Detroit –- An aggressive offense and a smothering defense was the winning formula for Novi Detroit Catholic Central’s CHSL A-B Division Boys Hockey Championship 5-3 decision over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep Saturday night at the Joe Louis Arena.
The defensive effort was particularly important since freshman JV goalie, Spencer Wright, got the call to be in net as sub for CC’s regular two goalies, benched for what Coach Todd Johnson called “an internal discipline issue.”
“He got the job done,” said Johnson. “He’s going to be a good goalie for our program.”
If Wright had any jitters, he got rid of them right away, blocking a couple of Eaglets’ rushes in an intense first period that was what one would expect from teams ranked 1 and 2 respectively in Division 1 by the state’s hockey coaches association.
St. Mary’s was the first to flinch when, with just 22 seconds remaining in the period, CC’s Nolan Gluchowski rifled the puck from the blue line past Eaglets’ goalie, Austin Julvezan.
OLSM’s Sean Harrington slipped a power play goal between Wright’s pads three minutes into the second period to even up the score. But that’s when the game’s complexion changed.
The Eaglets were whistled for a pair of back-to-back penalties lasting nearly three minutes, including a 1:15 portion when the Shamrocks had a 5-on-3 opportunity.
Nine seconds after OLSM was back at full strength, Joe Steele put CC back on top, 2-1.
OLSM was called again for two penalties, once again offering CC a minute-long 5-on-3
chance. And, although to its credit St. Mary’s successfully fought off the Shamrocks’ charges, the wear-and-tear of doing so appeared to take a toll down the stretch.
Gluchowski opened the third period scoring from almost the same spot on the ice as his first goal to increase CC’s lead to 3-1. St. Mary’s Michael Mueller connected to revert the score to a one-goal difference.
Charlie Green and Max Wanko completed CC’s scoring, while Cooper Anstett got St. Mary’s third goal.
CC outshot the Eaglets 29-15, but there were moments – such as a 9-2 CC surge in the second period and a 7-2 differential in the third – when the Shamrocks defense refused to let St. Mary’s get its offense into any rhythm.
Catholic Central is 19-3, including three wins this season over St. Mary’s, whose record drops to 12-10.
