FRASER — While Novi Detroit Catholic Central’s hockey program is stocked deep with talent, it usually means there are several players under the radar, waiting for their opportunity to shine.
Patience had paid off for Lucas Szmagaj, who has finally earned his moment in the spotlight.
Although the junior forward saw limited ice time in only eight games last season — notching just one goal — he came up big Saturday in the Catholic League Bishop Division championship game. Szmagaj not only rammed home a rebound in the second period to give Catholic Central its first lead of the game, he also hammered home the game-winning goal, helping the Shamrocks defend their title in a 4-3 decision over Toledo St. Francis de Sales.
“This feels amazing,” he said, following the championship match at Big Boy Arena in Fraser. “I’ve definitely worked hard. Didn’t really play much last year — it’s definitely a comeback season this year.”
Catholic Central (9-1-0) trailed St. Francis (7-2-0), 2-1, as Cole Porvaznik and Cal Brzuchalski lit the lamp in the first period. But the Shamrocks evened the game at 2 at 10:29 of the second period, when Eian Szerlip shot the puck into the net from a tough angle in the corner while in 5-on-5 play.
Less than three minutes later, Szmagaj got his first goal after Costa Karadimas rushed the net and St. Francis’ goalkeeper Quinn Choinski turned away the shot, only to have Szmagaj connect on the rebound.
Porvaznik tied it up with 12:21 to play with his second goal of the game, but Szmagaj answered in a similar manner with 6:41 left, jumping on the rebound after Choinski stopped a shot by Sam Masek.
Szmagaj’s second tally put Catholic Central in front for good, as he said those were the biggest goals he’s ever scored.
“It’s the Catholic League championship; those are memories for life, really,” he said. “We had a drive guy, Sean Goff, he drove the net, Costa carried it in, got the shot, I got the back-door tap-in for the first one. Second goal, Sam took it in, did a nice deke, I got the back-door tap-in on that as well.”
Shamrocks head coach Brandon Kaleniecki said while his team’s play wasn’t flawless, he was glad to see his players take advantage of the scoring opportunities late in the game.
“In a 3-3 game with 10 minutes to go, someone had to stand up and make a play, and obviously Lucas scored again,” Kaleniecki said. “It started with a nice play by Sam, he had a good read. He picked up a loose puck and he was moving his feet, he took the puck to the net hard, and Lucas was just kind of Johnny-on-the-spot there.
“There’s something to those guys that are finding themselves in those situations and are able to score, right? They just know where to go.”
That’s important for the rebuilding Shamrocks, who have won the past five state championships yet graduated their top seven scorers and main goalie from last year’s title squad.
“We’re definitely very different from the team standpoint,” Kaleniecki said. “We have a decent core, but they’re still going through a lot of their growing pains, trying to see what we can be capable of on the back end. The forwards have a scoring-by-committee kind of approach. We don’t necessarily have that one guy that we depend on to get all the goals. We’ve got a lot of different lines that can contribute, which is a good thing for sure, but it also means everybody’s got to be playing well for us to be successful.”
Meanwhile, St. Francis — with 15 seniors seeing playing time — expects to have one of its better seasons this winter. The Knights reached the Catholic League championship game for the first time, after trouncing Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in the quarterfinals and squeaking past Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook in the semifinals (in overtime).
“They had some really good players, we knew that,” Kaleniecki said. “We saw a little bit of their (semi-final) game before ours and could tell there’s a few guys we had to be really, really conscious of when they’re on the ice. At times we did a good job, and at times we didn’t, but that’s a credit to them and a credit to some of the players they have, because they really forced us to adapt at times.”
Catholic Central shut out University of Detroit Jesuit in the first round of the CHSL tournament and downed Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the semifinals. Getting pushed by St. Francis in the finals should pay dividends down the line, Kaleniecki said.
“It was a good early-season hockey game. They’re a really good team. We got pushed, which is good. I think we needed tonight, and we needed to find a way to win. In a tournament setting you like those types of challenges,” he said. “Our goalie (Nicholas Kogut) had to make some great saves, or we’re easily on the other side of that. You like to be in those situations.”
Three weeks earlier, Catholic Central suffered a 2-1 home-ice loss to Hartland — the first time an in-state opponent had defeated the Shamrocks in three seasons. That briefly earned the Eagles the honor of being the state’s top-ranked team, until they were defeated by Howell on Nov. 26 and Catholic Central reclaimed the top spot.
“That’s what you want this time of year — teams that are going to challenge you, things that are going to make you learn and grow, learn from your mistakes in these games, and learn how painful it can be to make them some of those mistakes if the puck ends up in the back of your net,” Kaleniecki said.
Several other Catholic League schools are ranked among the state’s best teams. In Division 3, St. Mary’s Prep (8-1-0), Riverview Gabriel Richard (2-6-1) and Cranbrook (5-3-0) occupy the top three spots. Brother Rice (2-6-0) is listed 10th among Division 2 schools.
