DEARBORN — Mother Nature was to blame for the chilly, dreary conditions last Saturday at Divine Child High School for the Catholic High School League boys lacrosse playoff finals.
It rained intermittently throughout the afternoon under skies threatening to erupt with temperatures hovering a degree or two around 50.
Then came the storm, not related to the atmosphere, but the unprecedented thrashing Novi Detroit Catholic Central administered to their nemesis, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice.
The beating was so bad that at the start of the fourth quarter, with the Shamrocks in front 14-2, the running clock rule was enforced, a situation when the difference in score is 12 goals that the clock runs continually except for timeouts called by officials.
“Have you ever had the running clock?” Ajay Chawla, who has coached the Warriors since 2014, was asked.
“Never,” he replied.
Catholic Central dominated every aspect of the game. The offense sliced and diced the Warriors’ defense time and again, charging out to a 9-0 lead midway through the second quarter before Rice scored, then re-asserting its will the rest of the way for a 15-2 final and its second straight CHSL Bishop Division crown, also at the expense of Brother Rice a year ago.
Junior attacker Lachlan Moffatt led CC’s offense with four goals. Luke Zajdel had three. Jack Smiley, Ryan Dye and Matthew Aleve each scored twice. Francisco Williams and Connor Lukas had one apiece.
Peter Biglin and Cashton Papadelis scored for Rice.
“We were outplayed. We were outcoached. We were outmanned,” Chawla said. “We didn’t come prepared today. Very, very rarely do we come unprepared. Today it happened. Everybody has a bad day. We had a bad day.”
“We recognize that they had some important players injured,” Dave Wilson, Catholic Central’s coach since 2003, said, “so that tilts the field in our favor, but our boys went out and handled it.”
Back on April 10, the Shamrocks blew a five-goal lead and Brother Rice capitalized with a run of eight successive goals for a 16-9 victory.
“The boys made some adjustments from that game,“ Wilson said. “We were completely ready for this time.”
One can appreciate why Shamrocks fans celebrate beating Brother Rice. It hasn’t happened often, bordering on rare. Since lacrosse was sanctioned by the Michigan High School Athletic Association in 2005, Brother Rice holds a 38-5 record versus Catholic Central. Against six other CHSL opponents, the Warriors are 102-0.
On the state level, Brother Rice has won 16 of 18 Division 1 championships. One of the losses was to Catholic Central in 2018 (the other to Hartland in 2022). Nine times the Shamrocks were runners-up to Brother Rice.
“The state playoffs are more important,” Chawla said. “It’s important for us to win on June 8. That’s what we are focused on.”
Brother Rice (12-4) opens its state tournament action in a regional match at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, against either Bloomfield Hills (7-7) or Royal Oak (5-7) at Birmingham Seaholm.
Catholic Central (13-3) hosts a regional and will play at 6 p.m., Monday, May 20, against White Lake Lakeland (1-13).
The Shamrocks and Warriors could collide in a semi-final on June 5. Stay tuned.
Divine Child wins Cardinal trophy
Divine Child defeated Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard, 11-6, for the Cardinal Division trophy. The same two schools were finalists a year ago with the same result, the Falcons claiming their third title in school history.
“There’s no love lost between the two teams,” said Falcons fourth-year coach Eddie Traub. “I’m proud of the boys. They minimized penalties, they moved the ball really well, they played with a lot of energy.”
Junior midfielder Braeden McNamara set the tone early with three goals to open Divine Child’s offense. Senior Alessandro DiDomenico and junior David Harrison also contributed three goals apiece. Senior Tyler Traub and Cole Bartnick each had a goal.
Junior Pat Dyer led the Fighting Irish with a pair of goals. Trevor Birks, Colin Hamilton, Daniel Dombrowski and Finn Schoebel added a goal each.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
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