ANN ARBOR – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice won its 17^th MHSAA Division 1 boys lacrosse championship Friday, but the 17^th may be the sweetest one yet for the Warriors.

Facing off with its Catholic League rival Detroit Catholic Central for the 11^th time in a MHSAA Finals game, Rice overcame an early 3-0 deficit to defeat the Shamrocks 9-8 in overtime.

“Somebody asked me this morning what I could write a TED Talk about – how about the heart of a team?” Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “We had it (Friday). They went down early, fought back. They never stopped fighting, and that’s been this team all year. … They wanted it really bad.”

Friday’s championship will stand out from the Warriors’ prestigious history after they missed appearing in the Division 1 Final in 2024, the first time they didn’t reach an MHSAA championship game in program history. During this regular season, Catholic Central also handed Brother Rice a pair of one-goal losses. All of that just motivated the Warriors more to pull out the victory at University of Michigan.

“Let me make this clear: The expectation is still there at Brother Rice,” Chawla said of winning Finals championships. “These guys felt it and when they came here, they had that expectation. They shouldered that just as heavy as any other team that has shouldered it. They had to shoulder it a little more because we didn’t even get here last year. We’re back where we want to be, where we should be, which is on top.”

The Warriors (19-5) won the opening faceoff of overtime and moved toward the Catholic Central goal. Sophomore defenseman Ben Waechter fired off a shot for the game-winner just 12 seconds into the additional period.

Upon scoring the championship goal, Waechter ran all around the field as his teammates attempted to swarm him to celebrate. It was the lone goal for the sophomore in the contest.

“It’s so surreal. It’s an unreal moment,” Waechter said of netting the game-winner in overtime. “I was cold all game, but I saw my opportunity, and I let it rip. No hesitation.”

After trailing 3-0 during the first half, Brother Rice wouldn’t trail in the second, but the game would be tied on three occasions over the final two periods. 

The final tie came with 8:41 to play when Catholic Central senior Luke Zajdel intercepted a save attempt at the net and scored on a putback to make it 8-8.

Both teams would have scoring opportunities over the final stretch, but Catholic Central goalie Matthew Cranston and Brother Rice goalie Payton Fortino kept the ball out of the net. Both would finish the game with 12 saves.

The Shamrocks (23-1) got out to a strong start with that 3-0 lead after one quarter of play. Catholic Central’s defense set the tone, creating a lot of ground balls to allow the offense to control possession for most of the period.

Senior Lachlan Moffatt netted the first goal for CC, while Zajdel and Ben Papke followed for the three-goal advantage.

Needing to respond, Brother Rice adjusted its offensive approach and started peppering the right side of the net during the second quarter.

That strategy succeeded, as the Warriors posted three goals over a 1:20 stretch of play. Junior Frank Baiardi got the first two goals, while senior Hansen Polonkey followed with a low runner that found the net to tie the score at 3-3.

Catholic Central didn’t surrender the lead until the closing seconds of the first half. Trailing 5-4, the Warriors got a two-man advantage during the closing minute. That led to a Jayden Fortino goal to tie the game at 5-5 with 40 seconds left before the break. 

Polonkey then gave the Warriors their first lead of the game with just two seconds on the clock as he scored on a wrap-around shot to put Brother Rice ahead 6-5 at halftime.

“Everyone just dug deep and showed a lot of heart,” Polonkey said of the second-quarter comeback. “We were all playing for the seniors and everything they have given to get back to a state championship. Deep down, we knew we just wanted it.”

Frank Baiardi led Brother Rice with three goals, Polonkey had two, and Joe Lee had a goal and an assist. Zajdel had three goals and an assist to lead Catholic Central, while Moffatt and Papke each finished with two.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Brother Rice’s Ben Waechter (30) winds up for what will be the game-winning shot of Friday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Waechter and a Detroit Catholic Central player contend for a loose ball.