WATERFORD – The Lakeland Eagles picked up a crucial 5-3 win over Lakes Area United in a Lakes Valley Conference showdown Saturday evening.

Adam Trzcinski had a natural hat trick to pace the Eagles, who went ahead for good early in the second period when Vince Modica fired a puck from the blue line off the end boards and Trzcinski swatted the rebound into the net to give Lakeland a 2-1 lead.

Lakeland extended its lead with 8:52 to play in the middle period when Nate Dell fed a perfect saucer pass over a defenseman’s stick that found Trzcinski driving the net in transition and Trzcinski deposited the puck neatly in the left side to make it 3-1. He then added his third goal early in the third period to give Lakeland a 4-1 lead.

To its credit, Lakes Area would not go without a fight. Barely a minute after Trzcinski completed his hat trick, Lakes Area cashed in a turnover at the blue line when Carl Merkle ripped a shot from the high slot that found the top corner to make it 4-2.

The finish was tight with Lakes Area pulling its goalie with 2:21 to play and pressing for the goals necessary to tie things up. But Lakeland would not be denied in a game it almost had to have to maintain any hope of getting a piece of the league title, seeing off the remaining minutes to clinch the win.

Despite the rivalry and the stakes, both teams played a very disciplined game that saw just four penalties and only two power plays.

“The refs let us play, which I personally like,” Lakeland head coach Tim Ronayne said. “And it just worked out. It was a back-and-forth game. We were never comfortable, so you’ve just go to keep coming.”

“Both of our teams always play disciplined games. We both have solid, physical play, but neither is a dirty team. So it’s a fun game,” Lakes Area United head coach John McMahon said. “So I think overall, it’s always a good game playing against them.”

In the end, Lakeland’s forecheck was just a little too much for Lakes Area on the night. The Eagles dominated the zone time and the shot totals – especially in the middle period where they built their lead.

“Missing two guys in the lineup today, it definitely threw off our forward set,” McMahon said. “It was our first game without those two guys. It put a little kink in the game today, but I feel like we still battled pretty well.”

The game had been 1-1 after the first period with Zane Austin opening the scoring for Lakeland and Gavin Grondin tying things up for Lakes Area as the game ebbed and flowed in the opening period.

Photos from Lakeland vs. Lakes Area United in LVC hockey action

With the win, Lakeland (6-5 overall) is now 4-1 in the LVC and trails Lakes Area by just a half game in the league standings.

“It was a great team effort, solid play from everybody. They knew what was on the line. There’s no wiggle room. So we did what we had to do and we had solid play. It was very good,” Ronayne said.

Saturday's defeat drops Lakes Area to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in LVC play. The teams have now split their two league contests with Lakes Area winning 5-2 earlier this season.

Both teams are off until after the holidays when they will both resume their quests for the conference title in what continues to be a very tight title chase. Lakeland returns to action at Saginaw Heritage on Jan. 4, while Lakes Area also takes back to the ice the same evening at home against Lenawee United.

FARMINGTON HILLS – The Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks got hot late Wednesday evening and rolled to a 9-1 win over Farmington United.

Bloomfield Hills led just 3-1 with five minutes to play in the second period. But two late goals – one by Jordan Newman and another by Finn Connely – gave the Black Hawks a four-goal bulge to end the period at 5-1.

After goalie Rocco Colosimo made a handful of key stops early in the third period when Farmington United was pressing to get back in the game, the Black Hawks got things going again offensively, aided by some United penalties. The Black Hawks got a power play goal by Newman a bit over four minutes into the final period then added a pair of four-on-four goals as Farmington United started to take penalties and the extra space seemed to play to the Black Hawks’ advantage.

Farmington United played well at times. United actually outshot the Black Hawks over the final two periods and picked up a power play goal by Nolan Sattler in the middle frame. But overall, they didn’t have many quality shots outside of a couple of spurts as they occasionally ran into structure problems that the Black Hawks took advantage of.

“We’re still trying to get everybody to buy in and play the entire game. We feel like when we work the systems we have in place, we can be effective against anybody, but when we decide to go in the box and make it about ourselves we won’t have a lot of success out there,” Farmington United head coach Joseph Dragotta said.

Additionally, the Bloomfield Hills defense, anchored by Travis Stafford, won most of the battles in front of net, gave up few odd-man rushes, and generally left United trying to score from the perimeter.

