Orchard Lake -– Thirty seconds earlier, Madeline McClain’s shot from near half-rink appeared to trickle between the legs of Ladywood goalie Sarah Koch to give Farmington Hills Mercy its first-ever CHSL Girls Hockey Championship.
The referees waved it off. No goal. Marlins Coach Brandon Malinowski protested vigorously.
Deja vu. Now McClain finds herself in a similar situation, picking up a loose puck at her blue line, streaking toward Koch.
“I thought that first shot went in,” she’s thinking as she draws nearer and nearer to the Ladywood goal a second time. “If I miss this one, I’ll really be mad.”
She shoots. “I thought I missed it again, that it didn’t go in. But I turned around and I saw the goalie’s face, and I knew it went in.”
At 2:09 of sudden death overtime, McClain is mobbed by her joyous teammates celebrating a dramatic 6-5 victory, snapping Ladywood’s string of six consecutive CHSL championships, and giving Malinowski the title in his first year coaching at Mercy.
“I’m setting up the program just right,” he joked, adding: “The puck bounced better for us. It was an even game. My hat’s off to them.”
“We beat ourselves with all the turnovers,” said Ladywood Coach Bruce Peck.
But he could find no fault with the Blazers spunk. They came from behind four times to tie the score.
Senior captain Alexandra Conner gave Mercy a 1-0 lead early in the first period, only to witness Ladywood’s Katy Folk tie the score 28 seconds later.
Alexandra’s sister, sophomore Caitlin Conner, scored back-to-back goals to restore Mercy’s lead to 3-1. Ladywood knotted the score again on goals 13 seconds apart by Elayna Kolpacke and Rana Freij.
DeBrincat Morgan put Mercy ahead again on a power play goal, but Freij punched in a rebound to send the game tied at 4-4 into the third period.
Alexandra Conner’s goal made it a 5-4 Mercy lead that lasted for only about three minutes when Hannah Pereira punched the puck past Mercy goalie Clarissa LeVasseur to set up McClain’s overtime heroics.
Mercy improved its overall record to 14-5, while Ladywood fell to 7-12. Both teams continue their season in the Michigan Metro Girls Hockey League playoffs.
