Brother Rice Falls 4-1 to Wyandotte Roosevelt in State Hockey Final

PLYMOUTH – Wyandotte Roosevelt didn’t miss on its power play opportunities on Saturday. And its goalie wasn’t too bad either.

The Bears’ three power-play goals and Chase Schmittou’s 47 saves powered their 4-1 victory over Brother Rice in the Division 2 championship game Saturday morning at Compuware Arena.

“Their goalie played fantastic,” Brother Rice coach Lou Schmidt Jr. said. “I’d like to say that maybe we didn’t do something, but we didn’t. We did everything we could to get pucks going to the net, get rebounds and get bodies. He just stood there and stopped everything. Congratulations to them.”

Brother Rice captain Jake Jaskolski went one step further in his praise of Schmittou.

“He’s the reason they won,” he said.

The Warriors (23-6-1; 10-3-1 Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League) were looking for the school’s third state championship and first since 2005. Their run through the state tournament ended with a second-place finish despite outshooting Wyandotte 48-27 in the game and 21-4 in the third period.

“We started to put more pressure on (in the second and third period) — that’s our game,” Schmidt said. “We got the puck deep and got some great scoring opportunities on the goalie and he was stopping everything.”

Brother Rice started slow for the third consecutive game. But unlike previous games against Waterford Mott and Kingsford, the Bears (27-3) didn’t let Brother Rice off the hook.

The first mistake for the Warriors was an early interference penalty. On a breakaway, Jonathan Reschke took down Tyler Groat from behind. Reschke was called for interference (3:54) and just 20 seconds later Nicholas Kovalchik scored an unassisted goal to give his team an early 1-0 lead.

Wyandotte scored again at the end of the first. The puck went flying into the stands and on the ensuing face-off, Nicholas Kovalchik scored his second goal (12:05) from John Calhoun.

“They played with a little more emotion in that first period,” Schmidt said. “They scored on the power play early and they had eight or nine shots right in that first period (out of) only 23 in the game.”

It put the Warriors in an unusually position after the first period – facing a deficit. It was the first time in this year’s tournament that Brother Rice was down by one goal, let alone two.

Mackenzie MacEachern came out of the intermission and cut Wyandotte’s lead in half (:09). The senior made a beautiful move to fake out Schmittou and score the Warriors' first goal. Thomas Ebbing and Andrew Roye were credited with assists.

But the excitement was shortlived. Schmittou didn’t make another mistake the rest of the game.

Brother Rice outshot the Bears in all three periods, but it didn’t matter. Schmittou showed great range and quickness, deflecting the best shots the Warriors had to offer. It was an impressive performance from the senior goalie.

Wyandotte added a goal in the second to take a 3-1 lead into the third. That’s where the score stayed until the final minutes.

Matthew Stack checked Joseph Green hard into the boards with just over two minutes to go in the game. Green stood up and Stack tried to knock him back down. The two exchanged punches as Brother Rice fans threw their towels on to the ice. 

The Warriors players on the ice signaled for their fans to stop, but it didn't matter. Both Stack and Green were called for roughing, but Wyandotte was awarded the man advantage.

It was an unassisted goal for Kyle King less than a minute later that sealed the Warriors' fate. It was the Bears' third power play goal (13:21) of the game.

The arena issued a warning to the student section, but Brother Rice’s athletic director asked the students there to leave. After the game, coach Schmidt apologized.

“My personal feelings are that, there’s no place for that in this game,” Schmidt said. “I apologize to Wyandotte for that. It was emotional and fans have been there to support us all season long, and we’re grateful for that. I wouldn’t judge them on the one incident.”

It was a disappointing end to a great season for Brother Rice, but there’s reason to be optimistic.

Almost all of Brother Rice’s top line will be back next year. MacEachern and Wilberding are juniors and Ebbing and Roye are only sophomores. The combination turned in brilliant games in the quarterfinals and regionals. 

“In the end we didn’t get our goal, but we had a pretty successful season,”Jaskolski said. “It’s a year to remember for sure, it’s a year to build on and look for us to be here next year.”

Live blogging from the game

Patch live blogged the game; below you'll find the entries as the game progressed. 

12:05 p.m. – And that should do it. The third power play goal (13:21) gives Wyandotte a  4-1 lead. Unassisted goal for Kyle King. 

