GRCC 8 Grosse Ile 2

Grand Rapids Catholic Central wrapped up a weekend of dominance at the Divison 3 showcase with an 8-2 win over Grosse Ile. After a slow start, the Cougars played four-and-half minutes of near perfect hockey to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 6-1 lead. Grosse Ile came out ready to play and took a one-zip lead, which they carried until a bad change with 2 minutes left in the first resulted in a two-on-one that captain Matt Kane buried off a feed from Paul Ziemke at the 13:00 mark. The Cougars' John Dery netted a power play goal just 43 seconds later (assists to Kevin Boman and Clayton Brackett) to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

GRCC opened the second with an incredible 4-goal flurry in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the period to turn what had been a tight game into a bit of a laugher. Boman scored 1:09 into the period (assists to Dominic Lefere and Dery), then Dery scored unassisted. Just 21 seconds later, Ziemke scored an unassisted goal and then, 21 seconds after that, Ziemke assisted on a goal by freshman Brandon Carey. In all, the Cougars lit the lamp four times in a span of 1:16, causing Grosse Ile to take a timeout. Jacob Jeffers added another goal late in the second period (assisted by Brandon Wotjasek and Tyler Godfrey) and Ziemke closed out the scoring early in the third with a toe-drag and deke move that proved his recently broken wrist had adequately healed. Goaltender Adam Janecyk faced 22 shots and made several stellar saves, particularly during the first period to keep the game close.

The win over Grosse Ile capped an exceptional weekend for the Cougars, who are currently ranked #1 in the D-3 MHSHCA poll. The line of Dery-Brackett-Boman was dominant, scoring 10 goals and racking up 13 assists. The Ziemke-Kane-Cary line also "chipped in" with 6 goals and 5 assists. The Cougars also got excellent play from its checking line of Godfrey, Jeffers and Michael Dery, and the coaches gave considerable playing time to the fourth line and the Cougar's entire defensive corps. The D-3 Showcase wins over Gaylord and Grosse Ile move the Cougars' record to 8-0 for the season.