NOVI — “Everybody wants a piece of us.”
That was coach Rob Ambrose’s assessment of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s latest conquest in lacrosse, a hard-fought 7-3 victory over Novi Detroit Catholic Central.
That’s what happens when you’re on top and out front as Brother Rice has been since 2005: 108 consecutive games against in-state opponents (16 over CC), seven state championships in a row, and 14 CHSL titles since 1995, including the last nine straight.
The Shamrocks put up a valiant effort, clawing to within 4-3 heading into the final 12 minutes of play on a breezy, chilly night. The Warriors’ talented junior attacker, Sergio Perkovic, who is committed to Notre Dame after his prep days, fired two goals 52 seconds apart in the middle of the quarter — giving him four for the game — to put an end to the Shamrocks’ hopes of pulling an upset.
“Games against CC are always a gut check,” said Ambrose. “They always play tough. It comes down to who wants it more. We play with humility and hard work. We don’t take anything for granted.”
Danny Meyers gave the Shamrocks an early lead 93 seconds into the game, but Rice responded with three unanswered goals by John Plaskey, Riley Kennedy and Perkovic’s first.
Catholic Central played inspired lacrosse in the middle periods. While junior goalie Chris Naubert was fending off repeated attacks by Rice, the Shamrocks were pounding away at Rice senior goalie Kiernan Quarton. In one three-minute spell before the half, Quarton turned away point-blank shots by Marc Longe, Dylan Neal and Nick Gingell.
Perkovic tallied his second goal midway through the third quarter to give Rice a 4-1 lead. At the 3:50 mark, Neal, coming off the bench, re-directed a pass from Alec Gilhooly into the net, followed two minutes later by Gilhooly’s unassisted goal from 15 yards out to close the margin to 4-3.
That was as close as CC would get. The Warriors’ Sloane Walsh opened the final quarter with a shot past Naubert, and Perkovic followed suit twice.
CC coach Dave Wilson said his squad “has to be more assertive in situations … to capitalize on opportunities they gave us because they did make some mistakes.”
Both teams came into the game undefeated: Rice 7-0, CC 8-0. They will meet again in the CHSL championship May 12.
Don Horkey is a freelance writer based in Shelby Township.
