PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP — As captain of the Novi Detroit Catholic Central hockey team, Brendan Cwiek knows just what the Shamrocks need in order to have a good game: a quick goal — or two.
“Every time we’ve scored first, there’s been a higher level of energy with our team,” he said.
So Cwiek scored quickly — 4:45 into the game, just 10 seconds into a power play — to help propel the Shamrocks toward another Catholic League Bishop Division championship, defeating Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook 3-0 Wednesday night at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth.
“It started when Billy Shields won the draw, got it over to Nich (Borchardt), who fired in a shot. The rebound bounced out, and luckily I was able to find it,” said Cwiek, who’s also the team’s leading scorer with 6 goals and 11 points in 10 games.
The Shamrocks were able to build on that momentum, making it 2-0 under a minute later when Nate Grondzieleski dribbled a shot past Cranbrook goaltender Julian Zvyagin. Shields drew the assist.
That fast start was a complete turnaround from the prior meeting between the two teams on Feb. 18. Playing at Cranbrook, Catholic Central fell into an uncharacteristic 3-0 deficit by the end of the first period. Cranbrook went on to win 4-0, dealing the Shamrocks (9-1) their only loss of the year so far.
“It’s any given night — that’s what they say,” Catholic Central coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “It was huge to get those two goals quickly. When we got behind 3-0 against a quality team (on Feb. 18), it was tough for us. They have a really good goalie, and it’s tough to come back against a team like that.”
Entering Wednesday’s contest, Zvyagin had a 1.76 goals-against average and a .960 save percentage, putting him among the leading goalies statewide. He helped Cranbrook (7-3) win six straight coming into the contest, until Catholic Central stopped the streak.
“We just came to play today,” Cwiek said. “We learned we can’t underestimate any opponent. We had to re-evaluate (after the loss) and figure out what went wrong and what we did right. We worked on those things in practice, and as a result, we came out with a lot more energy.”
At the other end of the rink, the Shamrock defense limited Cranbrook scoring opportunities all night, and goaltender Nick Galda turned away all 16 shots he faced, gaining his fourth shutout of the season. Galda had been between the pipes in the 4-0 loss to Cranbrook, yet Kaleniecki didn’t hesitate to put him back on the ice.
“It was really good for him to see the same team and play them again. His play was really consistent tonight,” Kaleniecki said. “We have a lot of faith in Nick; we have a lot of faith in all three of our goalies.”
Borchardt added Catholic Central’s final goal of the evening midway through the second period on a slapshot from the point. Shields also assisted on the goal.
Catholic Central converted two of four power-play opportunities, a higher level of special-team success than the Shamrocks have experienced this year.
“It’s a work in progress,” Kaleniecki said. “Everything has been thrown together so quickly this season, but when you play a quality opponent like that, it makes you better.”
Catholic Central grabbed its 10th Catholic League championship in the past 15 seasons, the third in a row under Kaleniecki. Cranbrook is still searching for its first league title, although the Cranes have played in the title game six times since joining the Catholic League 10 years ago.
“We didn’t generate much offense all night,” Cranbrook coach John LaFontaine said. “That’s a good team; they knew how to play on their home rink.”
The Cardinal Division championship was decided back on Feb. 20, when Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard bested Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett, 4-3, at Liggett’s McCann Ice Arena. Jack Waldo had a hand in all of Ann Arbor’s scoring, with two goals and two assists. Quinton Gove and Jack Lapinski had the other two tallies. The Fighting Irish did an effective job of slowing down the Knights offense, which put up 10 goals in a semi-final win against Madison Heights Bishop Foley.
With regular-season play winding down, several Catholic teams are poised to make their mark in the state playoffs, which culminate March 27. Catholic Central is the top-ranked team in the state among Division 1 programs, while Cranbrook is ranked fourth in Division 3. Other highly ranked schools include Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (second in Division 1), Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (third in Division 2) and University of Detroit Jesuit (top-ranked in Division 3).
Catholic Central is the reigning Division 1 state champion, although that accomplishment dates to 2019, since last year’s tournament was not completed because of the emergence of COVID-19. Catholic Central, Brother Rice and Riverview Gabriel Richard were all contending for state titles when the sport was suspended at the semi-final level, just two days before the championship games would have been played.
