ANN ARBOR >> Three games, each decided by one goal.

Detroit Catholic Central grabbed the first two, but Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice won the one both wanted most.

After the Warriors and Shamrocks played to an 8-8 tie in regulation of the D1 boys lacrosse state final on Friday night, sophomore defenseman Ben Waechter found the ball on his stick coming out of the face off in overtime.

The moment wasn’t too big for Waechter as he ran down the field and fired off a shot that just went over the CC goalie and gave Brother Rice the 9-8 victory at the University of Michigan.

“It’s so surreal. It’s an unreal moment,” Waechter said of netting the game-winner in overtime. “I was cold all game, but I saw my opportunity and I let it rip. No hesitation.”

The title is the first for Brother Rice since 2023 and was extra-special for the returning players as the Warriors missed out on the MHSAA final for the first time in their history in 2024.

“Coming into this season, I think a lot of people doubted our team,” Brother Rice senior Hansen Polonkey said. “(CC) had a great senior class, and we knew that. To be able to pull something like this off is pretty special. They were undefeated and beat us twice, but we watched a lot of film and showed the grit to get the job done. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Friday’s finish wasn’t without some controversy that will surely add to this longstanding Catholic League rivalry.

After the Warriors (19-5) won the overtime face off, head coach Ajay Chawla was attempting to call a timeout. However, the referees didn’t see Chawla and play continued, with Waechter scoring the goal. Detroit Catholic Central coach Dave Wilson felt his team had given up on the play seeing Chawla signal for the timeout.

“(Chawla) was calling timeout, because our guys stopped playing because he called timeout,” Wilson said of the overtime goal. “He did call the timeout, because I heard him.”

To his credit, Chawla admitted to seeking the timeout after the game, but didn’t feel his gesture impacted how the final goal played out.

“He’s not wrong,” Chawla said of Wilson’s assessment that Rice was attempting to call a timeout. “But, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve tried to call a timeout and I don’t get it and the ball goes the other way. It happens both ways. Luckily, this time, it happened our way. I don’t think anybody stopped playing.”

In overtime, each team gets one timeout and it is typically used on a first possession to allow the team to set up a play for a chance to win. Chawla saw his sophomore defender running down the field and wanted to do just that, but was happy with the outcome.

“I saw it as a scrum, I saw Danny get the ball and I thought we wanted to set up an offensive play, and at the end of the day we did want to set up an offensive play,” Chawla said of the overtime play. “Ben got the ball and went down and scored.”

The final seconds were just part of the frustration that Wilson had with Friday’s contest and officiating. During the contest, Catholic Central was called for seven penalties to just one for Brother Rice. On two different occasions, the Shamrocks were at a two-man disadvantage.

“The whole thing, and I know I am going to sound like a sore loser, but we’ve gotten the Association’s Sportsmanship Award for two years. We average about three penalties a game for 40 games and today we are in the penalty box. I don’t buy it. This game deserved a better crew for both sides,” Wilson said.

Catholic Central (23-1) was seeking its first unbeaten season in program history and its first back-to-back state championship on Friday. The Shamrocks got out to a 3-0 lead after one quarter thanks to aggressive defensive play and goals from Lachlan Moffatt, Luke Kramer, and Luke Zajdel.

Brother Rice answered with a 6-2 second quarter to take a 6-5 lead into halftime. The Warriors got the initial spark from junior Frank Baiardi, who scored two goals in 45 seconds of play. Polonkey then tied things up at 3-3 moments later.

He would be the one to give Rice its first lead to end the half when he scored on a wrap-around goal with just two seconds left on the clock.

“Everyone just dug deep and showed a lot of heart,” Polonkey said of the second-quarter comeback. “We were all playing for the seniors and everything they have given to get back to a state championship. Deep down, we knew we just wanted it.”

Brother Rice wouldn’t trail again in the contest, but the score would be tied on three occasions in the second half.

The final goal in regulation came with 8:41 to play when Ben Papke intercepted an attempted save and put the ball past the keeper to make it 8-8.

Each team would have multiple chances to get the lead, but Brother Rice goalie Payton Fortino and CC goalie Matthew Cranston came through with big saves. Each goalie finished with 12 goals in the contest.

Baiardi had three goals to lead the Warriors in the win, while Polonkey finished with two. Zajdel had three goals for the Shamrocks, while Papke and Moffatt each had two.

With the win, Brother Rice has claimed a 17th MHSAA Division 1 state championship. Despite missing out on last year’s final for the first time, Chawla said expectations to win the state title will never change.

“Let me make this clear, the expectation is still there at Brother Rice,” Chawla said of winning state championships. “These guys felt it and when they came here, they had that expectation. They shouldered that just as heavy as any other team that has shouldered it. They had to shoulder it a little more because we didn’t even get here last year. We’re back where we want to be, where we should be, which is on top.”