ROYAL OAK –  The Allen Park Cabrini Monarchs claimed their second consecutive Catholic High School League St. Anne Division championship with a 4-1 win over the Wixom St. Catherine of Siena Academy Stars on Saturday afternoon.

After what had been a pretty even first half that ended with Cabrini leading 1-0, the Monarchs would go on to dominate the second half. Senior Carly Roth would double Cabrini’s lead just over 11 minutes into the second half when she fired a free kick that beat the wall and rocketed into the left side of the net to make it 2-0. Roth would score again with 21:17 remaining in the game. Paityn Hawes drove a corner kick towards the back side, and Roth headed it back the way it came and just inside the right post to make it 3-0.

The Stars would fight back almost immediately with Joanna Namel notching her program record 33rd goal of the season with a volley from inside the penalty area, to get Wixom St. Catherine back within two goals barely a minute after Roth’s second goal.

But Carbini was able to reassert themselves, get control of the game, and put the finishing touches on the win. Madi Smith’s 30-yard rocket with 9:13 to play provided the final margin and took any lingering drama out of the match, restoring Cabrini’s three-goal advantage, 4-1.

“The first half, we were going against the wind. The second half, we had the wind helping us,” Monarchs head coach Tony Pizzo said. “The girls came to play. They were hungry, so I’m happy about that. That’s for sure,’ he added.

The first half had been just as offensive, but without the goals. The teams actually combined for more shots on goal in the first half than they did in the second half, but the only first half goal came from Hawes who juggled a ball in tight, got her first shot saved, but quickly got her own rebound and scored past the goalkeeper who was still off balance from the first save.

Wixom St. Catherine probably should have had a goal in the first half. Between hitting the crossbar with a freekick just 90 seconds into the game and then coming up short on a breakaway late, thanks to a terrific save by Monarchs goalie Bella Perez, the Stars had plenty of chances to score in the first half. But they could not find a goal in the opening half and went into the break down 1-0 despite having a slight edge in shots on goal and a couple of glorious chances.

“When we get those chances and we don’t capitalize, it definitely helps the other team gain confidence too. They were already playing well, and then for us to miss those chances, it kind of gave the other team a boost and knocked our confidence down just a little bit,” Stars head coach Aaron Roy said.

With the win, Allen Park Cabrini goes back-to-back in the CHSL St. Anne Division for the first time in school history. In fact, these are the first two CHSL titles for the Monarchs.

“It feels good. I’m excited. I’m proud of us. I’m proud of our team. We really pushed ourselves in the second half especially because it was getting close there. But overall, I felt that our team did really good,” Roth said.  “It’s my last year here as a senior, so it’s kind of good to leave a legacy for the next couple of years,” she added.

Photos of Allen Park Cabrini vs. Wixom St. Catherine in a CHSL St. Anne Tournament final

Cabrini (10-2-1) opens the state tournament on Wednesday when they host Marine City Cardinal Mooney to open district play. The Monarchs are the district hosts.

Wixom St. Catherine (8-3-2) earned a first round bye and will face the winner of Dearborn Henry Ford Academy and Dearborn Advanced Tech Academy on May 28 in a district semifinal.

"The players came in here and did everything that we worked on to prepare for this game. I’m proud of my players. I’m not leaving here feeling like we played a bad game. There are a couple of bad bounces here and there that just went the other team’s way, and we prepare for districts now,” Roy said.

ROYAL OAK – The host Royal Oak Shrine Knights won their first Catholic High School League championship since 2019, claiming the Cardinal Division title with a 3-2 win over the Ann Arbor Greenhills Gryphons in Saturday afternoon’s final.

All the scoring came in the first half. Shrine got things started just 1:12 into the game when Isobel Malcolm’s corner kick deflected through to the far side where Jo Mitroff pounced on it and banged it in, giving the Knights an early lead. With just under 21 minutes to play in the first half, the Knights converted another Malcolm corner. This time it was Molly Salerno finding the net with a quick shot amid the scramble in front of goal.

“The last couple of weeks, we’ve worked on corners and set plays, and trying to finish our opportunities, so it pays off when you score goals,” Shrine head coach Mark Soma said.

