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Timely goals and hot goaltending help team take 4-1 win over Little Caesars

Zach Golembiewski scored three goals and Belle Tire, behind sensational goaltending from Joe Rogers, beat Little Caesars 4-1 to capture the Midget AAA U-16 state championship on March 11 at the Taylor Sportsplex.

Golembiewski was named MVP and Rogers had people shaking their heads.

“Rogers, what more can you say?”, asked Little Caesars coach Mike Brown. "He has been the best goalie in the league all year long.”

Little Caesars struck first at the 6:17 mark on the power play when Shane Berschbach let go a blast from the point that Ryan Misiak deflected past Rogers, but it was lights out from there.

The rest of the period belonged to the goalies. With 5:21 left, Rogers stopped two quality scoring chances with point blank saves. A minute later it was Little Caesars goaltender Chris Cohen who came up big, stopping both Torey Krug on and Beau Schmitz on separate breakaways.

Cohen stopped Blake Coleman and Rogers stoned Ryan Misiak on a partial breakaway to open the second period. Belle Tire finally broke through with the equalizer with 6:50 left in the middle frame when Golembiewski netted his first from the slot on the power play with Tony Krug and Tyler Brown drawing the assist.

"We got down early in the game but our guys were able to battle back,” said Rogers. "Goals from both sides were tough and these two teams have a history of close games.”

Golembiewski scored his second goal and the eventual game winner at 14:09, this time with Belle Tire playing a man short.

"We were starting to see the bounces go our way and the puck came directly to my stick on a rebound and I just shot it in with their goaltender out of position,” said Golembiewski.

Little Caesars hit three goal posts in the third period that kept them from tying the game.

"We battled hard and grabbed a lead but both these teams are so evenly matched,” said Brown. "They got some rebounds and bounces which put them ahead.”

"There was a sense of urgency on both sides,” said Belle Tire coach Kyle Krug. "The third period was still anyone's game.”

Then Tyler Brown jumped on a loose puck and slid it past Cohen to give Belle Tire a 3-1 lead. Golembiewski completed his hat trick with less than two minutes to go, picking up the puck in the natural zone and firing it into the open net.

Krug was extremely happy about his winning team's performance.

"This is a blue collar team,” explained Krug. "We don't have the skill of (some teams) but they have lots of heart.”

Midget U-16 Notebook

Belle Tire was dominant during the round robin with a perfect 3-0 record, outscoring the three teams 24-6. They eliminated Honeybaked with a 3-0 shutout win in the semifinals… Little Caesars was 2-1 in round robin play and beat Victory Honda in the semifinals 3-1…Belle Tire had three players with multiple points in a 7-2 round robin win over Little Caesars Kyle Verdino (2 goals), Mac Olson and Zach Golembiewski (1 goal, 1 assist) . . . Dajon Mingo scored a goal and added an assist to lead Victory Honda to a 4-2 win over Honeybaked . . . Nate Brown scored two goals and Joe Casimo had two assists for Honeybaked in a 6-3 loss to Compuware . . . Doug Clifford had two goals and an assist, along with Brad Smith's two goals in Belle Tire's 7-0 shut out win over Crank's . . . Ryan Kamlay's two goals helped Little Caesars to a 3-2 win over Dearborn Brand… Three players posted four points or more during Little Caesars 8-0 whitewash over Crank's Ryan Misiak (3 goals, 1 assist) Derek Bayagich (1 goal, 3 assists) and Shane Berschbach (5 assists) . . . Doug Clifford scored a hat trick in a four point effort for Belle Tire during a 10-4 rout over Dearborn Brand . . . Ben Globke scored the lone goal for Compuware as they lost 10-1 to Victory Honda, who were led by two goal efforts from both Tony Woodward and Robbie Kolander . . . In Little Caesars 3-1 semifinal win, Ryan Misiak scored a paid of goals and Derek Bayagich chipped in a goal and two assists, while Dajon Mingo score the lone Victory Honda goal… Travis Lynch scored two goals in Belle Tire's 3-0 semifinal win over Honeybaked.

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