Brighton scores late, wins hockey regional 3-2

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ORCHARD LAKE — When you’ve won three state championships and reached another state final in the last decade, you’re allowed to raise your standards.

“I told them before the third period, ‘We don’t lose regionals,'” Brighton hockey coach Paul Moggach said. “‘We did last year, but that was a fluke. We win regionals, so let’s get busy and get it done.'”

And the Bulldogs did, beating Orchard Lake St. Mary’s for a Division 1 regional title at St. Mary’s rink, 3-2. to advance to the quarterfinals.

Here’s the archived broadcast!

Brighton (20-8) will take on East Kentwood (15-12), which beat the Capital Area Patriots 4-3 earlier Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Munn Arena in East Lansing.

The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.

The Brighton hockey team poses for photos with the regional trophy after beating Orchard Lake St. Mary's, 3-2, on Saturday night. (Photo  by Tim Robinson)
The Brighton hockey team poses for photos with the regional trophy after beating Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 3-2, on Saturday night. (Photo by Tim Robinson)

But, to get there, the Bulldogs had to get through plenty of hurdles.

The first was another slow start. St. Mary’s scored on its first shift, just 31 seconds into the game, on a goal by Grant Reszczyk.

“They came out blasting, and we came out slow,” Brighton senior Joey Clifford said. “It’s something we have to stop doing if we want to win the big games, because if a team gets up on you quick, it could be 2-0, not 1-0. We were lucky it wasn’t 3-0 in the first.”

That was, in large part, due to goalie Logan Neaton, who stopped 15 of 17 shots and who made several spectacular saves.

“He was unbelievable back there,” Brighton’s Jake Crespi said. “He really kept us in it.”

Other than that, Moggach was particularly displeased.

“We were passengers,” he said. “We weren’t driving anything that first period. I don’t know how that happens. They get that first goal off the first shift, it’s a tough start, but we hung in there.”

Between periods, Moggach and coach Kurt Kivisto expressed their displeasure to all but one player.

Nick Foran, who had broken a stick earlier, broke his favorite stick during the first period and took off for the rink’s hockey store in full uniform between periods.

He was a little late getting to the ice in the second period, but the new stick had some life in it.

Before that, the Bulldogs showed some life, playing much more crisply than in the first period and tying the game when Brad Halonen scored 1:18 into the period.

‘Mat Kahra dished it to me and I shot it,” Halonen said.

“Brad’s really come on the last month of the season,” Moggach said. “I’ve always thought he was a goal-scorer, and I’ve told him that. I don’t think he’s believed it until now. He’s playing very well.”

A little over six minutes later, Halonen took a pass from Lee Pietila and shot it at St. Mary’s goalie Kris Machowski.

“I just shot it far pad, and Foran banged it in,” Halonen said.

Foran smiled when talking about the new stick used to score the go-ahead goal.

“It had some goals loaded up in it,” he said. “I used the first one up.”

St. Mary’s tied the game 2:05 into the third period, when Ryan McGorisk scored for the Eaglets.

It stayed that way until a face-off in the St. Mary’s end with 3 minutes exactly remaining in the third period.

Clifford won the face-off and fired the puck backward to Crespi, who was parked between the face-off circles. Crespi buried the puck for the game-winning goal.

“I didn’t win it clean,” Clifford said. “It was a lucky face-off win, and it popped  out to Crespi.”

“It was a great play by Joey,” Crespi said. “I was waiting for the puck. He got it to me and I ripped it.”

The Bulldogs held on after that, withstanding a swarm of Eaglets after Machowski was pulled for an extra attacker with about 90 seconds remaining.

Neaton was up to the task.

“He made critical saves at critical times,” Moggach said. “He made a stop in the third period with his skate that was incredible. From our viewpoint (on the bench), that was going into the net.”

Next up: A trip to Munn Arena, where Kivisto played for Michigan State nearly a decade ago.

“It’s our coach’s old rink,” Foran said. “We have to get him a victory there.”

Moggach, who earlier in the week admitted that last year’s loss in the regional to Salem still bothered him, savored Saturday’s victory.

“We had to get through a lot of adversity,” he said. “When you get near the end of the lame, and you’ve fought that hard, you’re hoping against hope you can get through it, and they did a good job. It was a good finish. I’m happy to go to East Lansing.”

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