MACOMB — The Detroit Catholic Central Shamrocks booked a return trip to USA Hockey Arena with a 3-0 victory over L’Anse Creuse Unified in the Division 1 quarterfinals Saturday night.
With the win, the Shamrocks improve to 24-3 and book another trip to the Division 1 semifinals next weekend at USA Hockey Arena where they will attempt to defend their state title. The Shamrocks will take on Midland Friday evening.
“That’s the beauty of it. The fun part is just getting there and seeing what happens next week,” Shamrocks head coach Brandon Kaleniecki said.
Catholic Central’s power play got the Shamrocks on the board midway through the first period when Kaden Hemme’s rocket from the left circle found the back of the net to make it 1-0.
The Shamrocks dominated the game territorially, pinning Unified back for most of the night and racking up a 53-8 advantage in shots on goal. But goaltender Frank Boskovich was outstanding, making 50 saves to keep L’Anse Creuse Unified close.
The Shamrocks stayed patient, however, and continuously recycled possession as they slowly extended their lead — adding one goal each in the second period and again in the third period.
“That’s kind of the idea, right? We want to hang onto the puck in the offensive zone,” Kaleniecki said. “For us, it’s a good thing to see us really control the game in that manner and really hang onto pucks in the offensive zone because if the puck does get turned over there, it’s still a long way back before it’s in danger around our net.”
Jackson Walsh made it 2-0 with 8:54 remaining in the second period when he pounced on a rebound that hit the glass behind the net and kicked back out front.
Connor Miles completed the scoring with 7:06 left in the game, firing a quick shot from the high slot off an offensive zone face off.
“We would have liked a few more obviously, getting that many shots, but this time of year things get tight and goalies play well, and he (Boskovich) played really well. So you have to tip your hat to their goalie, for sure,” Kaleniecki said.
L’Anse Creuse Unified had a couple of very good chances. Perhaps their best chance came just over three minutes into the game when they rang a shot off the crossbar.
“We knew it was going to be tough. We had a couple of key opportunities, one off the post early in the game, that two-on-one there we had, a couple of missed opportunities that we thought could have changed the outcome of the game. But they’re a good team,” Unified head coach Jon Nader said. “These guys battled. They’re tired. They’re exhausted. They did everything I could ask them to do tonight. They played with all heart, determination, effort,” he added.
But for the most part, they struggled to create offensive chances all night.
L’Anse Creuse Unified finishes the year 20-8, which includes both the MAC Red title and a regional title.
“It was a great season, a great group of kids. I’m going to miss them a lot,” Nader said. “We’re very excited. We won the MAC two years in a row, back-to-back now, and winning a regional two in three years. We feel very happy. It’s a successful season for us.”
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