GROSSE POINTE WOODS — It took a while, but once the Knights of University Liggett found their groove, they claimed a 6-3 victory Jan. 13 over Dearborn Divine Child for their second Catholic High School League Cardinal Division ice hockey championship in the last three years.
With six minutes left in a first period that Divine Child dominated, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead when sophomore forward Kole Boike, from inside the blue line and alongside the left board, fired the puck inside the left corner of the net past a stunned Liggett goalie Lucien Valiot. It was Boike’s 18th goal of the season.
“He can really move, one of the fastest kids I've ever coached,” said Mike McNamara, in his sixth year at the helm. “But you know, we’re young (only two seniors on the 24-man roster).”
“We really started going about halfway through the second period,” said Liggett’s fifth year coach, Colin Smith. “We were just trying to do too much when we had to keep it simple. Make simple plays, get pucks in deep, and things started to turn around for us.”
The “turn around” became a whirlwind that lasted just under two and a half minutes and captivated the hundred or so spectators.
At 13:56, Ryan Cordero’s unassisted goal (his third of the season) tied the score at 1-1. A minute later, Cullen McGowan (11th) returned the advantage back to Divine Child, 2-1, a lead that lasted a mere 20 seconds until 12:25, when the Knights’ Griffin Marchal (19th) made it a 2-2 tie. At 11:36, Johnny Secco’s fifth goal of the season gave a 3-2 lead back to Liggett.
The Knights secured the victory for good in the third period. Marchal added a pair of goals — the 20th and 21st of the season — for the hat trick, and Nick Gould (31st) wound up Liggett’s offense. Brody Scott (20th) had Divine Child’s last goal.
As the game’s tempo stepped up, so did the tempers of the participants. Whereas officials whistled three penalties combined in the first and second periods, they cited 10 in the third period, a couple coming even with 10 seconds to play. Liggett “won” this aspect of the contest, 7-6.
Both goalies were busy, to say the least. Valiot fended off 21 of 24 shots on Liggett's goal. Charley Nebus turned away 26 of 32 shots for Divine Child.
The state tournament begins Feb. 16. Liggett (17-2), ranked No. 6 in Division 3, will play in the Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood regional. Divine Child (14-3) is assigned to the regional hosted by Birmingham Groves. The Knights won state crowns in 2012, 1990 and 1980. Divine Child was state champ in 2002.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