At that point, the long shots would start going in for both teams. Cate Alumkal  scored a pair of rockets from about 30 yards out sandwiched around a 40-yard spinning chip shot for Malcolm that handcuffed the Gryphons’ goalie and bounced its way into the net. By the end of the half, the teams had combined for five goals and nearly 20 total shots.

However, after all the offense in the first half, it would be the defenses that dominated the second 40 minutes. The defenses tightened up considerably, and neither team came close to scoring again as the teams combined for just two shots on goal – both by the Knights – in the second half.

“It was a grind. I think the other team played well, and we played well. It could have gone either way, and I think we just took more opportunities than they did,” Soma said.

The win both clinched the Cardinal Division Championship and avenged a loss to the Gryphons earlier this month.

Photos of Royal Oak Shrine vs. Ann Arbor Greenhills in a CHSL Cardinal Tournament final

“It feels really good. We lost to them a couple of games ago, 3-1. So this definitely showed what we’re capable of,” Malcolm said. “We haven’t won Catholic League in a while, so it feels really good to finally bring home a Catholic League Championship for our school,” she added.

“It’s important for these girls to have their own identity that they’re Catholic League (Champs) and we can go into states with a positive momentum,” Soma said.

Royal Oak Shrine is now 12-3-2 on the year. The Knights will host a district this year. Having earned a first round bye, Royal Oak Shrine will await the winner of Clawson and Southfield Christian. That game is scheduled for May 28

ROYAL OAK – The Bloomfield Hills Marian Mustangs claimed their sixth CHSL Bishop Division Championship in the last decade with a 3-0 win over the Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood Cranes Saturday morning.

The Mustangs nearly opened the scoring barely a minute into the game, only to have the goal called back for offsides. Led by the efforts of Sophia Baldwin, Kendall Pankoff and Carola Gorlier, Cranbrook fought their way into the game. The two best chances for the Cranes came back-to-back near the midway point of the period. But the Cranes could not get either one on frame despite some glorious looks, and Marian finally got on the board moments later when Bella Musachio got a clean look at the other end and buried it into the back of the net for a 1-0 Mustangs lead.

The wind was blowing hard all game, and in the second half, Marian got the wind at their back and took full advantage.

“We’ve faced that wind probably two or three times this season already, and the wind is not a factor if you are a team that likes to play the ball on the floor (the ground) as we do,” Marian head coach Danny Price said. “We like to move the ball on the floor, so really it didn’t bother us. We just had to get through the first half without conceding, and with the wind at our back in the second half I always felt confident that we could flourish, and we did that in the second half.”

Indeed, after a first half that saw the Cranes dangerous offensively at times, Cranbrook struggled to create any sustained offensive threat in the second half. Marian took advantage to dominate possession even more than they had in the first half, and the Mustangs made sure to convert a pair of chances to put the game out of reach. Nia Bordogna scored both second half goals for the Mustangs – a 35-yard strike followed barely three minutes later by a 20-yard blast from just outside the penalty area that went in off the right post. That made it 3-0 and gave the Mustangs all the margin they would need.

The win was also a little bit of payback for the Mustangs who were knocked out of last year’s playoffs by Cranbrook in the semifinals.

“It feels amazing. We worked so hard up to this point just practicing and putting in the work, lots of running, lots of discipline. So it feels really good that it paid off, especially against a team that we have a small rivalry between,” junior co-captain Clair Dauer said.

“I’m really happy. I’m happy for my staff. I wouldn’t be able to do this without them,” Price said. “I’m happy for the players. They were absolutely tremendous today. But we talked about that last year, getting beat in the semifinal to Cranbrook and how that motivation and discipline would play in today. So now, we sort of righted that wrong from last year, and now we want to go all the way to states and go back to the Division 2 final.” He added that, “It was a complete team performance.”

Photo gallery of Cranbrook-Kingswood vs. Marian in a CHSL Bishop Tournament championship

For Cranbrook, it is their second straight loss in the Bishop Division Final in their first two years in the division.

