Preview: Contenders Converge on Athens
June 5, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Three teams playing in Saturday’s MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals at Troy Athens are familiar with the setting – they played on the same field for the same prize only a year ago.
Birmingham Brother Rice has won all 10 Division 1 titles in MHSAA history, and Detroit Catholic Central was runner-up in 2014. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood is seeking its second Division 2 title in three seasons after finishing runner-up last spring – and faces an opponent, Okemos, that will enjoy competing on the season’s final day for the first time.
The Division 1 Final begins at 2 p.m., followed by the Division 2 Final at 4:30. Click for more information including all results from this season's tournament. Both finals also will be streamed live on MHSAA.TV, viewable with subscription, and broadcast on MHSAANetwork.com.
Here's a brief look at the four teams vying for titles (player statistics do not include Semifinals):
Division 1
BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 18-4, No. 1 at end of regular-season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Ajay Chawla, second season (37-8)
Championship history: 10 MHSAA championships (most recent 2014).
Best wins: 14-7 over No. 9 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern in the Semifinal, 14-3 (Regional Final) and 17-3 over No. 6 Birmingham United, 7-4 and 15-8 over No. 7 Detroit U-D Jesuit, 11-4 and 14-10 over No. 2 Detroit Country Day, 14-6 over No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central.
Players to watch: Ross Reason, jr. G (6.90 goals-against average); Brendon Kennedy, sr. A (29 goals, 12 assists); Morgan Macko, jr. A/M (56 goals, 46 assists); John Lockwood, sr. A (54 goals, 47 assists); Riley North, jr. A (31 goals, 11 assists).
Outlook: The Warriors have continued to dominate Michigan boys lacrosse, going undefeated in-state with the only losses. They fell to one of Indiana’s top teams (Culver Military Academy) three times and a Canadian power (Toronto Hill Academy) while also beating one of Ohio’s best in Upper Arlington and Indiana’s top-ranked team, Carmel. All seven all-staters from last season are gone, but more of the best from 2014 have continued to carry the program – Lockwood and Macko were among the team’s top scorers last season and combined for nine of the team’s 23 goals in last spring’s championship game win over DCC.
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 14-5, No. 3 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Dave Wilson, 10th season (131-62)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2014, 2010, 2007 and 2006.
Best wins: 14-13 over No. 2 Detroit Country Day in the Semifinal, 14-13 over No. 4 Brighton, 13-6 (Regional Final), and 7-4 over No. 7 Detroit U-D Jesuit, 20-9 over No. 9 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 19-12 over No. 5 Troy, 11-8 over No. 10 Ann Arbor Skyline.
Players to watch: Zach Crawford, sr. A; Andrew Caris, jr. LSM; Alex Jarzembowski, jr. M; Rocco Mularoni, jr. A (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: DCC is back in the Final for the second straight season after edging Country Day, last season’s Division 2 champion, in the Semifinal. This team has a bit of a different look – there are only eight seniors, and only four start. In addition to wins listed above, the Shamrocks also were 3-1 against Division 2 teams that finished the regular season ranked among the top four, losing only to top-ranked Forest Hills Central (9-7 in DCC’s first game this season). They’re on a roll with eight straight wins – including six over ranked opponents – since falling to Brother Rice 14-6 in their only meeting this season.
Division 2
BLOOMFIELD HILLS CRANBROOK KINGSWOOD
Record/rank: 13-9, No. 4 at end of regular season
League finish: Fourth in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Mat Wilson, fourth season (55-31)
Championship history: Division 2 champion 2013 and 2006, runner-up in 2014 and 2007.
Best wins: 8-7 (OT) over No. 1 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in the Semifinal, 11-5 over No. 6 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 13-12 over Division 1 No. 2 Detroit Country Day.
Players to watch: Johnny Wagner, sr. M; Bennett Faliski, sr. M; Peter Augier, sr. M; Michael Langdon, sr. D; Jack Blumberg, sr. D. (Statistics not submitted.).
Outlook: Cranbrook Kingswood is back in the Final for the third straight season and despite graduating a pair of standout offensive players after finishing runner-up last spring. Wagner is finishing a career that already has him entered in the MHSAA records listings three times, and he with the other four players mentioned above all earned all-state honors in 2014. The Cranes started 2-7 but faced both Division 1 finalists and top teams from Ohio; they are 11-2 since and have given up only 16 goals total over four tournament games.
OKEMOS
Record/rank: 17-2, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference
Coach: Shawn Grady, 13th season (156-77)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 14-10 (Semifinal) and 12-9 over No. 3 East Grand Rapids, 12-10 over Division 1 No. 4 Brighton.
