Shamrocks Clinch 7th-Straight Division 1 Title with Familiar Finals Dominance

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 8, 2026

PLYMOUTH — In another dominant championship game performance, Detroit Catholic Central made it seven straight Division 1 titles Saturday with a 6-0 win over a Northville team making its first appearance in a Final.

As has been the case often in the championship game, Catholic Central was just too much at USA Hockey Arena.

The Shamrocks outshot the Mustangs, 47-15. 

Junior Myles Schlack had a goal and two assists, and juniors Sam Masek and Elian Szerlip each had a goal and an assist to lead the way for DCC (29-1-1).

“It doesn’t get old,” Catholic Central head coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “I think each one’s special in their own way. We try not to look at the numbers in a row. Each year is its own special team, and that’s what makes it so much fun for us.”

It was even more fun for Schlack, a defenseman who netted three points.

“We didn’t know much about them coming in,” Schlack said. “We just wanted to play our game. We knew we could dominate them that way, and we did.”

Northville’s Jake Jurcisin (12) controls the puck on his team’s end of the ice. Northville ended its longest MHSAA Tournament run at 23-9.

“We have absolutely no regrets,” Northville head coach Ryan Ossenmacher said. “We didn’t lose a minute of time this year to get better. For some of the guys it’s just a start, for some of the guys it was a great finish.” 

Catholic Central peppered Northville with shots in the first period but couldn’t get on the scoreboard until there was 2:16 left before the first intermission, when junior Luke Perdue jumped on a rebound in front of the Northville goal and shot it into a half-open net to make it 1-0. 

The Shamrocks made it 2-0 with 10:34 remaining in the second period on a goal by Masak, who fired a point shot that went just underneath the crossbar. 

Catholic Central then took a 3-0 lead 2:19 later when Schlack scored on a shot near the top of the left face-off circle. 

The Shamrocks took a 4-0 lead with 12:53 remaining in the game on a goal by Szerlip, who took a shot that deflected off a Northville defensemen and fluttered underneath the crossbar. 

With 9:07 left, Catholic Central went up 5-0 when junior Lucas Szmagaj scored on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. 

Senior Kristian Marchese then got into the act, scoring on a shot from the right face-off circle to give Catholic Central a 6-0 lead with 3:10 left. 

“It was not a year where we were going to show up and dominate from the get-go to the end,” Kaleniecki said. “We knew there were going to be some challenges and a building experience as the year went on. The record sounds great whatever it ended up being, but there was a lot of challenges along the way where these guys rose to the occasion and got better at the end. Obviously, I love the way we played down the stretch.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central players celebrate during their Division 1 Final win Saturday and USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) Northville’s Jake Jurcisin (12) controls the puck on his team’s end of the ice. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)

Highlight Reel: D1 Hockey Semifinals

March 13, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Detroit Catholic Central and Grandville will meet Saturday to the decide this season's MHSAA Division 1 hockey champion.

Below are highlights from the NFHS Network for all four teams that played in Friday's Semifinals at Compuware Arena. 

Detroit Catholic Central 4, Detroit U-D Jesuit 3

U-D GOES ON TOPDetroit U-D Jesuit takes a 2-1 lead against Detroit Catholic Central in the first period of this Division 1 Semifinal, with both goals coming from Christian Wirth-Karbler. Here's the second goal. 

CC SCRAMBLEDetroit Catholic Central scored two second period goals 36 seconds apart to take the lead to stay. Brian Kearns gets the goal in this scramble in front of the Detroit U-D Jesuit net.

Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here

Grandville 3, Bay City 2

FOLLOW THE BOUNCING PUCKAfter a scoreless first period, Conner Fischer opened the scoring for Grandville with a shot that bounced off at least a couple of players en route to the net.

WOLVES MAKE IT CLOSEBay City pulled to within a goal at 3-2 in the third period when Hunter David scored for the second time. 

Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

(Photo, from MHSAA Quarterfinals, by Andrew Knapik/Southgate).