DCC Becomes 1st Champ to Not Allow Playoff Goal on Way to 4th-Straight Title
March 11, 2023
PLYMOUTH — Detroit Catholic Central removed the most valuable commodity from its hockey opponents during the MHSAA Tournament.
Hope.
If the Shamrocks got a lead, the game was pretty much over, whether the teams they faced wanted to admit it or not.
You can’t beat a team without scoring a goal. Catholic Central became the first team in the 49-year history of the MHSAA tournament to not surrender a goal, capping a perfect defensive postseason with a 3-0 victory over Brighton in the Division 1 championship game before 4,090 fans Saturday night at USA Hockey Arena.
Catholic Central outscored five teams by a combined score of 30-0 during the playoffs. The previous record for the fewest goals allowed in the postseason was two, achieved by the 2009 Catholic Central team over six games.
“It starts with the forwards, and then the defense and then the goalies,” Catholic Central senior forward Landon West said. “We know we can’t win games by trying to outscore teams. You’ve got to keep pucks in front of your net. We do everything we can to do that.”
Backstopping the latest shutout was senior Luca Naurato, who stopped all 20 shots he faced. Naurato finished with a 0.87 goals against average, a .941 save percentage and seven shutouts.
“It’s just another game at the end of the day, right?” Naurato said. “I felt pretty confident going in after warm-ups, and it just happened to work out that way.”
Naurato alternated in net all season with fellow senior Kyle Moore, who had a 0.73 GAA, .948 save percentage and nine shutouts.
The Shamrocks, who won their fourth-consecutive Division 1 crown, have gone with a timeshare in net during the last three seasons. Nicholas Galda and Bob Masters rotated in net each of the past two seasons.
“It’s a team effort,” Naurato said. “We played a defensive game, and it translated into the offensive zone.”
Opponents know they must be almost perfect against the Shamrocks (29-1), who allowed only 22 goals in 30 games.
“They don’t give you anything easy,” said Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto, whose team lost 2-1 and 3-0 to Catholic Central this season. “They don’t make mistakes. They’re really, really structured. They play an honest, hard-working game. They’re really deep, and that makes it difficult.”
The Bulldogs were a team known for coming back from multiple-goal deficits this season, but that’s nearly an impossible task against Catholic Central.
Although the shots were close, with the Shamrocks holding a 24-20 edge, Catholic Central was never seriously threatened after taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Jackson Walsh and Nolan Galda.
“They’re a tough team,” Kivisto said. “They don’t give you much and we were chasing the game a little bit. I really like the way we played in the second. We had a lot of opportunities there in the third; we weren’t able to capitalize. Naurato was really good in net.
“We know to beat them, you probably have to win special teams, and we weren’t able to do that tonight.”
Walsh scored the final goal of the 2022-23 season into an empty net with 1:54 left in the game.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Shamrocks coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “I thought we turned over a lot of pucks. We didn’t want to give them chances and space, because you can’t afford to do that against a team like that.
“They’re really good. They’re going to create their own and we kind of fed into that and we took some penalties, so at that point we were on our heels, kind of the middle of the second, a lot of penalty killing and stuff like that. In a situation like that we just needed to grind it out and find a way. And that’s what the guys did.”
Catholic Central beat Brighton in the last two Division 1 championship games. The teams have dominated the division, meeting in six of the last 10 Finals. Before the Shamrocks’ current run of four straight titles, the Bulldogs won two in a row in 2017 and 2018.
Brighton goalie Levi Pennala made 21 saves in his second start in the championship game. The junior all-stater will be looking to bring the title back to Brighton next year.
“We’ve got a lot of guys on this team that are young,” Pennala said. “We’re gonna come back stronger next year. It sucks, but we’re lucky to have one more year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central goalie Luca Naurato reaches high for a potential save during his team's 3-0 shutout of Brighton. (Middle) The Bulldogs' Nathan Daavettila (17) and the Shamrocks' Griffin Crampton pursue the puck.
