Beverly Hills -- The Warriors are the best in the Midwest!

   Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice used a strong defensive performance to beat Ohio's Western Reserve Academy 9-4 to capture the 2008 Midwest Scholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association Championship May 18 held at Detroit Country Day.

   Brother Rice was last Midwest Champion in 2005. Western Reserve was 2006 champion.

The Warriors beat 2007 champion Upper Arlington 9-6 on May 17 to advance to the final. Western Reserve beat Worthington Kilbourne 16-10 to reach the championship game. The Warriors also won the Midwest Championship in 2003, 2002, 2001, 1995, 1989, and 1985.

   Brother Rice beat Western Reserve 13-8 and topped Upper Arlington 14-13 earlier in the season and improved to 18-0 on the season. Western Reserve is 16-3.

   Brother Rice and Western Reserve are the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams in the Midwest in the LaxPower.com computer rankings. Rice is ranked at No. 6 nationally and looks to jump into the top five with the win. It would be the first time a Michigan school has reached that level.

   "The win means a lot," said Brother Rice Head Coach Rob Ambrose. "Just a couple of these kids played on our 2005 championship team. This is the ultimate in our league and we did it the hard way, beating nationally ranked Upper Arlington and then Reserve. It couldn't have been tougher for us."

   The two Midwest powers went back and forth in the first half of the championship game, with neither team able to gain a large advantage.

   Brother Rice got on the board first as Nick Dolik scored with 4:57 left in the first quarter. Western Reserve tied the game with 1:38 on the clock in the first on a goal by Colby Wilson.

   Devin Peurach scored the first of his four goals on the day with 9:39 left in the second quarter, only to see Western tie the game again six seconds later on Brayden Gerrie's goal.

   It was all Brother Rice from that point on. Goals by Mark Chaput and Peurach made it 4-2 at half. Peurach scored twice and Joe Fontanesi scored in the third to make it 7-2 going into the final quarter.

Gerrie scored for Western with 11:01 in the fourth to close it to 7-3. Michael Hamilton's goal for Rice with 6:20 left increased the lead to 8-4. Jake Thomson finished the scoring for Western with a goal with 1:33 left. Chaput scored his second goal of the game with 10 seconds left to make the final 9-4. 

   The Warriors' defense was spectacular all game long with goalie T.J. Yost making many incredible saves and limiting Western's high-scoring offense to only four goals.

   "Our defense came up huge and our goalie played a great game,” said Ambrose. "They are a high powered team and score a lot of goals. Our philosophy is that defense wins championships, and in this case they came through."

   In other tournament games, Thomas Worthington won the B Bracket Championship beating Dublin Scioto 13-7, Mt. Lebanon beat Sewickley 7-3 for the C Bracket Championship, and Birmingham United beat the University of Detroit Jesuit 11-10 in overtime for the D Bracket Championship.

   The Warriors now turn their attention to winning their sixth straight Michigan state championship and finishing their season undefeated for the first time since 2005, when they finished 23-0.

   Rice faces the winner of Kalamazoo Central and Howell pre-regional on May 22 in their Michigan High School Athletic Association Regional opener.

  The Warriors are coming off a 22-1 2007 season where they beat Novi Detroit Catholic Central to win their third straight Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 Championship. The MHSAA began sanctioning lacrosse in the 2005 season. The Warriors have won 10 of the past 12 state championships and 14 overall.

 

Midwest Tournament Results

May 17

A Bracket

Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 9, Upper Arlington  6

Western Reserve Academy 16, Worthington Kilbourne 10

B Bracket

Thomas Worthington 9, Shady Side Academy 3

Dublin Scioto 15, Moeller 6

C Bracket

Mt. Lebanon 14, St. Xavier 13

Sewickley beat Franklin Regional

D Bracket

University of Detroit Jesuit 20, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 3

Birmingham United 9 Detroit Country Day 6

May 18 Championships

A Bracket

Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 9, Western Reserve Academy 4

B Bracket

Thomas Worthington 13 Dublin Scioto 7

C Bracket

Mt. Lebanon 7 Sewickley 3

D Bracket

Birmingham United 11, University of Detroit Jesuit 10 (OT)