BRIGHTON — It had been a while for the Brighton hockey team, but the Bulldogs got a measure of revenge Saturday night in a 2-1 win over Detroit Catholic Central.
For coach Paul Moggach, it was a statement game as well. To wit: “If we keep working, we can play at the level (CC) is at all of the time and half or better. This isn’t ‘We’re going to win one out of 10.’ This isn’t the Miracle on Ice team. We’re better than that. We have to prove it every night, but we’ve got a good squad, and we can win games.”
The Bulldogs (16-2) controlled most of the game against the Shamrocks (11-6-1). It was the first game between the teams since Catholic Central beat Brighton in the Division 1 state final in March. It also marked a meeting between the top two teams in the latest Division 1 coaches’ poll.
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“We had to come in ready,” Brighton defenseman Joey Martini said. “We know who they are and how they beat us in the state final. We were looking to play hard, play prepared and be ready for them.”
Martini played a key role, continually flicking the puck into the Catholic Central end and indulging in a little agitating in the meantime. It paid off late, when the 5-6 Martini drew a roughing penalty from Catholic Central’s Zach Sprys-Tellner in the final minute.
It was Sprys-Tellner who gave the Shamrocks the lead late in the first period, beating Brighton goalie Logan Neaton with 3:02 left in the period. But after the goal, Sprys-Tellner was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“I think he made the save, but it dribbled through,” Moggach said. It wasn’t like they made a great play. It was a little disheartening, a goal like that, but at the same time, we thought we were playing well.”
As a result, the Bulldogs didn’t make many changes going into the second, and their patience paid off.
Early in the period, Neaton made a save on a point-blank shot, and the Bulldogs grabbed the rebound and skated back up the ice. Keith Wikman beat Shamrocks goale Sean Finstrom to tie the game.
A little over a minute later, on the power play, Brighton’s Adam Conquest skated in on Finstrom on the left, then fired a quick pass on the other side to Mathew Kahra, who buried it for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
“I was right there, back door and slid it into an empty net,” Kahra said.
The Bulldogs kept up the pressure from there, at times getting more shots on goal while a man short than the Catholic Central power play.
“What we told them before the game is, we can respect them, but we don’t have to over-respect them,” Moggach said. “Years ago, we couldn’t get games with Catholic Central. Now we can get them and win them. You’ve got to believe in yourself and that your thoughts can create good things for you. Their thoughts and work ethic carried them through.”
Asked to assess the victory, Martini said, “It’s huge. It’s a tipping point to keep us to keep going forward, keep going up and keep the trajectory up.”
