ORCHARD LAKE >> Wins and losses during the regular season aren’t easy to come by for the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s boys lacrosse program.

Despite being a Division 2 lacrosse team, the Eaglets have to face the very best the state has to offer throughout the season as part of the CHSL Central.

OLSM took its lumps from the likes of Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Birmingham Brother Rice, but those experiences helped the Eaglets prepare for what started on Friday, the D2 playoffs.

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s controlled its playoff opener with Royal Oak Shrine from the start, picking up a 10-4 victory to advance to Wednesday’s regional semifinal.

“One of the reasons I accepted the job here is that we play in the toughest conference in the state, by far,” OLSM first-year coach Bryan Schramm said. “We play against the best there is each week and play in a really tough Division 2 regional bracket. It’s exciting to take on the challenge of facing the Goliaths and I think it makes us stronger for this time of year.”

The Eaglets (6-10) established possession control and held the ball for most of the first half to keep Shrine (6-8) from getting any offensive flow going.

OLSM was patient with the ball, working in high-percentage shots to take a 2-0 lead after one and a 5-0 lead into halftime.

“We’ve played a slower-style of offense all season long because we have a really solid defense with strong goaltending. We like to be a methodical team that attacks matchups and finds the looks that we like,” Schramm said.

Shrine came out of the break and scored the first two goals of the second half, and had opportunities to cut further into the lead, but the Eaglets got back to their tempo and style and closed the third on a three-goal rally to lead 8-2.

Knights coach Ryan Jay knew his team had an uphill climb, as they have just 15 active on the roster with only one senior.

Their inability to score in the first half left them with too big of a hole to emerge from.

“We only have 15 on the roster, so we really needed to convert on those fast-break opportunities in the first half. That really killed us not finding the net,” Jay said. “(Orchard Lake) sends waves at you and they hold the ball on offense, so we had to make the most of our opportunities and just didn’t.”

To Shrine’s credit, junior goalie Quinn Armstrong kept the Knights within reach throughout the contest.

He had 14 saves in net, Shrine just couldn’t keep the Eaglets from eating up the clock.

“Our goalie is really good and our defense is pretty good too, we just struggled clearing the ball and getting it out of our defensive end,” Jay said.

Orchard Lake spread the scoring out, as Luke Jasinski and Craig Hartley led the way with two goals each.

Logan Kinane added a goal and two assists, while Aiden Walker, Evan Anderson, Brett Bochenek, Dane Heidisch and Jamison Stackpoole also found the net.

Shrine had goals from William Thibault, Drew Lopez, Ashton Firek and Oliver Poyhonen.

“Hopefully the guys learn from this season and stay resilient,” Jay said. “If we had five more kids, that could have meant another 2-3 wins for us. We were short on kids this year, but almost the whole team can be back, so we can definitely build on what we did this season.”

With the win, the Eaglets will now face Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Wednesday’s D2 regional semifinal match at Stoney Creek. OLSM will be looking to avenge a previous loss to the Cranes during the regular season as part of their challenging schedule.

“I think our mindset is where we have improved the most and benefited from our schedule,” Schramm said.

“The guys have a good mindset right now and they are playing for each other, which is what you always want to see as a coach.”