Howell — It was a tale of two halves Saturday in the fight for the Division 2 boys lacrosse state title, but it was Detroit Country Day who used a stellar second half to come out on top.
The No. 1-ranked team in the state beat Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 14-12, ending what was a stunning late-season run in which Forest Hills Central went 9-1 after beginning the season losing 10 of its first 12.
“It feels great,” Country Day first-year head coach JD Hess said. “I walked into an unbelievable situation with this team. It’s senior heavy, a bunch of studs and lots of talent, but I think the difference that showed today was our character and the way that we rally and play for each other.”
The game began in a similar fashion to how it finished: a neck-and-neck battle. Both teams exchanged blows early on, with junior midfielder Blake Teliczan starting off the scoring and giving Forest Hills Central a 1-0 lead only a minute in.
The rest of the quarter saw the teams matching each other goal for goal, including Teliczan’s second of the game. Senior midfielder Preston Cook, senior defender Bonner Upshaw and junior attacker Rhys Kenney netted goals for Country Day, but it was Cook’s second of the quarter with 30 seconds remaining that gave Country Day a 4-3 lead.
Forest Hills Central (11-12) came out of the quarter with an immediate score from Teliczan in the man-up situation after a Country Day unnecessary roughness call to tie the game at four. Country Day was able to regain the lead a minute later from Kenney’s second goal, but from that point, the quarter was all Forest Hills Central.
Forest Hills Central scored five unanswered goals from the 10-minute mark all the way until the last 1:30, with Teliczan gathering another for his fourth on the day along with junior midfielder Finn Brunink and junior attacker Andrew Karas each finding the net. Sophomore attacker Elliott Fricano also added two of his three goals during the run.
Country Day (20-1) was able to lighten the blow by adding two late goals before heading into the half down 9-7.
Country Day came into the second half more composed and set compared to the first, but each team went goal for goal over the first seven minutes.
Teliczan scored his fifth goal in the first 30 seconds, which gave Forest Hills Central a 10-7 until senior attacker Mason Gal answered for Country Day at the 7:36 mark. Forest Hills Central added another goal shortly after in another man-up situation, but afterwards the game saw a complete momentum shift.
With four minutes to go, Gal added another to cut the deficit to two, which was then followed by senior midfielder Luke Fisher finding the net twice in a two-minute span to even it at 11. Kenney then scored the go-ahead goal with a minute left to give Country Day a 12-11 advantage ahead of the final quarter.
“We’ve been really good in the third quarter all season,” Hess said. “We went into the locker room and were pretty composed and calm, and decided this is where we live. We started winning face-offs and we got a couple of stops on defense. Our defense showed up big time in the second half, and we felt like if we could get the ball to our offense, they were going to put it in the back of the net.”
Country Day scored two more times to cap a string of six unanswered goals and add comfort to the lead midway through the fourth, which was too much for a Forest Hills Central team that just couldn’t gain possession for most of the quarter. Forest Hills Central’s Brunink was able to find the net with two minutes left, but it wasn’t enough as Country Day pulled away, 14-12.
Kenney and Cook both were the X-factors on offense for Country Day with three goals each.
“Those are two of our studs, they mean a lot to us,” Hess said. “Preston has really come on at the end of the season and has had an incredible playoff run. Rhys has been, in my opinion, one of the best, if not the best player in the state all season. That’s kind of what we expect from those two guys, and that’s what they expect.”
Doug Doty is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Country Day boys lacrosse rides strong second half to Division 2 title
Reporting by Doug Doty, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Doug Doty, Special to The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
