By Madeleine Nichols
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 4/17/14

BEVERLY HILLS, Mich. – Jack Bergmann scored early in overtime Wednesday night to give host Detroit Country day School a stunning 8-7 victory over 11-time defending state champion Brother Rice.

The win snapped Brother Rice’s remarkable streak of 171 straight (unofficial amount) wins over in-state teams, dating back to an 11-10 loss to Birmingham Seaholm in the 2002 state finals.

Detroit Country Day (8-1) had lost only to the nation’s No. 2 team, Culver Academy (IN) and entered the game as a legitimate threat to the streak.

“They are just an unbelievable program, a great team and it just felt great to get that win for the team,” said Bergmann, a 2014 attackman headed to Holy Cross.

“We scouted [Brother Rice] a little bit and just thought, ‘New coach (Michael Cappelletti) and we just had a great squad.’ And everyone is just buying into the system and we just played our best out there and got the ‘W.’”

Brother Rice (6-2), which also had lost only to Culver tied the game, 7-7, on a goal by Jason Alessi (two scores). The Warriors also had fought back from an early 4-0 deficit and held off the Yellowjackets at the end of regulation.

“We had the ball at the end and we couldn’t put it in the net,” said Bergmann. “I missed the ball with 5 seconds left, but we got in the huddle and said, ‘We’ve gotten this far, our offense has worked great and if we keep on doing what we’re doing, we’ll have more chances.’”

Brother Rice first-year head coach Ajay Chawla, who had the unenviable task of replacing a legend in Rob Ambrose, said Detroit County Day deserved to win.

“They wanted it more,” he said. “They came fired up, we came out flat. Every time we got a little momentum, they stole it back. They played well, they were coached well today.”

Matt Stebbins, David Pohl and Owen Sappington (2.2 seconds remaining) scored first-period goals for the Yellowjackets and Bergmann made it 4-0 in the second period before the Warriors began to rally.

“We came out flat,” said Chawla. “It happens. Sometimes you can get away with it, today we couldn’t get away with it.

“These guys (DCDS) played a hell of a game. They worked hard and they were the better team today.”

Added Bergmann: “We just came out there and played the best that we could play. They were turning the ball over a little bit and luckily we took advantage of it. We got up early, they came back, tied it up and took the lead and we just hung in there until overtime and did our work from there.”

Did the pressure of the streak hinder Chawla’s team?

“There is always a pressure, these kids feel it,” Chawla said. “It’s part of being part of the team and it’s part of being part of Brother Rice. They have got to learn to deal with it.

“We’ve got to figure out what we have and go forward. We can’t dwell on the loss. Maybe it’s good the monkey is off their back and we can move forward and not worry about all the records that everybody likes to talk about.

“We’ll move forward and maybe they will start their own legacy now and not have to live in the shadows.”

John Lockwood added two goals for Brother Rice.

Sophomore goalie Jackson White earned the win.

“I think we learned a lot,” said Chawla. “I don’t think it was a lack of effort. They were the better team tonight. I don’t know if they’re the better team the next game or the game after, but tonight they were the better team.

“You’ve got to give them credit, you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. Coach Cappelletti came in and put together a nice game plan and got his guys fired up and they came to play.”

Detroit Country Day 3-1-1-2-1 — 8
Brother Rice 0-2-3-2 -0 – 7

DCHS
Jack Bergmann 2g
Matt Stebbins 1g, 1a
David Pohl 1g, 1a
Joe Bergin 1g
Owen Sappington 1g
Matthew Dolan 1a
Emelio Sosa 1g
Cooper Belanger 1g

Brother Rice
Jason Alessi 2g, 1a
Joe Dudley 1a
John Lockwood 2g
Morgan Macko 1g
Reid Fisher 1g, 1a
Liam Reaume 1g, 1a