Catholic Central hockey returns to D1 final

Ryan Keller of Catholic Central looks for a passing lane against the defense of Ian Brambs of St. Mary's. Defending Division 1 champion C.C. beat St. Mary's, the champion in 2007 and co-champ in 2008.
(Bryan Mitchell/Special to The Detroit News)

Vincent Goodwill / The Detroit News

PLYMOUTH-- There was an air of tension at Compuware Arena for the Division 1 hockey semifinal between Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary's on Friday evening.

Both have proud history in football, basketball and hockey, while their rivalry has spanned decades. Catholic Central is the defending champion, while St. Mary's won the title in 2007 and tied for it in 2008. And St. Mary's was more than annoyed at the prospect of losing three times in a season to Catholic Central.

Catholic Central's will -- and its strong defense -- frustrated St. Mary's early, taking a 2-0 lead on the way to a 2-1 win, advancing to today's final against Howell. Catholic Central is aiming for its seventh state title since 2000.

The last frantic 30 seconds featured a flurry of activity from a desperate St. Mary's team, and tension from the crowd finally spilled over and multiple scuffles broke out amongst players. It took officials nearly a minute to break up the fights, a 10-minute delay ensued and 9.3 seconds remained before C.C. held on.

"It was very intense and very physical," C.C. coach Todd Johnson said. "It's a long way to climb when you're behind."

With 2:16 left, St. Mary's finally got one past goalie Zack Cisek, with senior forward Jonathan Kello scoring off a power play . Things got more interesting 60 seconds later, with Cisek going down with what appeared to be a kick to the head, having to be replaced by backup Connor Pankow.

"I don't know the status of some of my guys," Johnson said. "It's going to be a challenge physically (in the final)."

C.C. drew first blood early in the first period, with forward Charlie Green hitting a slap shot 15 feet away, surprising St. Mary's goalie Joseph Janiga and the defense, which seemed to handle the power play well.

Janiga appeared to have thwarted C.C.'s Ryan Keller , but the puck's momentum carried it right to the goal line and St. Mary's defensemen tried in vain to prevent it from advancing before Brad Wilhelm tapped it in.

"I saw it bounce right in front of his legs," Wilhelm said. "I just bounced over and put it in."

"We certainly had our opportunities," St. Mary's coach Brian Klanow said. "Their two goals were big. We couldn't push it to overtime."

The third period had nine penalties, including seven in the last 1:30 when tempers flared.

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