To Finish Repeat
March 9, 2019
Second Half reports
PLYMOUTH — When Adam Pietila won a national championship with his travel hockey team last April, nobody in Hartland outside of his family knew about it.
When he won an MHSAA Division 2 championship with Hartland on Saturday at USA Hockey Arena, he did so in front of a large student section and with his best friends at the school.
“This is better,” said the Hartland sophomore, who scored the Eagles’ third goal in a 4-0 shutout of Trenton. “Going to school with everybody every day is just a great time.”
It’s the experience of playing for one’s school, in front of kids that players see every day in class, that coach Rick Gadwa pitches to talented players at Hartland who are on the fence about playing high school hockey.
The scene at USA Hockey Arena, with players jumping up against the glass to celebrate with the student section, could be Exhibit A in that sales pitch.
“You want to have a place where guys can come play where they’re feeling the love, where maybe sometimes they weren’t or it’s a different look or another stop for them,” said Gadwa, who played for Hartland 16 years ago. “More important, the pride of high school hockey, the pride of playing for your school, that stuff you don’t get in AAA or AA hockey. It’s a real special thing when you can come play for your school.”
Two of the newcomers to the Eagles in their quest to repeat were the Pietila brothers, Adam and Owen. Owen, a senior, scored two goals eight seconds apart to break a scoreless deadlock late in the first period after Hartland failed to cash in on a long five-on-three power play.
Owen Pietila made up his mind to play for Hartland after watching the Eagles beat Trenton in last year’s championship game.
“It looked like fun,” he said.
The Division 2 ranks were dominated all season by four powerhouse programs: Hartland, Trenton, Livonia Stevenson and Birmingham Brother Rice.
In the end, there was no doubt which team was the best in the division. Hartland (27-4) beat Brother Rice, 6-2, in the Semifinals before outshooting the Trojans, 44-13, in a dominant performance in the title game.
“We had a good plan here to start the playoffs,” Gadwa said. “We kept building and building and building. We got to the top at the end. The buy-in and effort as strong as it was is hard to beat, no matter how good you are. We played some good teams. Brother Rice and Trenton are unbelievable programs. Hat’s off to them on another great year.”
Trenton was hoping to avenge a 4-2 loss to the Eagles in last year’s championship game. The Trojans (25-5-1) came in with confidence, having shut out Hartland, 2-0, on Feb. 1. But Hartland was in command from start to finish, getting the first 11 shots of the game and 17 of the first 18.
“The first time we played them, we had a few bounces go our way,” Trenton coach Chad Clements said. “They had a few bounces go their way tonight. They outshot us two-to-one the last time we played them. I kind of expected that, just because of how offensive they were. I was fine with being outshot. As long as we kept the shots from the outside, we were fine with that.
“It’s their night again. We beat them this year, just not when it mattered.”
Adam Pietila’s goal at 13:47 of the second period came on the rebound of a Benny Tervo shot on a breakaway. Gabe Anderson completed the scoring with 4:33 left in the game.
Brett Tome made 13 saves to backstop the Eagles to the Division 2 championship for the second straight time. He had a 12-0 career record as a playoff starter, allowing only seven goals and posting seven shutouts.
“It means a lot to me to not lose a single game in the playoffs,” Tome said.
On the other end of the rink, Joey Cormier made 40 saves to keep the Trojans in the game most of the way.
“Joey’s just a tremendous competitor, the backbone of our team,” Clements said. “Without him, it could have been much worse. He gives us a chance to win every time that he plays.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Hartland players celebrate clinching their second straight Division 2 championship at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) The Eagles’ Owen Pietila tries to stuff a shot past Trenton goalie Joey Cormier during Saturday’s Final. (Photos by Andrew Knapik.)
Brighton Earns Finals Revenge over DCC
March 11, 2017
Second Half reports
PLYMOUTH — Logan Neaton needed time in the midst of a wild championship celebration to process the events of an entire year.
It was 365 days earlier that Neaton and his Brighton hockey teammates were beaten by Detroit Catholic Central, 3-0, in the MHSAA Division 1 championship game.
From the moment the Bulldogs stepped off the ice at USA Hockey Arena that night, everything they did was designed to get back there and write a different ending.
Brighton completed its mission with a 5-2 victory over three-time reigning champion Catholic Central in the season’s final game Saturday night.
Neaton, normally not one to show his emotions during a game, leaned back over the crossbar and looked to the rafters of USA Hockey Arena in the final minute after Jake Crespi’s empty-netter made it apparent the Bulldogs would win their fourth MHSAA title.
When the clock hit zeroes, Neaton wound up in a pile with his teammates, got himself out, jumped against the glass to celebrate with the student section, then went to the faceoff circle and had a moment to himself face down on the ice.
"It's been a year to the day since we lost," said Neaton, who made 31 saves Saturday and allowed only four goals in six postseason games. "You just represent so much more than yourself. You're representing all the boys who came before you, who came so close and couldn't get it done. Everyone in your city, we just had so much support throughout the year. So many people instilled so much in us and put so much of their time and effort in us. To do that for them and do it for the boys last year and everyone who came before us is unbelievable."
Brighton (24-6-1) lost in the 2014 and 2016 Finals to Catholic Central after beating the Shamrocks for the 2013 title.
The Bulldogs also won in 2006 and 2012. Brighton and Catholic Central have crossed paths in four of the last five MHSAA Finals. The Bulldogs beat the Shamrocks twice this season after doing so only once in 11 previous meetings.
"They've always been the benchmark," Brighton coach Paul Moggach said. "They're the team to beat for a lot of years. We've struggled to beat them. This year we beat them twice, which we've never done before. We just keep working hard and trying to be able to compete with them. Now we're on the map, as well."
Brighton stormed out of the gates, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first 2 minutes and 23 seconds on goals by Keith Wikman and Spencer Gehres.
Junior Adam Conquest, who played for Brighton as a freshman before returning to travel hockey as a sophomore, extended the lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal 43 seconds into the second period.
Conquest had a goal and two assists.
“It feels amazing,” Conquest said. “I didn’t play last year, but watching them from up in the stands I regretted not playing. I could have helped them out. This year, I joined. It’s an unreal experience beating C.C.”
The Shamrocks (22-8-1) made a game of it, as Brendan West scored twice in the second period to cut the margin to 3-2 heading into the third.
“We felt like if we got the second (goal), we had a lot of faith that we were going to get the third,” Catholic Central coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “You have to keep them off the boards. When they got their fourth, that was a killer blow for us.”
Gehres gave Brighton some insurance when he deflected in a shot by Conquest with 11:44 left in the game. An empty-netter by Crespi with 1:08 remaining left no doubt that this was Brighton’s year.
There was some doubt just a couple weeks earlier as to whether or not the Bulldogs would be celebrating with the championship trophy. Brighton went 1-4-1 in its last six regular-season games, but was missing players.
"You need adversity to understand where you're at and get you pumped up a little bit more," Moggach said. "They reacted well. We had some injuries and illness in there, too. Not for excuses, but we all realized we had the makings of a good team."
It was only the fifth time in 18 trips to the MHSAA Finals that Catholic Central took home the runner-up trophy.
“We’re just incredibly proud as a coaching staff of how they competed to the very end,” Kaleniecki said.
PHOTOS: (Top) Brighton goalie Logan Neaton stops a Detroit Catholic Central shot Saturday evening. (Middle) Spencer Gehres dumps in a Brighton goal during the Division 1 Final. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)