Late goal lifts Cranbrook over De La Salle, 3-2
BLOOMFIELD HILLS » Isaac Cheli scored with 8.9 seconds remaining to lift the Cranbrook-Kingswood Cranes to a 3-2 win over the Warren De La Salle Pilots Monday night in the opening round of the Catholic League Tournament.
Leyton Stenman created a turnover at his own blue line, and fired a long outlet pass to Jack Wineman. Wineman immediately centered the puck, and Cheli latched onto it, firing a shot from the high slot that just grazed the underside of the crossbar on its way in for the game winner.
Both teams were strong defensively all night. Led by the trio of Stenman, Michael Brown, and Jacob Budabin, the Cranes cut off De La Salle’s ability to dump and chase, holding the Pilots to just 17 shots on goal for the game.
“That’s been the key. Last week, you don’t shut out CC (Detroit Catholic Central) and Trenton without guys committing to play defense,” Cranes head coach John LaFontaine said. “But also, the netminder back there, Julian (Zvyagin) has been unbelievable.”
The Pilots were also strong in their own end. Even when Cranbrook was able to get zone time and get their cycle going, the Cranes struggled to create good
opportunities. Pilots goaltender Martin Pawlenko had to scramble around all the traffic around his net but still turned in a solid performance, making 38 saves.
“I give credit to our guys. Defensively in our end, our guys are committed. They play hard. We block a lot of shots, and we do a good job picking up sticks,” Pilots head coach Sean Clark said.
The teams traded goals late in the first period with Cranbrook
opening the scoring on a goal from Alex Ceritano with 4:19 remaining in the first period when Budabin stole the puck on a De La Salle breakout attempt and fed a cutting Ceritano who fired a one timer into the top left corner.
“We capitalized there because it seemed like when we had zone pressure, we didn’t generate much,” LaFontaine said. “I thought the third period we started getting shots on net and getting traffic. That was our best at getting to the net and getting some traffic.”
Cranbrook’s lead would not last, however, as just 28 seconds later, the Pilots tied it on a great individual effort by Seaton Heilman, who stole the puck, fought off a multiple defenders and wristed a shot from the right circle into the Cranbrook net to tie the score at 1-1.
With the win, Cranbrook improves to 5-2 overall.
The Pilots are 4-2-1.
Both teams play again on Friday in the Catholic League Tournament in Dearborn. Their opponents are yet to be determined.
“I told the guys in the room that we’re still playing for next year’s seedings. So we want to host this first round next, and if we’re going to do that, we’ve got to win our next two,” Clark said. “I’m just really proud of our guys. So far, this year we’ve talked about winning the day and having a short memory win or lose. That was the same message for our guys in the room today. I though we got better today. We’ve just got to find a way to finish now.”