Brighton's confidence bolstered by close hockey loss to Detroit Catholic Central
LIVONIA — It was a hockey game both teams needed.
Brighton needed to validate its belief that it can compete with Detroit Catholic Central, a perennial powerhouse that has steamrolled its opposition in the first few weeks of the season.
And the Shamrocks needed a competitive game to test its ability to thrive when faced with adversity.
In the most compelling game this rivalry has produced in recent years, Catholic Central emerged with a 2-1 victory on a goal by Andrew Urbain with 10:25 left in the final period Saturday night in the Adam Mitchell KLAA-MIHL Showcase at Eddie Edgar Ice Arena.
Brighton scored first on a goal by Dominic Vincent with 12:19 left in the second period before Catholic Central tied it on a power-play goal by Cael Rogowski with 4:09 remaining in the second.
“They’re the cream of the crop in Michigan high school hockey,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “It was a game the whole time. We were one goal away. We had a chance to tie it late. I’m very happy with the way our guys played tonight.”
Catholic Central has beaten Brighton seven straight times since losing 2-1 in the 2018 state semifinals. The most recent encounter was in last season’s state Division 1 championship game, which the Shamrocks won 5-1.
“We just took that feeling from last March and we brought it to this game,” Brighton goalie Levi Pennala said. “We didn’t want that feeling again. Unfortunately, we got it, but we don’t’ want that feeling ever again.”
Pennala kept the Bulldogs in the game, making 27 saves. Catholic Central outshot Brighton 29-15.
“The whole game, we were right there,” Pennala said. “The team played great. They were blocking shots in front of me. We played well as a team.”
Catholic Central is off to a 9-0 start, allowing only four goals. The Shamrocks had four straight shutouts coming into the game. They are 60-2 against Michigan teams since Jan. 24, 2020, winning the last three Division 1 championships.
Catholic Central’s closest games were a 3-0 victory over Cleveland St. Edward and a 6-2 decision over Birmingham Brother Rice.
“You need to play in games like this throughout the season,” Shamrocks coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “Fortunately for us, we’ve been able to distance ourselves in a few games earlier. Tonight wasn’t the case. That’s good. You want to play in some close games. You find out a lot about your team in games like this, maybe more so than in the games you kind of pull away.”
On the winning goal, Urbain jammed away at the rebound of a shot by Jason Spiegel.
“The two goals we scored were kind of ugly goals, not the pretty plays, nothing cute or fancy about them,” Kaleniecki said. “But we were able to get pucks to the net and find some rebounds. That type of game is very reminiscent of a playoff-style type of game, so it was good for us to play that.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Detroit Catholic Central hockey edges Brighton in KLAA-MIHL Showcase
