All four semifinals took place last night, and though I didn’t manage to make it to my game of choice (insert several-paragraph rant about the incompetence of those who design and/or use roads in Oakland County), plenty of others did, so enjoy some recaps:
Brother Rice 17, Troy Athens 4
Brother Rice's Bradon Yousif dodges past Dan Kreza of Athens (photo via The Oakland Press)
The Warriors didn’t give Athens a chance, racing out to a 15-3 first-half lead before an uneventful second half closed out the game.
“They’re a dominant team. The kids gave it everything they had and just came up short,” Athens coach Nick Stensen said.
Bonus recruiting not from Rice’s coach, Rob Ambrose:
Christian Eckert played well in net for the Warriors, turning away five shots, before giving way to Kiernan Quarton — who stopped both shots he faced — and Ben Celani in the fourth quarter. “Eckert, he’s a senior captain and he’s going to Michigan. I think he got stronger as the game came along,” Ambrose said. “He gave up a couple questionable ones in the beginning, but he did a good job and came up to make the saves when we needed them.”
Eckert is not listed on Laxpower as a Michigan commit, but that would make him the second goalie (behind North Carolina’s Emil Weiss) committed to the Wolverines.
Fluff on Athens making it this deep into the playoffs. Detroit News brief. Birmingham Patch game article.
Forest Hills Eastern 13, Novi 6
FHE/N attack Charlie Stormzand scored 7 goals, including four in the first quarter, to set the tone for the game.
“Today, I got a lot of help from my teammates,” Stormzand said. “I was open in the crease, and they got me the ball and I finished well. We wanted to get to them early, because I think that broke their backs and broke their spirit.”
The boys from Forest Hills led 10-3 going into the fourth, and let their foot off the gas a bit.
Country Day 8, Notre Dame Prep 5
The game was tied at 5 with just over 7 minutes remaining, but DCD finished on a strong note. Hopkins-bound junior keeper Ahmed Iftikhar was a big part of Country Day’s winning effort. MLive has a couple highlights and post-game interviews (including with Iftikhar):
Country Day freshman Jack Bergmann gave DCD its first (2-1) and last (6-5) leads of the game.
East Grand Rapids 16, Grosse Pointe South 5
Just a brief from the Grand Rapids Press.