DCC Starts Title Reign by Ending Rival Rice's
June 9, 2018
By Jason Schmitt
Special for Second Half
HOWELL - There was never a doubt in Joey Kamish’s mind.
Not when his team trailed by three goals midway through the fourth quarter. Not when his team still trailed after his goal cut the deficit to one.
And certainly not when his second straight tied the game, 10-10, with just under four minutes to play in the game.
“When this team gets momentum, there’s nothing that can stop us,” Kamish said. “Right after we scored a couple and everyone was getting hyped up and there was a lot of energy on the bench, I just knew this was going to be our first state championship.”
Kamish was right. Teammate Ethan Pattinson scored off a pass from Kamish with three minutes remaining, vaulting Detroit Catholic Central past Birmingham Brother Rice, 11-10, on Saturday in the Division 1 championship game at Parker Middle School in Howell.
The win by the Shamrocks snapped the Warriors’ incredible 13-year championship streak, which dated back to 2005, the first season the MHSAA began sponsoring a postseason tournament for the sport.
“I’ve been on the team for four years and I knew we were closing the gap,” said Catholic Central senior Pete Thompson, who had been part of the past three Shamrocks teams that had lost to the Warriors in the Division 1 title game. “In previous years, I felt like we were a bunch of individuals that were really good. But Brother Rice is such a great team, such a strong program, that you can’t beat them with a bunch of individuals. We all wanted this more than anything, any individual goals, and this was a culmination of a great team.”
The win was the Shamrocks’ third over Brother Rice (13-8) this season. They had beaten the Warriors, 10-9, during the regular season and again, 11-8, in the Catholic League championship game.
This one may have been the toughest victory yet for Catholic Central. The Shamrocks built early leads of 3-0 and 5-1 thanks to two first-period goals by Pattinson and two second-period goals by Kamish.
But Brother Rice did not fold. Three goals in a span of 1:58 by sophomore Jordan Hyde, junior Justin Glod and sophomore Pat O’Hara – followed by another goal from sophomore D.J. Dixon – knotted the game at 5-5 heading into halftime.
“We’ve battled all year,” Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “I’ve got to give it to the boys, they didn’t give up. They fought ‘til the end, and they gave it their all.”
Catholic Central built another two-goal lead early in the second half on goals by Kamish – who finished with five in all – and sophomore Ryan Sullivan. But Rice went on a run, scoring the next five goals to take a 10-7 lead. Dixon and O’Hara had two goals each.
In the end, however, the top-ranked Shamrocks (19-2) had just enough to capture the school’s first MHSAA lacrosse championship.
“Any coach will tell you that lacrosse is a game of runs and they went on their run, and we always know we have to weather their storm and we’ll get one,” Catholic Central coach Dave Wilson said. “We have a very deadly offense, and they just need the ball. Once we could get the ball a bit, we know it’s going to make its way into the back of the net.”
Brother Rice’s 13 title game wins had come against DCC, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Detroit U-D Jesuit, frequently by lopsided scores. But in recent years, Catholic Central had closed that gap.
Last year, Brother Rice edged the Shamrocks, 8-7, in the title game.
“A streak is not going to last forever,” Chawla said. “These guys worked their butts off all year, and we just didn’t have it when we needed it. It’s what happens when you don’t play a complete game.
“You’ve got to hand it to (Catholic Central), their big players, Kamish, Thompson and Pattinson, they stepped up when they needed to at the end of the game. Coach Wilson coached a good team this year. Hats off to them.”
For Wilson, whose program was 0-7 against Brother Rice in MHSAA championship games, Saturday’s victory was very special.
“It’s a bit of relief, but it just feels great to see the fruition of a lot of hard work come together,” Wilson said. “People always go through the perfect storm, ‘What do you want to do, who do you want to play?’ We don’t care who we play; we just want to win a state championship.
“But it feels good to beat Rice.”
Click for the full scoring summary.
VIDEO: Ethan Pattinson scores the game-winner for Catholic Central.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central raises a boys lacrosse championship trophy for the first time Saturday. (Middle) The Shamrocks defend a shot by Brother Rice.
Martin Makes Home in Goal for Monroe St. Mary's Boys Lacrosse, Ice Hockey Teams
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 29, 2025
Lacrosse isn’t the best sport to choose if you don’t like coming home with bruises every once in a while.
For Chloe Martin, the bruises are just part of the deal.
“I love it,” Martin said of lacrosse. “It’s a fast game and a challenge. I love that.”