The Black Hawks, on the other hand, got most of their goals from loose pucks in tight or in transition. The top unit of Newman (three goals, two assists), Dominik Dostal (two goals, one assist) and Preston Lumberg (four assists) were all over the scoresheet for Bloomfield Hills, while Tanner Smoker also scored twice.

“We didn’t play too bad the first period-and-a-half, but just no urgency. We were just kind of letting things happen. Once we got a couple to go in, our captain really stepped up, Jordan Newman,” Black Hawks head coach D.J. Fichter said. “He really led the team, and it just shows (that if you) shoot the puck on net, good things happen.”

Photo gallery of Bloomfield Hills vs. Farmington United in OAA White hockey action

Bloomfield Hills is now 4-1 on the year and 1-0 in the Oakland Activities Association White Division.

“The guys played hard,’ Fichter said. “It was an all-around good group effort. Everyone played a lot, and it was fun,” Fichter said.

Farmington United falls to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the OAA White. Both teams continue league play on Saturday with the Black Hawks facing off against North Oakland and Farmington United traveling to Rochester United.

WALLED LAKE – For the second year in a row, the No. 2-ranked Walled Lake Western Warriors came up a few plays short and fell to the No. 4 Mason Bulldogs in the regional final, this time by the score of 22-17.

Walled Lake Western received the opening kickoff. But the Warriors lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage, and the Bulldogs cashed it in with a 21-yard drive culminating in a fourth-down pass from Cason Carswell to Caleb Vaughn, who had recovered the fumble for Mason.

“We fumbled the ball on the first play of the game, and they score on fourth down. It was a war. We told our kids it was going to be a war, and they (Mason) were better than us tonight. Somebody has to come out on top. When you’re left in this part of the playoffs, there’s no bad teams,” Warriors head coach Kory Cioroch said. “Hats off to them,” he added.

Mason (10-2) will take on Detroit King (9-3), a 34-0 winner over River Rouge in its own regional final on Friday, in next week’s semifinals.

Western (11-1) got its running game going after that and marched right down the field, going 75 yards for the tying touchdown with Donovan Triplett going up the gut the final 2 yards to tie the score.

But despite controlling the game on the field for much of the first half and outgaining Mason by a wide margin, the Warriors never really got control of the game on the scoreboard. Western looked poised to take the lead going into halftime, but a penalty wiped out a touchdown and then next play resulted in an interception to end the half, and the Warriors had to settle for a 10-10 tie at halftime.

Mason started to take control in the second half, going down the field for a touchdown to open the second half, aided in part by a key pass interference penalty on third down near midfield. That made it 16-10 Mason after the Warriors’ Liam Vaughn blocked the extra point, but Walled Lake Western was never able to get back in front as they had two drives end on downs after getting to the Mason red zone.

Triplett would finish 144 yards and two touchdowns, including a final scamper with just over a minute to play to complete the scoring. Lucas Price added 49 yards as a change of pace as the running game produced more than 200 yards of offense for the Warriors.

“Our kids are extremely tough. They care all about this football team and not themselves individually,” Cioroch said. “Our kids are going to fight to the last play no matter what happens, what the score is, and that’s part of why it’s so special to be the coach here.”

Walled Lake Western finishes the year 11-1 after winning their third straight Lakes Valley Conference title and second straight district title. The Warriors will graduate some key players in the trenches but will return many of their top skill players, including Triplett.

“It’s sad to see our seniors go, but we accomplished a lot this year and we’re proud of them,” Cioroch said. “This is a football program, and we will always be here. This is just going to help us to continue to claw to get back here and win next time. I hurt for our kids right now, but at the same time I’m so extremely proud of what they accomplished this year.”

Photo gallery from the D3 regional final rematch between No. 2 Walled Lake Western and No. 4 Mason

The Warriors lost twice to Mason last season, including a 44-41 setback in the regional final, but beat the Bulldogs, 20-17, in Week 8 this season, marching into the regionals with an 11-0 record.

FARMINGTON HILLS – The Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Eaglets rolled to a 42-7 win over the North Farmington Raiders in the opening round of the Division 2 playoffs.

St. Mary’s took the opening kickoff and went 55 yards in five plays, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Darrin Jones.

The Eaglets never looked back.

St. Mary’s scored touchdowns all six possessions they had and built a 35-0 lead by halftime behind a dominant performance from the offensive line, led by Antonio Johnson, Greg Smith, and John Kolarchick.

“The offensive line has been a staple of what we want to do offensively. A physical run game, that’s what they bring to the table. So we’re excited that we’re getting better each week,” Eaglets head coach Jermaine Gonzales said.

