Performance: Bay Reps' Jake Stevenson
February 15, 2019
Jake Stevenson
Traverse City St. Francis senior – Hockey
Stevenson had three goals including two straight during the third period to send Saturday’s game against Petoskey to overtime, as his Traverse City Bay Reps co-op team went on to win 5-4 and clinch the Northern Michigan Hockey League championship. Stevenson, in his fourth season in the program, is the team’s leading scorer and has scored five goals over his last three games in earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
The Bay Reps are made up of players from Stevenson’s St. Francis High School as well as Bear Lake, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska and Kingsley. They’ve won nine of their last 10 games to move to 17-5 and earn the No. 11 ranking in Division 1. The hat trick was Stevenson’s second this season, and after Thursday’s win over Manistee he has 22 goals and 20 assists in 22 games this winter. Petoskey led Saturday’s game 2-0 before Stevenson scored his first goal, and he added his second on a power play and his third from just outside the circle.
Stevenson is playing this season for his third high school head coach; his dad Mark was the coach Jake’s freshman year, followed by Ryan Fedorinchik the last two and now former assistant – and NHL defenseman – Mike Matteucci. Jake Stevenson also played soccer at St. Francis and golf earlier in high school, and he’s hoping to continue playing hockey at the junior level and then collegiately after graduating this spring. He carries a 3.0 GPA and eventually would like to study drone piloting.
Coach Mike Matteucci said: “This will be Jake's fourth year playing high school hockey, and each year his game has improved. Jake has always wanted to move on to the next level after high school, so the last couple of years he has really taken ownership in his game. As a coach, it is a pleasure to come to the rink every day and have players like Jake who are coachable and who make others around them better. This year more than others, Jake has embraced the ‘team’ game, which as increased our statistical output as well as helped us win more games. What separates Jake from others is his tenacity. He is a very competitive person who is hard to play against. He is definitely an impact player on our team!”
Performance Point: “It's senior year and you don't want to go down without a fight. All the boys started the pick it up in the third period, and we all brought it together,” Stevenson said of his team’s comeback against Petoskey. “We just weren’t connecting our passes. Everyone was getting too nervous with the puck, not really calm. We weren't really playing our game. I think just being one of the leaders on the team, you need to show that even when we're down, it’s no excuse to stop playing. Someone had to step up and take control a little bit.”
Together as a team: “It's fun just knowing there's all these guys (from Bay Reps’ schools) out there, and being able to play with them and meet them and become new friends. I think when we're at the rink we make the most of it, every time we're there from the second we walk in to the second we leave. Usually no one just leaves right after practice – we kinda hang out for a little bit and talk, and catch up and mess around see how everyone's day is going. We hang out every now and then in the summer times. We do some summer hockey together. ... We try to stay close.”
Valuable input: “We've brought in Mike Matteucci as our head coach and Kyle Jean, Mikey Wittersheim and of course Coach (Eric) Videan. I think all the coaching staff has helped a lot, helped bring everyone together. They've taken different looks at kids and helping them out. Coach Jean has helped me out tremendously on offense, just helping me realize when to shoot the puck, when to make the pass, how to make the plays. Coach Matteucci has been helping me a lot in the defensive zone, and so has Coach Videan. And Mikey's our goalie coach, and he's been helping me out with tips on where to shoot.”
Dad knows: “It was great having him as a coach because he played in the high-level juniors and he knows a lot about the game, and he’s coached a lot of kids so that helped a lot. Every now and then he still gives me advice from what he sees and tries to help me out still.”
Game on: “Everybody in my family has played hockey, even my mom did; she played on a girls club team when she was younger. (I have) three sisters and three brothers … I'm the second youngest. We used to build a rink in our back yard, and so we'd all go out there and play, and we got a little competitive because obviously we all want to be the best from the family. But it's fun. I'd say I'm the best, but ... my brother thinks he is. I don't know about that.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) The Bay Reps' Jake Stevenson (5) battles for the puck during a November game against Big Rapids. (Middle) Stevenson brings the puck forward against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central. (Photos courtesy of the Traverse City Bay Reps hockey program.)
DCC Follows New Leader to 3rd Straight D1 Win
March 12, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
PLYMOUTH — The biggest challenge to Detroit Catholic Central's hockey dominance has come from within.
For the third straight season, the Shamrocks took the ice this winter while trying to adapt to the demands of a new head coach.
No worries. Because, for the third straight season, the Shamrocks are the MHSAA Division 1 champions.
Top-ranked Catholic Central controlled the game from start to finish to beat second-ranked Brighton, 3-0, on Saturday at USA Hockey Arena in a championship matchup featuring the two teams that have won 13 of the 17 Division 1 crowns.
