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3/11/07-Hockey
Eaglets fulfill championship potential
By KEITH DUNLAP Of The Oakland Press
PLYMOUTH--Orchard Lake St. Mary's may have been ranked only No. 8 in the state in Division 1 at the end of the regular season, but the Eaglets showed in the state boys hockey playoffs why that ranking couldn't have been more deceiving.
Fulfilling the championship aspirations it had all season, St. Mary's is officially the state's best after beating Marquette, 4-2, to capture the Division 1 state boys hockey championship on Saturday at Compuware Arena.
The regular season was filled with close losses that skewed the win-loss record, but St. Mary's playoff run rendered all that meaningless, ending up netting the Eaglets their second state championship in three years. The Eaglets won the Division 3 state title in 2005.
"Our record (16-9-5) is not indicative of how this team played," St. Mary's head coach Brian Klanow said. "We played two poor games all season. This team played well all year. We lost games where we're outshooting teams something like 52-13. That happens, but that adversity helped this team grow and made these guys better hockey players."
Junior Billy Balent scored the game-winning goal with 8:19 remaining in the game and added an insurance tally with 2:08 left to help St. Mary's finish off Marquette.
With the game tied 2-2, Balent fired a perfect wrist shot from the left face-off circle, underneath the crossbar to put the Eaglets ahead. The assist went to senior defenseman Mac Watts, who made the goal happen by holding the puck in with his skate at the point.
"We hadn't scored since the first period and we wanted the next one," Balent said. "I was trying to get something towards the net, hoping something would go in. I shot it and got lucky."
Desperately trying to hang on to its lead, St. Mary's saw Balent make the task much easier when he scored on a shot from the top of the right face-off circle that went again underneath the crossbar, making it 4-2, St. Mary's.
At that point, the celebration was all but on. When the game ended, St. Mary's did what most other teams do when winning a state title.
They threw their sticks and gloves in the air and piled on top of each other behind the goal.
Not exactly an original or unusual celebration, but festive nonetheless.
Klanow was concerned about how much energy his team would have after an emotionally draining, 1-0 double-overtime win over East Kentwood in the semifinals on Friday.
But the opportunity to bring home the state championship trophy left the Eaglets plenty energized.
"It was the state championship game and what we were waiting for all year," St. Mary's senior defenseman Brandon Kozlowski said.
St. Mary's certainly didn't take long to get going, netting the first goal 27 seconds into the first when senior Colin Bloor buried home a loose puck on the side of the Marquette goal to make it 1-0 Eaglets.
Marquette tied the game a short time later on a power-play goal by Allen Lancour, who tapped a loose puck in the crease into the goal with 10:55 remaining in the first.
On a two-man advantage, the Redmen took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Brandon Smaby with 7:48 to go in the first, but St. Mary's answered with a power-play goal of its own by Clinton Bourbonais at the 2:48 mark of the first to tie the game at 2-2.
Joe Savona again was solid in goal for the Eaglets, making 18 saves.
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