HOCKEY - BOYS

Catholic Central blanks Grandville to reach D1 State Hockey Final

By JASON SCHMITT
@JasonESchmitt

PLYMOUTH — Four months ago Rylan Clemons was a player trying to make the cut.

On Friday night, the sophomore forward proved critical to his Novi Detroit Catholic Central team, a squad looking to win its fourth consecutive Division 1 state championship.

Clemons scored once in the second and once in the third to help the Shamrocks pull away from Grandville in a 5-0 victory in the second of two semifinal games played at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth.

“I’ll be honest with you, we weren’t sure if he was going to be on the varsity team or not,” said Catholic Central head coach Brandon Kaleniecki, speaking about Clemons. “For him to do what he’s done this season, it’s great to see.”

Kaleniecki was also excited to see his goalie, Sean Finstrom, pitch a shutout. The senior stopped all 28 shots he faced and earned high praise from his coach for his play in the first period, while his teammates were trying to find their stride on the ice.

“Up 1-0, we probably didn’t deserve to have a lead, without a doubt,” the coach said. “The credit goes to (Finstrom). In the second and third period, we started to turn the wheel a little bit. We started getting pucks in behind them, forced them to play down low and we were able to generate a lot of opportunities off of that.”

Clemons scored the first of his two goals 3:06 into the second period. It gave the Shamrocks a little breathing room. His third goal came 4:33 into the third. That really dimmed Grandville’s hopes. Junior forward Brendan West picked up one of two assists on the goal. He would assist on the next goal – from Michael Considine – and then add one of his own with just under five minutes left in the game.

“It’s good (playing) with a lead, it really gives you a little boost in your blood,” said West, the team’s leading scorer with 37 points this season.

Senior defenseman Jack Chartier scored the Shamrocks first goal of the game, that coming with 5:12 left in the first. Junior Dylan Montie picked up the assist.

Catholic Central (22-7-1) will face Brighton, which defeated Northville 5-0 in the first semifinal, in Saturday’s state championship game. The puck will drop at 6 p.m. The Shamrocks beat the Bulldogs, 3-0, in last year’s championship game. The two teams have won the last five Division 1 state titles, and seven of the last eight. Brighton (23-6-1) won back-to-back titles in 2012-13, defeating Catholic Central in 2013.

“They’ve been there, pretty consistently, with this program,” Kaleniecki said. “Going back to when we played them back in January (a 2-1 Brighton victory), we have a ton of respect for them as well. We knew they were going to be a good hockey team all season and they’ve proved that. Sure enough here we are again getting to play each other.

“It’s going to be fun. Every year that we’ve had the opportunity to play them, the crowd has been fantastic. And I expect it to fun tomorrow because of the crowd and the atmosphere.”

DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL 5, GRANDVILLE 0

GV 0 0 0 — 0

DCC 1 1 3 — 5

First period: 1, DCC, Jack Chartier (Dylan Montie)

Second period: 2, DCC, Rylan Clemons (John Zielinski)

Third period: 3, DCC, Clemons PP (Brendan West, Spencer Kimball); 4, DCC, Michael Considine PP (West, Austin Roell); 5, DCC, West (Jared Lee, Considine)

GOALIES: Catholic Central, Sean Finstrom (28 saves); Grandville, Alex Whitman (32 saves)

RECORDS: Detroit Catholic Central 22-7-1; Grandville 19-11