Players to watch: Blake Grewal Turner, sr. A (60 goals, 21 assists); Cole Jamieson, sr. M (27 goals, 18 assists); Bennett Sherman, jr. A (56 goals, 31 assists); Cameron Stelljes, sr. G (5.20 goals-against average); Sam Horton, sr. D.
Outlook: The Chieftains have been building toward this first-time Finals appearance, improving their win total four straight seasons and with a group that went 15-2 in 2014 with five all-staters that are back this spring. Okemos’ only losses this season were to two of the best in Division 1 – by two goals to No. 9 Forest Hills Northern in the opener and then by only one goal to No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central in the regular-season finale. Those were two of only four opponents who scored more than seven goals on the Chieftains this season.
PHOTO: Okemos' Blake Grewal Turner works to get past a DeWitt defender during a victory this season. (Photo courtesy of Alan Holben Photography.)
Detroit Catholic Central Starts Fast, Holds Off Hudsonville Rally to Reign Again
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2026
HOWELL – Playing in its first boys lacrosse state championship game, Hudsonville looked a bit overwhelmed to start Saturday’s Division 1 Final against Detroit Catholic Central.
The Shamrocks jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and eventually led by eight goals during the second quarter.
However, the Eagles would fight back and eventually get the Shamrocks’ lead down to two goals before Catholic Central put the game away with a pair of late scores to prevail 14-10 and claim the program’s third Finals championship.
“Coach (Gunnar) Elder, they did a great job. They were very resilient. They hung in there and could have folded, but they did not,” Catholic Central coach Dave Wilson said of Hudsonville. “Things got real sticky, and I’m just proud of our guys for hanging in there and battling a tough team.”
The start to the game at Howell Parker ultimately became the deciding factor in the outcome. The Shamrocks (17-5) scored the first six goals over the opening seven minutes of play. That included a pair of goals from senior Ryan Dye scored over nine seconds.
“We knew one of the advantages we had was that we had a lot of players who have played in a state championship game before,” Dye said. “We wanted to use that to our advantage. We felt like we could jump out quick and early on them.”
The Shamrocks built that lead to 10-2 midway through the second quarter before Hudsonville (21-2) started to build momentum. The Eagles would score four of the final six goals in the half to give themselves a fighting chance during the second, down 12-6.
“It’s one of those things where you hop on the field, sometimes you need to get hit,” Elder said of the slow start. “Unfortunately, we spotted them too many and it kind of hit us like a ton of bricks.”
Hudsonville turned up the defensive pressure, keeping the Shamrocks scoreless in the third quarter while Dom Moliterno, Will Zuiderveen, and Andrew McAleece each found the net to make the score 12-9 entering the final quarter.
“The defense played out of their minds today. They did a great job. Catholic Central’s got a lot of firepower and we stuck with them, gave them a lot of fits, and created a lot of turnovers to give our offense a chance,” Elder said. “To be able to lean on those guys, it’s just a testament to all of their character.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Hudsonville’s Zaidan Dykstra scored to get the lead down to two goals at 12-10. Catholic Central used a time out to try and regroup, which it managed to do.
“This group was tough. They had a tough stretch and played some really good teams, but that’s why we do that. You always hope that stuff kind of pays off so they can endure moments like this,” Wilson said. “Anybody can draw anything on a whiteboard for a perfect scenario, but it’s what are we going to do when the wheels fall (off) and everything catches on fire? They’re teenagers, so it’s going to happen, but we found a way to straighten it out and hang on.”
Junior Peyton Sofran came through with his fourth goal of the game with eight minutes to play to end the Hudsonville run. Dye then put home his third goal with 2:46 to play, on an assist from Nick Edwards, to put the game out of reach.
“It was crunch time,” Dye said of his insurance goal. “It felt really good (to score). It was a great cut and a wonderful pass by Luke Kramer. It was just a really special play. It was the last shot of my high school career and my last goal, and it came from one of my closest friends.”
Dye added two assists to go with his three goals, while Kramer put home four goals for the Shamrocks.
Zuiderveen and Carson Campbell each had three goals to lead Hudsonville.
Elder had a message for each of his players after accepting the runner-up trophy, and that was to be proud of their historic season.
“There’s nothing to hang their heads about. Hudsonville has never made it this far in boys lacrosse,” Elder said. “We have had a lot of firsts this year. Winning the first Regional championship and our first Semifinal, and our first appearance in a state championship. My message this whole time was to just enjoy all this, no matter what happened. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I have a whole community that is just so proud of these guys and what they’ve done all season. I can’t say enough good things about them.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Luke Kramer (22) and Peyton Sofran (3) celebrate during their team’s Division 1 championship game Saturday. (Middle) Kramer (22) follows through on a shot. (Below) Hudsonville’s Mason Weber looks to pass.