“In these games, you always have a chance. You always will have one just kind of bouncing around and hope to finish it. But hats off to Mairan, they’ve got some great players over there, good coaches, and they make us better,” Cranes head coach David Brown said. “But it just didn’t go our way. We didn’t get the bounces we wanted, didn’t get the finishes we wanted, but just to play in this game and represent the Catholic League was good,” he added.

Both teams will now turn their attention to the playoffs. Marian (14-2-1) earned a first round by and will have to wait to see who they play in the district semifinals.  It could be Cranbrook (3-8-2) who will play Walled Lake Western this Wednesday with the winner advancing to play Marian the following week.

“Nothing is easy this time of year. Everything is hard, so we’ve just got to play our best and hope for the best,” Brown said.

ROCHESTER – The girls lacrosse game between the Rochester Adams Highlanders and Troy Colts was postponed with 4:06 remaining in the second period and the Highlanders leading 8-4.

At the time of the postponement, the teams had already waited out one weather delay earlier in the second period.

Lucy Lagman, Raegan Jerrell, and Molly Snook each scored twice for Adams. Troy got a goal each from four different players – Chase Duncan, Keira McComb, Maddie Sutton, and Teagan Pafford.

At this point, there is no official make announcement of when the game will be completed, though the teams are trying to work out the details.

ROCHESTER HILLS – The Troy Athens Red Hawks dominated possession and rolled to a 4-1 league win over the host Stoney Creek Cougars on a cold, windy Tuesday evening.

The Red Hawks opened the scoring just over 17 minutes into the game when Lulu Thaqi crossed a ball for Lauren DeJonckheere who hit a one-time volley that went in off the left post. Just over six minutes later, Lily Greaves banged in a rebound to make it 2-0 in favor of Athens.

Overall, Athens dominated possession and the stat sheet. The Red Hawks were able to connect passes and move the ball between levels, which created many offensive chances in both the first and second halves.

“We’ve been working on the possession piece, and then finding forwards has been the key piece yet. (Retaining possession) while going forward has been really important for us,” Red Hawks head coach Jason Clark said. “They worked well today,” he added.

The Red Hawks added on a pair of goals in the second half – one each by Emily Mendrick and by Thaqi – to stretch the lead to 4-0 with 22:15 still to play.

Still, the Cougars’ back line – featuring two sophomores and a freshman – held up pretty well given the amount of pressure they were under. But eventually, Athens just had too much possession and too many forward pushes, and the Red Hawks were able to find a few goals.

Stoney Creek would have a late push. Led by Gianna Kay, the Cougars kept organized and remained fighting.

“Gianna is a captain, a leader,” Cougars head coach Bryan Mittlestadt said. “Any coach would enjoy having several players with that kind of leadership, and the grit and that talent.”

Eventually the hosts pulled a goal back when Emma Norred popped a ball up in the air and behind the Troy Athens defense. Lauren Ziehm won the race to the ball and slotted it home past the charging netminder for a consolation goal.

Overall, the Athens defense turned in a very strong performance. Anchored by Abby Waldron and Annie Lawson, the Red Hawks’ backline held Stoney Creek to just three shot attempts all night as the Cougars struggled to find production in the attacking third.

Photo gallery of Stoney Creek vs. Troy Athens in OAA Red girls soccer action

With the win, Troy Athens (6-1 overall) levels its record in league play at 1-1.

“Anytime you get an OAA Red win, it’s a positive note,” Clark said. “I thought the girls played really well today, and especially for the conditions, I thought we did well.”

Stoney Creek (2-2-2 overall) is 0-2-1 in the OAA Red.

“We’re a little bit young. We’ve got some kids who are getting their first experience in the OAA, and we’ve just got to keep working,” Mittelstadt said. “We’ve got kids that care and work hard. There’s no doubt that we’re working hard. We’ve just got to play a little bit better soccer and get things going."

Both teams have tough non-league matchups on Thursday when Troy Athens travels to Grosse Ile to take on the Red Devils while Stoney Creek hosts Utica Eisenhower.

