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2/7/07-Hockey
DeLaSalle beats OLSM to clinch CHSL title game berth
Hockey Weekly
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Down four players with injuries and coming into enemy territory, the Warren De La Salle Pilots might have been considered an underdog against Orchard Lake St. Mary's Jan. 31 in a contest to decide a berth for the Catholic High School League championship game.
But after 45 minutes of regulation time and 1-1 tie, the Pilots sealed their first trip to the league's title game when senior Zach Jakubik walked in from the corner and lifted a backhand shot over the left shoulder of Eaglets' goalie Joe Savona for a 2-1 win.
“We were down one whole forward line and one defenseman,” said De La Salle head coach Dan Barry. “We had to bring up two players from the Junior Varsity just to have enough skaters.”
But two players who weren't hurt turned out to be the heroes: Jakubik and junior Dexter Jacques.
“Our two goal scorers just seem to be going at a good pace for us,” Barry said. “It seems everything they throw at the net goes in. Zach Jakubik is our leading scorer and Dexter Jacques is second in scoring.”
And while the goal scorers won the game for the Pilots, it was senior goalie Josh Lavigne who held them in the game in the first and third periods.
St. Mary's outshot De La Salle 14-4 in the first 15 minutes and at 7:48 of the second, Jacques fired a shot from about 15 feet that found a hole between Savona's pads for a 1-0 lead, with assists from Aaron Strachan and Robert Faria.
The Pilots outshot the Eaglets 10-5 in the second and preserved the one-goal lead. St. Mary's returned in the third period with a sense of desperation as it needed a win to keep intact their record of playing in all the CHSL championships games. It won the first Catholic League title two years ago over Brother Rice and lost last year to Catholic Central, who will be the Pilots' opponent on Feb. 17 at the Orchard Lake St. Mary's Athletic Complex.
“This is one of our goals we set before every season ... to get into and win the CHSL,” said St. Mary's head coach Brian Klanow before the game.
St. Mary's again dominated play in the third period and finally found the right combination to beat Lavigne: A nifty pass from Shane Halaas to Brandon Kozlowski for a goal with 6:24 to play. Mac Watts got the second assist on the play.
When 45 minutes expired, the Eaglets had outshot the Pilots 33-19. The pressure was all on them, though, as they needed a win. A tie after the eight minutes of scheduled overtime would have sent the Pilots to the CHSL title game also, by virtue of a goal differential over a common opponent, Divine Child, who De La Salle defeated 3-0 and St. Mary's beat 1-0.
Jakubik made the tie breaker inconsequential when he capitalized on St. Mary's not getting the puck out of its zone.
“When we have a breakdown, it's severe,” Klanow said after the game. “Their overtime goal all started when we didn't get the puck into the offensive zone. It's stuff we teach every day. We're making mental mistakes.
“Physical mistakes I can understand; mental mistakes I can't.”
Assists on the winning goal went to Jeremy Gave and Faria. The Pilots outshot St. Mary's 2-0 in the overtime.
“I thought both teams played a great, fast- paced game,” said Barry. “OLSM had more shots, but our goalie Josh Lavigne played a great game for us. And I think Joe (Savona) played a great game for OLSM.
“It was a great game to watch and a great game to coach.”
With the win, the Pilots upped their record to 16-2 overall and they continue in a battle for the Metro League East Division (11-1-0) with Grosse Pointe South (9-1-0) who they play once more. St. Mary's fell to 8-7-4, with this being their fifth one-goal loss and third in overtime.
St. Mary's will now be relegated to the second-place game, against Brother Rice, among the Division I teams on CHSL championship day, Feb. 17. The other Division 1 game will be Divine Child against University of Detroit Jesuit.
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