The line was opening huge holes for the St. Mary’s runners all night and Jones and company took full advantage. Jones finished with a game-high 111 yards and scored twice. Richard Goike III had 50 yards and three touchdowns, and Jabin Gonzales also scored for the Eaglets.

Defensively, St. Mary’s also dominated early, holding the Raiders to negative total yards for much of the first half.

North Farmington would finally get on the board in the second half, taking the opening kick and going 84 yards in 16 plays with quarterback Terrance James scampering in for a touchdown from 28 yards out to get the Raiders their only score.

James was North Farmington’s most effective weapon, finishing with 95 yards rushing, much of it coming on scrambles. But the Raiders struggled to sustain any kind of drive early, and by the time their offense started to find some rhythm, St. Mary’s had already put rushed out to a 35-0 lead.

“We knew it was going to be a tough challenge. I was happy the kids fought back. They didn’t give up and were able to score a touchdown there and kind of get to see what that caliber of team looks like and play against some really good competition,” Raiders head coach Jon Herstein said.

St. Mary’s (7-3) advances to next week’s district final with Farmington, who defeated Lakeland 39-13 in a game that finished up later in the evening.

Photo gallery of North Farmington vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in D2 district semifinal football action

“Like I told them, we’re 1-0. Let’s go 1-0 every day to go 4-0,” Gonzales said. “We really don’t want to look too far in the future. We’ll find out tonight (who they would play next week) and we’ll start getting the film, and we’ll focus on that team.”

North Farmington, this season's OAA Blue champion after an undefeated league campaign, finishes the year 6-4 overall.

“I thought the kids really responded after the first two weeks,” Herstein said. “The kids bought in and really went all the way in at it. They came back and won five in a row, which is pretty awesome, played Adams tough, and then took care of stuff against Troy. It was an up-and-down season a little bit there, but I was really proud of the way the guys didn’t give up on each other and really came together in a lot of ways. The seniors did a nice job of staying the course and believing in what we were doing.”

FARMINGTON HILLS – Pontiac Notre Dame Prep fought off Williamston Wednesday night for a 2-0 win and its first trip to the state finals since 2000.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we came out here. We gave it our all. Every single one of us came out and we all left everything on the pitch,” Fighting Irish senior Henry Graff said. “It’s a dream, really. Last year, we made a district final (and lost to Country Day) and that really hurt.

“But really I don’t have any words. It’s a dream-and-a-half, seriously. Every single one of us want it, and it’s here.”

Notre Dame Prep opened the scoring with 6:27 to play in the first half when Jack Kilpatrick fired a cross from deep on the right wing toward the far post and Benjamin Liparoto roofed a volley into the top of the net for a 1-0 Fighting Irish lead.

Notre Dame sealed the game late on a breakaway goal by Matthew Marsheh, who slotted in a shot with 2:27 remaining.

But in-between, and essentially all night, the Fighting Irish simply managed the game. When Williamston sat back early, Notre Dame Prep controlled the ball and pressed their advantage. When the Hornets came forward, they managed the pressure and left Williamston largely shooting from long range, though Fighting Irish keeper Thomas Offer was forced to make one very good diving save with his team clinging to a 1-0 lead.

But for the most part, the Fighting Irish, using a bit of a makeshift lineup due to missing one of their top players, were able to make the tactical adjustments on the fly to control the game much of the night. Notre Dame Prep outshot the Hornets 16-6 overall, including a 9-3 advantage in shots on net.

“We made a lot of adjustments today to our starting lineup,” Notre Dame head coach Rob Suffredini said. “This was not a lineup we played all year. Tactically, they listened. I thought that (Williamston) is a very dangerous team, so to keep them off the sheet is impressive because they’ve got some really good forwards. I’m proud of the guys.”

With the win, Notre Dame Prep (22-2) advances to its first state final since 2000, when they lost to Plainwell, 2-0, in the D3 finals. The Fighting Irish will play Elk Rapids in this year’s Division 3 final on Saturday at Grand Ledge High School.

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Williamston D3 boys soccer semifinal photo gallery

“These guys worked so hard. We started training June 3, the first day possible, three or four days a week,” Suffredini said. “Having to go through our rival Country Day (in districts) and beating a very difficult Flint Powers team, I think our path is what has made us galvanized here. I think our strength of schedule and our path has really battle-tested these guys. I’m anxious to see what they do Saturday.”

He added that, “This is a special team. This is the best team Notre Dame Prep has had. I’m just honored to coach them, and I can’t wait to showcase them Saturday.”