Grandville Seniors Striving to Finish Time Together with Another Memorable Run
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
December 19, 2025
GRANDVILLE – A talented group of nine seniors on the Grandville hockey team have been playing together since they first learned to skate.
Now, in their final season on the ice, they have sights fixed on ending their careers with another successful campaign.
“It's been really nice to play one last time with some of the guys you’ve been playing with since the youth hockey years and then playing together all four years in high school,” senior goalie Ayden Karas said. “ The chemistry and bond we’ve had all together really makes it one big family.”
Grandville senior Braden Vander Veen sees it as one last opportunity to make a lasting impact on the program.
“It’s been awesome to play with all these guys, and we have a ton of chemistry,” Vander Veen said. “We know we only have a certain amount of time left with each other, so we are just trying to leave it all out there.”
The Bulldogs, who lost in last year’s Division 2 Semifinal to eventual champion Flint Powers Catholic, have picked up where they left off en route to a solid 7-1-1 start to this season.
Longtime Bulldogs coach Joel Breazeale, who last month was recognized as the Michigan High School Coaches Association (MHSCA) Coach of the Year, said expectations remained lofty this winter with the return of several experienced players.
“Very happy with how we have played and I think the players would say they are pleased, but I don’t think they are surprised,” he said. “I think that’s the standard they’ve come to expect over the past two seasons, especially with this senior class that have been together with me since they were 4 or 5 years old. This is their opportunity to see it all the way through.”
Grandville, currently ranked No. 4 in Division 2, dropped its first game to second-ranked Trenton at the West Michigan Showcase, but bounced back the next day to defeat one of the top teams in Division 3.
The Bulldogs rallied to knock off Houghton 4-3.
“We’ve had some good and solid close games with them, but we never had an opportunity to play them at a neutral site,” Breazeale said. “For our guys, especially with the returning boys, this was an opportunity that we don’t get too often and they just dug a little deeper.
“I thought we played wonderfully the night before against Trenton but the game got away from us, and I felt like the kids came out in the second period (against Houghton) and just picked up where they left off and their coach said that they just couldn't keep up with our guys. We were remarkably consistent with our energy and our ability to stay on top of the puck, constant pressure.”
It was the first time the seniors had beaten Houghton.
“That was huge,” Vander Veen said. “Obviously the night before we played Trenton, which was our first real test, and then beating Houghton, who is one of the best teams in the state, felt great. It really gave us a lot of confidence.”
Six of Grandville’s wins have been shutouts as an aggressive defense and stout goaltending have been complemented by timely goal scoring from a balanced line-up.
“I feel like the season has been going pretty well, we’ve had some good games the past couple weeks,” Karas said. “The defense has been a really big reason why I've performed so well, and they've always been really helpful in front.
“Expectations were really high this year, especially coming off a final four run last year, but it's a new team and a new year.”
A promising group of younger players also have blended in well to provide depth.
“We have a ton of experience, and we took in a lot of young guys this year,” Vander Veen said. “It’s huge being able to mentor those guys and carry on with the success that we had last year. We have a lot of guys coming back who are hungry for more.
“We have definitely put in a ton of work in the offseason and with what we did last year, we were expecting to be up there this year. We are working toward that final four run again.”
Breazeale is looking for continued growth from his team as the season progresses.
“Marginal gains is what we’re focused on with the returning players, and then really hoping to see a jump from the new sophomores and juniors on the team,” he said. “The larger gains from our newest members will really determine how competitive we are with our depth because for any team to be successful it’s going to take more than just the leading cast members.”
The Bulldogs host Hudsonville on Friday before another road test Saturday against Rockford.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grandville’s Braden Vander Veen (3) gets his stick on the puck as goalie Ayden Karas walls off that side of the net during a game this season. (Middle) Luke DeBoer (19) takes a faceoff against Jenison. (Below) A group of Bulldogs skate side by side, including Vander Veen and Lewis Gardine (18). (Photos by Jenn Bellgraph Photography.)