Noon – A bit of an ugly scene with only 2:12 left in the game. Matthew Stack checked Joseph Green hard into the boards. Green stood up and Stack tried to knock him back down. The two exchanged punches as Brother Rice fans threw their towels on to the ice. Warriors players signaled for their fans to stop. Stack was hit with a penalty for roughing and cross-checking, Green was also called for Roughing, but Wyandotte has man advantage.

According to Wyandotte Patch editor Jason Alley's tweets @wyandottepatch: Brother Rice student section has been kicked out by arena staff.

11:40 a.m. – Brother Rice can’t capitalize on an early penalty in the third. Wyandotte’s Kyle Gouth was called for interference (1:34). The Warriors had five shots on goal during their power play, but none of them went in. Wyandotte has been content to rely on its defense to close out the game so far in the third; the Bears haven't been very aggressive on offense and haven't had a shot in over five minutes.

11:25 a.m. – Brother Rice needs some magic in the third period. Headed into the second intermission the Warriors are down 3-1. The Warriors out shot the Bears 13-10 in the period.

11:20 a.m. – Another Brother Rice penalty, another goal for Wyandotte. The Bears scored almost immediately after a high sticking call on Jake Jaskolski. Gerald Mayhew scored (9:06) from Kyle King to make the score 3-1. 

11:10 a.m. - Out of television timeout, Nicholas Kovalchik almost completed the hat trick. Bridges made a nice glove save to keep the score 2-1. Both teams have had a handful of good chances in the period, but the goalies so far are dominating. The Warriors have struggled to keep Wyandotte pinned in its zone like they did with Waterford Mott and Kingsford in earlier rounds.

10:50 a.m. –  The Brother Rice student section finally has something to cheer about. Mackenzie MacEachern just came out of the intermission and cut Wyandotte’s lead in half (:09). The senior made a beautiful move to fake out Schmittou and score the Warriors first goal. Thomas Ebbing and Andrew Roye were credited with assists.

10:40 a.m. – First period ends with Brother Rice facing a 2-0 deficit. Final shots on goal in the first – Brother Rice 14, Wyandotte 13.

10:35 a.m. – Brother Rice finally gets some solid scoring opportunities in final minute of first. A penalty by Gerald Mayhew helped the Warriors get some time in Wyandotte’s zone. The Warriors had seven shots in the final 1:20 of the period. John Hickman and Andrew Roye almost scored in front of the net, but Bears goalie Chase Schmittou successfully turned them back.

10:30 a.m. – Wyandotte strikes again in closing minutes of first. The puck went flying into the stands and on the ensuing face off Nicholas Jovalchik scored his second goal of the game from John Calhoun.

10:40 a.m. – First period ends with Brother Rice facing a 2-0 deficit. Final shots on goal in the first – Brother Rice 14, Wyandotte 13.

10:35 a.m. – Brother Rice finally gets some solid scoring opportunities in final minute of first. A penalty by Gerald Mayhew helped the Warriors get some time in Wyandotte’s zone. The Warriors had seven shots in the final 1:20 of the period. John Hickman and Andrew Roye almost scored in front of the net, but Bears goalie Chase Schmittou successfully turned them back.

10:30 a.m. – Wyandotte strikes again in closing minutes of first. The puck went flying into the stands and on the ensuing face off Nicholas Jovalchik scored his second goal of the game from John Calhoun.

10:20 a.m. - Early mistake costly for Brother Rice. Tyler Groat had a scoring chance for Wyandotte and Jonathan Reschke took him down from behind. Reschke was called for interference (3:54) and just 20 seconds later the Bears made the Warriors pay for their mistake. Nicholas Kovalchik scored an unassisted goal to give his team early 1-0 lead. 

10 a.m. -  The championship game at Compuware Arena started about 10 minutes early when both teams' student sections exchanged chants from across the ice. Brother Rice has its “Goon Squad” in full effect. The orange shirts and costumes are filling up an entire section in the arena. Before the national anthem they even had a chance to serenade one of the Warriors' players with “Happy Birthday.”

Pregame -  Brother Rice takes on Wyandotte Roosevelt starting at 10 this morning in the Division 2 hockey final at Compuware Arena. After Thursday in the semifinal, the Warriors earned a spot in the final game.

The Warriors scored twice in the second period en route to a 4-1 win over Kingsford in the semifinal, after outshooting Kingsford 19 to 3 in the second period.

You can catch live audio of the game through the Michigan High School Athletic Association, or watch the game live on Fox Sports-Plus.

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