Trenton ice hockey players celebrate with goaltender Noah Miklos after the Trojans beat UD Jesuit 5-1 in the D2 state quarterfinals on March 2, 2024. (Samantha Elliott – For MediaNews Group)
ALLEN PARK – Playing in the MHSAA state quarterfinals is nothing new for the Trenton hockey program.
And on Saturday night, the Trojans appeared in the state quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year and made it look easy.
Trenton scored fairly early and quite often when it faced MIHL rival Detroit UD Jesuits in the Division 2 state quarterfinals at Allen Park Civic Arena.
The result ended with the local team eliminating the Cubs from the postseason with a 5-1 victory.
Photo Gallery: Ice Hockey – Detroit UD Jesuit vs Trenton
“I'm very proud of our team,” Trenton coach Chad Clements said. “It's a really great Jesuit team. They're fast and strong and they have 13 seniors.
“I have a lot of respect for Paul (Moretz) as a coach and he does a great job.”
Trenton had four players score in Saturday's full-team win.
It looked like the Cubs were going to have a chance to score early, but just seconds after the Trojans missed a penalty and regained full strength, Josh Bogema pulled one out of traffic, giving him the score of the night. started.
The hometown team took an early 1-0 lead with assists from Jay Cormier and Tyler Kemp.
Boston Bennett added some cushion late in the first period, taking a 2-0 lead. With 4:04 remaining, Bennett took a shot with Trenton on the man advantage, and the shot hit the post and went into the net, sending the crowd into a roar.
Landon Leone contributed to Bennett's scoring.
Jesuit cut the local lead to one point with 5:13 to go, playing his second point on a rebound into the bottom left corner.
But Trenton quickly responded four minutes later.
Bennett took the puck almost coast-to-coast, and when the announcement of “1 minute left” came over the speakers, he sent a pass to Will Barrett, who buried the puck.
Caleb Kidd also assisted on Barrett's score to extend the Trojans' lead, then added two more goals in the final 17 minutes.
Cormier scored a power-play goal with 12:16 left in the game, assisted by Nolan Murray and Nathan Sparks. Then, with 43.8 points remaining, Barrett hit his second unassisted empty-netter of the night.
Although the Trojans posted balanced scoring overall, Clements said more scoring would have helped advance the team to the next round.
“All these kids come from the programs they came from. Most of them are all superstars or leading scorers, and we ask them to do jobs here that sometimes don't involve scoring. ,” Clements said. “It's very difficult to play as a team. Each player has to accept his role and play that role to the best of his ability, and sometimes it's not a glamorous or pretty role, but tonight our players… we accomplished it.
“I'm so proud of some of them,” Clements continued. “Their names may not be on the box score, but they did the little things right that we needed to do to get the win. That's what team hockey is all about.”
In net, Noah Miklos stood tall and gave Trenton the win.
“(Noah) was phenomenal tonight,” Clements said. “Especially at the end of the 6-on-4 when (Jesus) made a power play and pulled the goalie. I always say he makes most of the saves that are expected of him, but He makes one or two saves that he's definitely going to get into the game, but they're game-changers.
“Our team just plays with a lot of confidence in front of him,” Clements continued. “I can't say enough about him because they know he's going to help us.”
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With the win, Trenton (22-4-2) advances to the D2 state semifinals next Thursday, March 7, at USA Arena in Plymouth.
The Trojans' game time and opponent are pending as a committee of sports luminaries determines the semifinal pairings.
Byron Center, Saginaw Heritage and White Lake Lakeland also won in the D2 state quarterfinals on Saturday.
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