LAKE ORION – The Lake Orion Dragons fended off a fourth-quarter rally by Oxford to defeat the Wildcats 11-8 in an OAA crossover matchup Tuesday night.

Trailing 9-5 entering the fourth quarter, the Wildcats scored three straight goals – one each by Brayden Hering, Payton Scott, and Caden Rhoades – to get within a goal with 2:42 left to play. But the Dragons cut Oxford’s comeback off from the ensuing faceoff by winning it, racing down the field, and Parker Gannon set up Jack Parillo as he was coming down the middle, allowing Parillo to rip a shot home that doubled Lake Orion’s lead just nine seconds after Rhoades had cut it to one.

That killed Oxford’s momentum, and the Wildcats never got another shot on net.

Earlier on, Oxford led for much of the second period. The Wildcats scored three goals in a span of less than three minutes to take a 5-3 lead that would last until the final two minutes before the half.

At that point, Lake Orion switched goalies, putting in Landon Westby, and the team settled down. Westby played well the rest of the way, but for a while, he didn’t have much to do as his team started to get control of the ball and once again began to dominate possession as it had in the early part of the first period.

“We put Westby in goal, made a switch, and he was very good, and the defense gradually got a little bit better,” Dragons head coach Ron Hebert said.

From there, Lake Orion got a late power play and cashed it in for three goals in a span of 86 seconds, including two by Jackson Vasquez that allowed the Dragons to take a one-goal lead into halftime.

The Dragons then came out and dominated the third period defensively, winning ground balls and forcing turnovers, and that resulted in them extending their lead to four goals by the end of the quarter before fighting off Oxford’s rally deep into the contest. The Dragons had been in a similar position against Dearborn Divine Child last Friday, and in that game had been unable to hang onto the lead, eventually losing in overtime. But this time, they found a way to secure the win with some big plays down the stretch.

“This is really a very inexperienced team,” Hebert said. “They hung in there. We got most of the guys in. We have a lot of athletes and stuff. We just don’t have good lacrosse players that are lacrosse-wise yet,” he added.

Photos of Lake Orion vs. Oxford in OAA boys lacrosse action

Overall, Vasquez and Coby Narloch paced the offense for Lake Orion. Vasquez racked up four goals and three assists, while Narloch had three goals and three assists. One or both of them factored into nine of Lake Orion’s 11 goals.

Oxford, meanwhile, got a hat trick from Payton Scott and two goals from Caden Rhoades.

Both teams open up divisional play on Thursday. Lake Orion (3-1) travels to Seaholm to take on Birmingham United in OAA Red play. Oxford (1-3) will look to get back in the win column on the same evening when the Wildcats dig into OAA White play against Rochester.

“The momentum swung their way. Lacrosse is a game of runs. We started picking that up in the fourth (quarter), and I’m super proud of our guys. This is a tough battle,” Oxford head coach Noah Grove said. “I think that we’ve got a bright future for us, and this is one of those stepping stones in the right direction.”

WATERFORD – Marian started extremely fast Thursday night and cruised to a 7-1 victory over Waterford Kettering in the season opener for both sides.

The Mustangs got on the board less than two minutes into the game when Emerson Walton’s shot hit the post, caromed out front, hit a defender in the shins, and deflected back into the open net to give them a 1-0 lead on their first shot.

Six minutes later, Marian made it 2-0 on another deflection with Giulianna Agrusso getting credit for the goal.

For the first 20 minutes of the game, all the bounces went Marian’s way, and when the Captains got a bit rattled, the Mustangs took full advantage to stretch their lead out even more and make sure that the Captains would not be able to come back. Marian kept the pressure on Kettering and did everything it could to create its own breaks, and it paid off. Bella Musachio and Emma Wyciskalla also scored for the Mustangs, who expanded their lead to 4-0 just 17 minutes into the game.

“We have prided ourselves on starting quickly in games, and you can see that with three goals in the first (nine) minutes of the game,” Marian head coach Danny Price said. “You need a little bit of luck sometimes. Some of the things that eluded us last season during the run were a little bit of lady luck. We got it tonight, but the pressure we put them under the first five, 10 minutes was incredible. So that is something we have been working on is going at teams and not letting up and having that fire in our belly.”

