BIRMINGHAM >> Riverview Gabriel Richard hockey coach Rick DeSana preaches consistency from his program game in and game out.

And when the MHSAA playoffs roll around, one thing has been consistent for the better part of the last decade; his Pioneers have secured a trip to the state quarterfinals.

On Wednesday evening, Richard made it eight straight trips to the Division 3 quarterfinals with a 5-2 victory over Detroit Country Day.

It was not quite as easy as it looked for DeSana and company getting the regional championship out at the Birmingham Ice Arena. Richard had to go on the penalty kill nine times and, after taking an early three-goal lead, found themselves up by just one goal heading into the final 17 minutes.

“We got off to a good first period,” DeSana said. “But sometimes when you get a two to three-goal lead, players start thinking about the result and not the process. We started thinking about the results and stopped playing hockey.

“Basically the coaches’ talk in between the second and third period was about as ‘hockey 101’ as we could get.”

While Richard was unable to capitalize on their four power play chances, they stood strong on the PK and had a knack for scoring moments after returning to full strength.

The first of several such moments happened early on as they built up their early lead.

Connor Forster got the night started just over five minutes in when he scored almost immediately after a faceoff for a lead that Richard never let up. Logan Swiercz assisted.

Almost four minutes later in the period, Jake Csekei got his first of the evening just seconds after his team went off the penalty kill with some help from Michael Taucher.

The eventual game-winner came with 3:30 to go in the middle period, moments after the Pioneers killed off their sixth penalty of the night. With assists from Taucher and Tony Venturini, it was Santino Venturini burying a perfect rebound for the then 3-0 lead.

That’s when the night got interesting.

Country Day was finally — inevitably — able to capitalize on the power play. With 2:25 remaining in the middle period Tommy Denha found the back of the net with help from Ryder Novock and Sawyer Shilling.

Just 40 seconds later, the Yellowjackets got Richard goaltender Connor Ptak far out of his net to the corner. Micah Zacks took advantage with an unassisted goal for a 3-2 game after two periods.

Things got more intense between the two former Metro League rivals as the final period continued on. Each team added a pair of penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct for Richard who was able to add two more goals to secure further advancement in the postseason

With 6:31 to go, Tony Venturini grabbed a pass from Forster that flew up and into the net. Then with just over two minutes remaining, Csekei sent one right over the left shoulder of Country Day netminder Bonner Upshaw, with help from Santino Venturini, to cap the scoring.

“It was a good hockey game,” DeSana said. “Country Day is a good team and they came prepared, so we’re obviously pretty happy with the result.”

On the opposite bench, it was mixed emotions for Country Day coach Frank Novock. Candid in saying this is simply the worst team he’s had in his 15 years, the veteran coach said he also could not be more proud.

“In a nutshell, we overachieved this year,” Novock said. “To go 10-1-1 in our last 12 games — for what these guys did, I couldn’t be more proud. You don’t go 10-1-1 by luck.”

After playing well against a strong Grosse Ile team in the regional semi finals, Novock said his ‘Jackets were thrilled with the opportunity to extend their season to Wednesday.

“I thought we had a great game plan (but) we got exposed tonight,” he said. “Some of our weaknesses, our depth — we got beat by a better team tonight and we didn’t deserve to win.”

“We’re only losing three seniors,” Novock continued. “But they’re three of the best seniors I’ve ever had. Absolutely phenomenal and they were the heart and soul of our team. If we don’t have those three, I don’t know if we win two games all year. They’re the reason we finished the way we did.”

Up next

Richard (12-10-1) with the win sets them up with a rematch of last year’s Division 3 quarterfinals with defending state champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, who blanked Warren De La Salle 1-0 in their regional final on Wednesday.

The Pioneers suffered a 3-0 loss to Cranbrook in last year’s state quarterfinal matchup. Earlier in the 2023-24 season, the two squads faced off in the CHSL playoffs with Cranbrook taking a slim 3-2 victory then as well.

Like last year, this quarterfinal will take place on Richard’s home ice at Yack Arena in Wyandotte.

“Everybody in our room tonight played in a pretty tight one-goal game with Cranbrook in Yack Arena,” DeSana said. “That experience isn’t going to hurt us, that’s for sure. That experience certainly helps us. We’re excited to be able to practice the next couple of days and give it our best shot on Saturday.”