PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP — Sometimes, there is no place Nick Leiter would rather be than at the bottom of a dog pile.
“It’s something I love to happen; it’s just a great experience to have,” the Detroit Catholic Central senior defenseman said. “All your teammates are there, it’s so happy and so electric. And we were so happy to get out of that game.”
That’s where Leiter found himself Saturday night, after scoring the game-winning goal late in the second overtime, giving his team a comeback 3-2 win over Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook in the Catholic League’s Bishop Division hockey championship.
Cranbrook nearly ended the battle just a few seconds earlier as a 2-on-1 rush produced a great scoring chance, but after Shamrock goalie Joe Bedells stopped the shot, the puck was cleared to center ice, where Leiter picked it up.
“It’s hard to explain what happened, it just happened so quickly,” the third-year veteran said. “I got so nervous because they had a 2-on-1 against us. Our goalie made a great save, and the puck goes to the half line. I already had some steam from back-checking, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m just going to take this.’ I beat the (defender) around the back, threw it to the net, and it just went in. It was magical.”
Catholic Central — the state’s top-ranked team which is now undefeated in eight games — had to work some magic just to get to that point. Cranbrook (5-2-1, ranked fifth in Division 3) got a pair of goals from Efe Oztorun to take a 2-0 lead into the third period.
While it’s been rare in recent seasons for Catholic Central to play from a deficit, it was still able to turn up the heat. The Shamrocks outshot Cranbrook 18-3 in the second period, even though they couldn’t put anything past Cranes goalie Blake Tice. Catholic Central continued the offensive barrage in the third period, with Jack Dorgan lighting the lamp with 12:39 to play, and Dominic Testani netting the equalizer 7:00 before the end of regulation play. Catholic Central had a 13-3 shot advantage in the third period.
“We just kept pushing, but we needed a little extra spark, a little extra kick,” head coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “Jack Dorgan did that with a big goal fairly early in the period, and I think when we saw that finally go in, it felt like the level of confidence went up and we knew we were going to get another one. If we kept doing what we were doing, we were going to find one more.”
Leiter said the key was just to remain focused and positive.
“We were just able to keep our morale really high,” he said. “I would say there wasn’t a guy on the bench that wasn’t cheering each other on. I wouldn’t even say there was a moment where we thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we might lose this game.’ We were confident that we could put the puck in the net, and we would just keep skating them down and wearing them down.”
Catholic Central controlled the run of play in both eight-minute overtime periods, outshooting Cranbrook 14-4. Yet the Cranes hung in there, even as CC appeared to have won in the first overtime, but a would-be goal was waved off.
“It felt like nothing was going to go in, but you’ve just got to stick to it at that point,” Kaleniecki said. “We’ve all been on both sides of it, but you say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to keep pushing,’ and find a way to get one. Finally we did.”
Leiter finally fired the puck past Tice with 1:23 remaining in the second extra session, touching off a joyous wave of pandemonium among his teammates.
“They did a great job — you’ve got to compliment them,” Kaleniecki said. “As we were going into overtime, we were like, ‘Hey this is fun.’ It’s a fun environment, a fun game to be in, win or lose. Obviously you want to find a way to be on the winning side. The biggest message was, ‘Keep plugging away.’ From the second period on we were playing well for long stretches.”
“I think we learned a lot about our team tonight,” Leiter said. “We had a lot of young, first-year guys step up. We scored some great goals today, and that’s what this program’s all about.”
He said this year’s roster is significantly different from the one that captured its fifth consecutive state championship with a 2-0 win over Brighton last March.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of roster we have on this team; we have the same goal every single year,” Leiter said. “We graduated a lot of seniors, but that doesn’t change our goals, it doesn’t change how we play, that doesn’t change anything.”
Catholic Central advanced to the league championship by beating Riverview Gabriel Richard, 6-0, in a first-round game, and defeating Warren De La Salle, 7-3, in the semifinal. Cranbrook qualified by beating Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 4-3, in the opener, and Toledo St. Francis de Sales, 5-3, in the other semifinal.
Catholic Central has now won 25 straight games against Catholic League opponents, since suffering a defeat to De La Salle on Feb. 16, 2022. The Shamrocks have now beaten Cranbrook in seven straight contests dating back to Feb. 18, 2021.
While the Catholic League conducts its Bishop Division hockey tournament early, the Cardinal Division competition — featuring the CHSL’s smaller teams — will take place near the end of the regular season, in February.
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