Catholic Central (24-7) has won 10 of those titles under the guidance of five head coaches. Brandon Kaleniecki helped begin that run as a senior with the Shamrocks in 2000 and kept it going as a first-year head coach this season. He followed in the footsteps of Doug Itami, coach of the 2013-14 team, and Danny Veri, coach of the 2014-15 squad.
"There are some differences, but a lot of similarities," senior forward Brian Kearns said of the three coaches for whom he's played. "They're all preaching the same stuff. They all preach to play as hard as you can. You've got to play for the two Cs on your chest. They were all different, but they were all great in their own way and they all added a piece to the puzzle to go win three. It was huge for us. Coach Kal was the perfect coach to finish it all off."
Kaleniecki credited the leadership of Kearns and fellow captain Nick Macari for making his job easier as he took over one of Michigan's iconic hockey programs.
"They were without a doubt my best ally in terms of coming in this year," said Kaleniecki, an all-state forward for the Shamrocks in 1999-2000. "These are two guys who have been around the program. They've had three different coaches. They could've made things real challenging for me. Instead, they made it absolutely phenomenal. Anything I needed, I could tell them and it was done. The reason we're here is because of guys like this. We can point them in the right direction, but they're the guys driving it."
Having a background in the Catholic Central program helped each of the three coaches gain credibility with the players. Itami was an assistant coach, while Veri coached the junior varsity team.
"It's a good thing knowing our coaches have been in our shoes before," Macari said. "They have that experience. They know what they're talking about. We know we can listen to them, because they're telling us the right things to do."
The championship was the 13th for Catholic Central, moving the Shamrocks within one of Trenton for second-most in MHSAA history. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood holds the record with 17.
It was the 10th time out of those 13 championship victories that the Shamrocks won by at least three goals. They outshot Brighton, 29-15.
"They were just all over us," Brighton junior Jake Crespi said. "Positionally, they were great. Every time we would touch the puck, there were two guys on us."
Crespi gave Brighton (22-9) its best chance to grab some momentum when he was awarded a penalty shot with 11:44 left in the first period. Crespi, who shared Brighton's goal-scoring lead with 20, was slashed from behind on a shorthanded breakaway. He tried to get the puck between the pads of Alec Calvaruso on the penalty shot, but the senior goaltender closed off the opening to make the save.
"I was going to go five-hole on the breakaway, also," Crespi said. "I had my mind set when I was going out there; I should've buried it. I think it could've been a different game if I could've put that one away for the boys. Maybe we'd have some momentum going."
The game remained scoreless until Glynn Robitaille pounced on a loose puck near the crease and scored at 7:56 of the second period. Macari set up the goal by rushing down the left side and putting a shot on the net.
"Coach Kaleniecki always tells me I need to drive the net more often and I need to shoot more often," Macari said. "I kind of listened to what he said; I drove to the net and it worked. It ended up on my player's stick, and he got it in the net."
On a similar rush, Macari made it 2-0 as he buried a shot into the upper-right corner of the net from the left circle with 2:38 left in the second period.
"Same thing," Macari said. "Drive wide and shoot the puck is what he's been telling me to do. I did it and, once again, it worked."
With the shots 23-10 in the Shamrocks' favor after two periods and having been shut out in the teams' regular-season meeting, the Bulldogs faced the daunting task of scoring at least twice in the third.
Catholic Central didn't allow Brighton an opening, making it a 3-0 game on Cody Borke's goal with 15:16 left in the third period.
"We knew we could come back, but that kind of hurt when they got that third one," Brighton defenseman Nick Foran said. "We didn't stop battling, but it didn't exactly boost our confidence."
Brighton was trying to beat a sixth straight ranked opponent in the playoffs. The Bulldogs beat No. 13 Jackson, No. 8 Howell, No. 4 Orchard Lake St. Mary's, No. 11 East Kentwood and No. 6 Grandville before coming up short against the No. 1 Shamrocks.
The Bulldogs didn't score a goal and had only 25 shots on goal in two matchups with Catholic Central this season. The Shamrocks won 3-0 with three third-period goals on Nov. 21.
"Playing six games in two weeks is emotionally and physically draining," Brighton coach Paul Moggach said. "I think it does have an impact mentally and physically when you go to that third period down. It's a lot easier to find your legs if you're in a position to win it; we just never were. After that first period, we tried to find a way, but we weren't finding the opportunities to make a game of it. You've got to give credit to C.C. They played a great game. They beat us twice. We haven't scored a goal and they scored six."
PHOTOS: (Top) Glynn Robitaille (20) and Nick Macari celebrate during Saturday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Brighton’s Joey Clifford (7) works to create a shot while DCC goalie Alec Calvaruso blocks the side of the crease. (Click for more from Andrew Knapik.)