Hockey video – MIPrepZone Game of the Week Dec. 8th, 2012
Teams: Trenton Trojans host the Brother Rice Warriors
Gametime: 7:30PM ET
Video broadcast following the game
All games available here or on the News Herald and Oakland Press websites
Trenton is 1-1 this young season
Brother Rice was the only team to capture a state title last year, but they weren’t the only program to experience success during the 2011-12 campaign.
Trenton’s last game recap:
On the night they retired Andy Greene’s high school jersey number, the Trenton Trojans, playing in new gold-colored jerseys donated by the NHL player, gave a spirited effort before falling 3-2 to old rival Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook.
Trenton Coach Mike Turner, never pleased with a losing effort, nonetheless, saw plenty of positives.
“This is always a real measuring stick game,” he said. “And we played with them pretty well. The shots were pretty even and we carried the play at times.”
After a scoreless first period newcomer Phil Pugliese intercepted a Cranbrook pass and scored an unassisted goal on the ensuing breakaway.
Pugliese scored later in the third period, tying the game at 2-2, but Cranbrook’s Kevin Shand scored three minutes later and that stood up as the game-winning goal. Brandon Hoffman drew the lone assist on Pugliese’s second goal.
Trenton’s first-year goalie Nick Ramirez stopped 27 of 30 Cranbrook shots and except for a little slip-up on the second Crane goal of the night, looked comfortable, said Turner.
Trenton is 1-1 this young season and plays at league rival U-D Jesuit tonight and hosts last year’s Division 2 state runner-up Grosse Pointe South Saturday.
Grosse Pointe South was the team that knocked Trenton out of the state Tournament with a 3-1 win over the Trojans in the regional finals.
Brother Rice played well last season too:
And Birmingham Brother Rice was the team that extended that streak this past season. The Warriors started the season off a pedestrian 5-4 before finishing the season on a 21-game unbeaten streak (20-0-1), capturing the third state championship in school history.
Coach Lou Schmidt said his team stayed the course, never doubting itself and keeping its mind on the ultimate goal, despite having lost 16 players off last year’s team.
“I thought the boys, they stayed focused the whole time,” Schmidt said. “They never panicked, they came out and played hard every single game. We knew that if we stuck to our game plan, we’d be successful.”
Brother Rice was the only team to capture a state title, but they weren’t the only program to experience success during the 2011-12 campaign.