BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
NOVI — It’s not shocking that a school from Oakland County currently holds the No. 1-ranking in Division 1 boys’ soccer.
It is a common occurrence, as Oakland County has been a hotbed of prep soccer talent dating back to the late 1970s, when the sport first began gaining popularity in the state.
For Detroit Catholic Central, though, this is new territory.
Ranked as the No. 2 team in Michigan in the preseason in the StateChampsNetwork publication’s Super 40, a ranking of the top programs regardless of division, the talented Shamrocks have lived up to their billing as one of the teams to beat in Division 1.
“We have set some high goals for ourselves this season, but we know it won’t be easy,” admitted Gene Pulice, Catholic Central’s veteran coach who has stood on the sidelines for high school and club soccer for nearly three decades. “There’s a lot of really good teams out there. I am pleased with how we have started the season. I like our lineup and our leadership. This is a [quality] senior class.”
Catholic Central is off to an impressive 11-0-0 start. On Sept. 24, it blanked De La Salle Collegiate, 2-0, to remain atop the CHSL Central Division standings. The victory was Catholic Central’s fifth straight shutout, its eighth clean sheet in a nine-game stretch, and the ninth overall this season.
The Shamrocks, who won their first CHSL Tournament title since 1992 last year, have only yielded one goal in their last nine games, and that was a late tally to Bedford in an 8-1 victory. Catholic Central did give up three goals to Utica Eisenhower in a 4-3 win back at the season-opening Balconi Tournament at Salem High School on a day that the Shamrocks defeated three ranked teams to open up the campaign.
Overall, Catholic Central has outscored the opposition 45-4. It has not won a regional title and advanced to the Final Four since 1996 but boast the roster to get them back to the final week of the season in early November.
Senior Peter Kirouac is one of the state’s better goalkeepers. He anchors the backfield, which also includes seniors Cole Moscovic, Justin Murray, and Matt Turton.
Senior midfielder Jared Lee and senior forward Anthony Chavez dictate the offensive firepower, while senior midfielders Ben Sargent and Nick Ozog, sophomore midfielder Ryan Pierson, and junior forwards Noah Walters and Justin Savona have all been part of the team’s explosive attack. Freshman prospect Charlie Trevisan is a fine sniper up top and is one of the state’s best ninth-grade talents in the high school ranks.
Catholic Central finished a respectable 14-5-4 last season and reached the district final before falling to perennial powerhouse Northville, another team ranked in the state’s top five. Despite losing all-state players Noah Kleedtke and Chad Quick, this team is off to the best start in school history.
The school has never won a state title in soccer, and it’s something that the school would proudly add if the Shamrocks can make a run this season. Catholic Central has watched several other Catholic League schools capture state championships over the past 15 years, including De La Salle, Brother Rice, and University of Detroit Jesuit.
It has won eight district titles dating back to 1986 and last won a district in 2013. Its only regional title came 18 years ago.
“We’ve always been competitive,” noted Pulice. “One of the hardest things to do is win a district. There’s so many good teams down in our area. Canton, Salem, Novi, Livonia Stevenson, Northville….A lot of these schools have history. But when it seems like we’re all lumped together in the same two districts every year, only a couple of schools get through. If we can get out of our district, then we might be able to make a run. But so many of these teams are so even, there’s a lot of one-goal games. We could win the state championship or lose in the first round by a goal. That’s high school soccer.”