Surprise Scorer Nets Powers' Unforgettable Championship Clincher
March 8, 2025
PLYMOUTH – Ethan Haley’s hockey season for Flint Powers Catholic could have ended in late January when he suffered a broken ankle.
“I thought I was going to miss more time than I did,” Haley said. “The doctor cleared me sooner, so it was very exciting to get back playing with everyone and going to practice every day.”
After missing only four games and a little more than two weeks, Haley rejoined the Chargers late in the regular season, putting him in a position to score one of the biggest goals in school history.
Haley’s shot from the right point 1 minute and 53 seconds into overtime gave Powers a 3-2 victory over Livonia Stevenson in the MHSAA Division 2 championship game Saturday at USA Hockey Arena.
It wasn’t a particularly hard shot, but the Chargers got traffic in front of the net, making it difficult for Stevenson’s goalie to track the puck.
“Before that, Coach said to get pucks on net, get pucks out of our zone, which we did,” Haley said. “I saw a guy on Cooky (Ayden Cook). He slid it down and passed it to me. I just shot it. I thank Parker (Bendall) for screening the goalie. He couldn’t see it.”
Haley, a sophomore defenseman, goes down in history as one of the more unlikely heroes to score an overtime winner in an MHSAA championship game.
It was his fourth goal in 22 games this season and the second in his last 19 games. He scored twice in the first three games.
“My role is definitely an energy guy, I would say,” Haley said.
The championship was the second for Powers over the last three seasons. The Chargers were perhaps the top program in Michigan not to win an MHSAA title until breaking through two years ago in their eighth appearance in a championship game.
Powers finally broke through that time when Mason Czarnecki scored on a breakaway with 4.6 seconds left in the third period, giving the Chargers a 3-2 victory over East Grand Rapids.
“It’s a lot different this time around,” Powers coach Travis Perry said. “The first time, it’d been 50 years of frustration, anger. I’d been coaching 17 years, and we lost a couple down here. That was really a monkey off our back. This one really solidifies our program. The biggest thing I told the guys is probably five years ago we came down here looking to compete, not just hoping to compete.”
The Chargers have only three holdovers from the team that was a Division 3 champion two years ago in seniors Andrew Parmentier, Brody Neelands and Andrew Burny. As sophomores, they learned how to win on a team that had 11 seniors and eight juniors.
“It feels like a dream,” Burny said. “We came here and made history twice. I wouldn’t have rather done it with any other group of guys.”
The Chargers finished with a 25-4 record and were ranked No. 1 in Division 2, but had to battle from behind in many of their games. The victory over Stevenson was their second in overtime during the playoffs, the other a 5-4 decision over Marquette in the Quarterfinals.
So, there was no panic when goals by Colin Stroble and Riley Rorabacher gave Stevenson a 2-1 lead with 12:53 left in the second period after Powers had taken an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Jack Johnson. There was no panic when Stevenson tilted the ice for most of the second, dominating puck possession.
Cook put Powers in a position to win in overtime when he tied the game with his 40th goal of the season with 6:45 remaining in regulation.
Stevenson (18-9-2) made a run to its first championship game since 2016 by winning its final five regular-season games, then four more in the playoffs. The Spartans lost four straight games prior to their winning streak, allowing 19 goals during that stretch.
Coach David Mitchell met with his four captains in early February, and they responded by leading Stevenson's late-season charge.
“We’ve all had our ups and downs, me included,” Stevenson senior forward Owen Hall said. “I just watched everyone on the team grow into the fine person they are today. I watched everyone grow on the team, even our coaching staff. It was successful, because we’ve grown so much over time. I couldn’t be more proud.”
For veteran Stevenson coach David Mitchell, it was gratifying to get the program back on the biggest stage. The Spartans made three Finals in four seasons from 2013-16, winning the 2013 Division 2 title.
“I told them they put Stevenson hockey, I don’t want to say on the map, because we’ve never really been off it,” Mitchell said. “But they got us back to the point we try to achieve to get to. I think they did that not only as players on the ice, but as a community. People like Mr. (Arnold) Muscat (Stevenson’s athletic director) and the Stevenson community not only made this an enjoyable ride, but made this a memorable one. It made it easier for us to get inspired to play for a bigger cause.”