After that, the Captains finally started to settle down and find their way into the game. Kettering was much better in the final 60 minutes and started creating offensive chances of its own, particularly in the later part of the first half. The Kettering pressure would pay off with a goal late in the first half when freshman Savannah Sartorius headed in a ball from a corner kick to get the Captains on the board. That made it 5-1 at the time, which was the halftime score.

“I think the girls figured it out. It took us a little bit to kind of mesh and see how everyone was moving and what our style of play was going to look like. But after the first 20 minutes, we started to figure it out a little bit more,” first-year Kettering head coach Justice Tillotson said.

In the second half, Marian again dominated possession, but the Captains were much better defensively than they had been early in the game, though the Mustangs still added a couple more goals.

“The effort level and pressing style, it never dropped, and that’s what we’re most proud of as a coaching staff is making sure that at this program they have to work hard. They know that, and they did that in the second half, and that’s what I’m proud of,” Price said. “It was a really good team performance,” he added.

Photos of Bloomfield Hills Marian vs. Waterford Kettering in girls soccer action

Being the first game for both teams and the coaches, each learned a bit about their teams, which have only been together for about a week with practice officially starting just last week.

“I messed around with one or two different formations, kinda wanted to see what the younger girls could do,” Tillotson said. "I wanted to get a lot of girls playing time, especially those younger ones to see where I can put them and what things can look like moving forward."

Marian will be back in action next week when the Mustangs play another non-conference game against Detroit Country Day.

Waterford Kettering, meanwhile, will have some time to regroup. The Captains are off for nearly two weeks before playing Auburn Hills Avondale after they return from spring break at the beginning of April.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS – The Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks and Farmington Hills Mercy Marlins played to a 0-0 draw to open their respective soccer seasons Wednesday night.

The game went up and down the field quite a bit, but for the first half, neither team could create many scoring chances as the defenses won all the key challenges.

In the second half, though, Bloomfield Hills started to generate some offense. The Black Hawks had eight shots on goal from intermission on and put the Mercy goal under some duress on a handful of occasions. The Blacks Hawks’ best chance came with 4:35 left when a loose ball eight yards out led to a point-blank opportunity. But Marlins goalie Joran LeVasseur made an outstanding reflex save to preserve the shutout.

“We were dynamic all over the field. Early-season games are just not the finished product, but I liked what I saw. We’ll just continue to get better and just continue to work on things, and I can’t wait to have more time to practice and just work with the group,” said Bloomfield Hills head coach Alan Zakaria, whose team is coming off a regional finals appearance.

LeVasseur was outstanding all night, but especially in that second half. In addition to finishing with 11 saves, she also made several key interventions, coming off her line to claim balls or disrupt attacks before they could lead to scoring opportunities for the Black Hawks.

“She saved us. If it wasn’t for her, that scoreline is probably not going to be the same, so all credit to Jordan. It’s not a surprise she’s a D1 college commit (Eastern Kentucky) and you can see why,” Mercy head coach Tom James said.

With this being the first official game for each team, both coaches were pleased with what they saw from their respective squads.

“I thought it was a good performance. We created good chances, solid defensively. Obviously, we haven’t had a chance to train much, so we haven’t really worked on much. But I’m pleased with what I saw so far. The spirit is good. The camaraderie is good. The leadership is good, and I’m really pleased with that,” Zakaria said.

Photos of Bloomfield Hills vs. Farmington Hills Mercy in girls soccer action

Mercy, who finished 9-5-6 last spring, will be back in action immediately, hosting Detroit Country Day on Thursday night in another non-league game as the Marlins prepare for the start of Catholic League season in early April.

“I’ll take this result on the road against a pretty good team here. We’re working a lot of new players into the rotation,” James said. “So I thought they did pretty well, and I think it’s a good building block for the rest of the season. But we’re right back at it tomorrow. Country Day is always good and well coached, so that should be a great game too,” he added.

Bloomfield Hills does not play again until after Spring Break. The Black Hawks next take the field on April 1 when they will face Birmingham Groves in an OAA crossover contest.