Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Warren

Brother Rice wins penalty filled game over De La Salle, runs streak to seven

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Patricia O'Blenes Brother Rice's Chandler Gillespie (18) battles for the puck against De La Salle's Brian Feldpausch in a game earlier this season. The team's met again Feb. 1 and Rice pulled off a 6-2 win. Photo by Patricia O'Blenes Brother Rice's Chandler Gillespie (18) battles for the puck against De La Salle's Brian Feldpausch in a game earlier this season. The team's met again Feb. 1 and Rice pulled off a 6-2 win.

OAK PARK — In one instant, so much changed.

A game that was back and forth for the better part of two periods, suddenly became a lopsided affair that left both coaches trying to figure out what exactly happened.

On Feb. 1 from the Oak Park Ice Arena, the Birmingham Brother Rice and Warren De La Salle hockey teams engaged in a penalty-filled showdown, but it was the endless run to the box that eventually doomed the Pilots in a 6-2 loss.

“There were some tough calls all night, but as the game wore on, we took some penalties we shouldn’t have, and that really hurt,” said De La Salle coach Dan Barry, whose guys trailed 3-2 early in the third period before a rash of whistles gave Rice the man advantage for much of the final frame. “Really, we had too many guys sitting in the box that we needed on the ice.”

By the time the final horn sounded, De La Salle was whistled for 16 penalties, while Rice was guilty on nine occasions.

But for the better part of the night, the teams traded chances and goals.

Rice senior MacKenzie MacEachern notched the first of the game, a power-play tally 8:58 into the opening frame. He scored his second of the night roughly six minutes later, and the Warriors held a 2-0 lead after one.

Senior Tony Russo got De La Salle on the board early in the second period, but Rice’s Blake Bazzi had the answer not long after, and the two-goal lead carried into the third.

Senior Brian Feldpausch got the Pilots right back in it early in the third.

But, with the penalty box door swinging back and forth, Rice added three unanswered goals, including two more on the power play, to earn its seventh straight win.

“Under the circumstances, we played through some adversity and showed some character in a good win,” coach Lou Schmidt Jr. said. “We fought and fought in a game that was filled with penalties and found a way to beat a good hockey team.”

MacEachern finished the night with three goals, taking his total to 23 for the season.

Bozzi scored his second of the game in the third period, and Russell Cicerone also added a goal in the third.

Rice, which has scored 47 goals during its winning streak, improves to 12-4-0 overall and 9-4-0 in the MIHL.

De La Salle drops to 6-11-0 and 3-11-0.
 

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038.