Martin is a senior on the Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central boys lacrosse team. SMCC doesn’t offer girls lacrosse, so she plays on the boys team. That’s nothing new to her, either. She was also a member, representing SMCC, of the Downriver Unified cooperative boys ice hockey team this past winter.
“I didn’t expect to enjoy (lacrosse) as much as I did, but once I started playing and started playing with the boys, I fell in love with the sport,” Martin said.
Martin picked up ice hockey at the age of 8 while a student at Triumph Academy, a K-8 school near Monroe. She was hooked, but under one condition – she wanted to be in the net.
“When I was younger, I played forward and defense, but I didn’t really enjoy it,” she recalled. “When someone on the team said they needed a goalie, I raised my hand right away. It’s a lot of fun. I don’t think I would be playing if I wasn’t playing goalie.
“I like getting shots coming at me. It’s fun.”
Martin, from Monroe, joined the SMCC lacrosse team as a high school freshman. She played ice hockey as a sophomore and again as a senior. “I played travel hockey my junior year and, to be honest, I kind of regret it,” she said.
As a sophomore, she was able to be teammates with her brother, Walker.
“He was one of my biggest inspirations playing hockey,” she said. “We had a strong connection, and I wanted to play with him and his friends. That was one of my favorite teams to ever play on.”
Her brother also got her started in lacrosse.
“The reason I joined lacrosse was because of my older brother,” Chloe said. “Our coach saw that I was a goalie for hockey and wanted me to be a goalie for lacrosse. I agreed and played lacrosse.”
Lacrosse – for both boys and girls – is played in the spring in Michigan. The sport involves a ton of running and highly-skilled passing and catching. It also takes teamwork.
Martin prefers the boys game over the girls game. She’s tried both.
“I love playing against the boys. I tried playing girls lacrosse, and it wasn’t my thing,” she said. “For girls, there are different rules and I don’t really like it. I’m trying to get into it because I want to play either college hockey or lacrosse.”
She’s not sure which sport she likes better: “It’s not that big of a difference. There is more padding for hockey and less for lacrosse. You have a crease, and you are moving in the same type of direction. Lacrosse is less wear-and-tear on my hips. I have bad hips.”
While lacrosse has a bigger field, Martin said there is more action.
“Lacrosse is quicker than hockey,” she said. “You can have the ball in the other zone but three seconds later they can be down shooting on me.”
This season has been a strong one for Martin in net.
Earlier this month she helped the Falcons to a one-point win over Jackson at Albion College, recorded her first varsity shutout April 16 against Brownstown Woodhaven and made a school-record 19 saves on April 4 against Ypsilanti Lincoln. That save total was high enough to make the MHSAA record book.
“Nineteen is kind of a lot of shots,” Martin said. “I’ve faced more than that in hockey. I’d say facing 19 shots in lacrosse is kind of like facing 50 shots in hockey.”
SMCC athletic director Jared Janssen said Martin has been a key factor in the team’s success and that she’s an inspiration to others.
“Chloe stands out as an excellent player with the boys and performs at a high level in both hockey and lacrosse,” he said. “She has been a leader for hockey and lacrosse, and that has led to more girls participation in both programs. Our girls lacrosse program has grown from only one girl to four this year.”
Goalie remains her favorite position.
“It’s a lot harder to be goalie than you think. You don’t expect the ball coming at you as hard and as quick as they are. You kind of get used to it. You don’t get used to getting hit, but you get used to seeing the ball and where the players are shooting from.”
The 17-year-old daughter of Alison and Nathan Martin loves mountain biking, fishing and baking. She has her sights on playing a sport in college and becoming a nurse. That stems from the time her dad got COVID and pneumonia at the same time.
“He was in the ICU for three months,” Martin said. “When that happened, I just decided I wanted to be a nurse and help people. That’s what I love doing.”
As for the bruises, Martin is getting used to them. She wears a chest plate, elbow pads, glove and mask. There are no shoulder pads in lacrosse and little other protection, especially for the legs.
After a recent game, she had a bruise the size of softball on her leg.
“It’s rough. I get a lot of bruises, but I love it,” she said. “It’s mostly on my legs. It hurts a lot, but after a few seconds it goes away. There are so many bruises I get in lacrosse. I’ve never gotten this bruised from hockey.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s Chloe Martin defends her team’s goal during a lacrosse game. (Middle) Martin, without a protective mask, which she wears for two sports. (Below) Martin monitors the puck while in net for Downriver Unified. (Action photos by Stephanie Hawkins; posed photo provided by Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.)