PHOTOS (Top) Flint Powers Catholic players celebrate after clinching their championship with an overtime win Saturday. (Middle) The winning goal makes its way into the top corner of the Stevenson net 1:53 into overtime. (Below) Powers’ Ethan Haley (6) and Stevenson’s Riley Rorabacher chase a loose puck.
Brighton 'Connects' For Repeat Run
April 12, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
In the moment, Brighton’s run last month to its latest Division 1 ice hockey championship felt a lot like the successful title chases in 2012, 2013 and 2017.
But now that the most recent victory has had some time to marinate, there’s no question – what the Bulldogs accomplished to close this winter was just a little different.
One team generally isn’t a measuring stick for the rest. But most aren’t the Detroit Catholic Central hockey program. The Shamrocks entered the Division 1 Semifinals on March 9 at USA Hockey Arena perfect against in-state competition this winter and riding a six-game shutout streak that began with an 8-0 win over eventual Division 2 champion Hartland. DCC had won 10 of the last 18 Division 1 titles and finished runner-up in 2017 to Brighton, the last Michigan high school team to topple the Shamrocks.
DCC wasn’t expected to have trouble this time – many of its scores against other top Michigan teams this season were jaw dropping. And Brighton, although the reigning champion, had lost twice to Hartland this winter, and the Eagles clearly had their troubles with the Shamrocks.
Yet the Bulldogs believed, and they pulled it off – avenging an earlier 3-0 loss and stunning the top-ranked Shamrocks 2-1 in a Semifinal. Emotionally running toward empty, the MHSAA/Applebee’s March “Team of the Month” then came back the next day and defeated Saginaw Heritage 5-2 to repeat as Division 1 champion.
“Catholic Central always has been the team. Just look at what they’ve accomplished,” Brighton coach Paul Moggach said. “That’s the bar. You can get over it once in a while. But we’re starting to feel like we are at that level … that maybe we can be that team. The belief in yourself maybe has arrived, that we’re good enough to do this on a regular basis.”
Brighton, which entered the postseason ranked No. 3 in Division 1, finished 25-6-1 this winter. Its lone losses were to DCC on Dec. 16, twice to league rival Hartland, and once apiece to Northville, Livonia Stevenson and Cleveland St. Ignatius.
The Bulldogs are used to facing Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and then DCC during the Division 1 tournament – they previously beat DCC in the 2013 and 2017 championship games and finished runners-up to the Shamrocks in 2014 and 2016. This time, Brighton beat No. 2 St. Mary’s 3-1 in a Regional Final and got DCC one game earlier than usual.
Boasting 10 seniors – including four who had goals or assists in the 2017 Final – Brighton took on the underdog “mask,” as Moggach put it, but despite the expected nerves also had “an incredible level of confidence in ourselves and to give to each other.”
Seniors Adam Conquest and Mathew Kahra scored Brighton’s goals in the Semifinal, both on power plays, and Kahra scored again in the championship game. Sophomore Will Jentz had two goals in the Final, and junior Evan MacDonald and freshman Nate Przysiecki both added one. Junior goalie Harrison Fleming had a combined 44 saves on 47 shots over the weekend.
With time to reflect the last few weeks, Moggach has begun to notice a few things about this run that maybe didn’t pop out entirely at the time – like Brighton’s incredible 17-2 record in road or neutral-site games. He also is able to look back fondly on the “connection” among members of this team – something built on the ice, sure, and during trips like the one to the Upper Peninsula featured on Second Half in January. But he found it created most during off-ice strength and conditioning workouts where a culture of togetherness was emphasized and formed – and that surely paid off in last month’s repeat rise.
“That’s the difference maker,” said Moggach, who has led the program 23 seasons. “I’ve been around the game a long time. I think early in my coaching career, and in most coaching careers, you’re figuring out how to get the Xs and Os done, figuring out power plays and penalty kills and things. And then, how to beat teams (that are more) talented.
“But how to bring it together, it’s a maturation of ideas. … The last couple of years, we’ve really built to a point; we put the work in, we enjoy each other, we complement each other, and I think that brings connections. Then we do things like the trip to the U.P. – we’re not celebrating ourselves, but each other. You start giving more to each other, it comes back in spades, and we’re realizing that as a group and as a program.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
February: Marquette girls and boys skiing - Report
January: Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer - Report
December: Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTO: Brighton co-captain Sam Brennan (5) presents the championship trophy to his teammates after last month’s Division 1 Final at USA Hockey Arena.