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Posted on Wed, Mar 10, 2010 : 11:41 p.m.

Huron hockey's postseason run ends against powerhouse Detroit Catholic Central

By Kaleb Roedel

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Huron goalie Luke Dwyer deflects a shot by Detroit Catholic Central's Ryan Keller as Huron's Nick Luongo follows behind. It was one of 62 saves Dwyer made in an 8-0 Division 1 quarterfinal loss Wednesday night at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. (Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com)

Less than a minute into Wednesday night's game, Huron High School's Brad Christman intercepted a crossing-pass, bolted up the ice -- leaving everyone in the dust -- and unleashed a shot on Detroit Catholic Central's net.

But the puck was swallowed by the mitt of Catholic Central goalie Zach Cisek.

The River Rat hockey team may not have seen a better scoring chance the rest of the way. Huron was kept on its heels all game, as it was outshot by a 70-to-6 margin in an 8-0 Division 1 state quarterfinal loss to the Shamrocks at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.

"In the second period, three minutes kind of broke it wide open," said Huron coach Bill DeGroot, whose team allowed four goals in the first seven minutes of the second.

"Getting four goals on basically six shifts, that's going to put you down no matter what game you're in. And it's hard. It's hard to come back from that. It's hard to keep your mental focus."

More coverage: This Story & Photo Gallery on MLive.com | Boxscore | Division 1 Bracket

It was clear from the opening frame that Huron was facing an offensive juggernaut in the Shamrocks, who outshot the Rats by a whopping 24-3 margin in the first period alone.

Still, Huron managed to trail by a slim 1-0 margin after one, thanks to the relentless saves from goalie Luke Dwyer, who admitted he's never faced so many shots in one period.

"I wasn't really worrying about how many shots they were getting, I was just trying to keep them all out," said Dwyer, who finished with a mammoth 62 saves.

Catholic Central, however, wasted no time piling on the goals in the second. The Shamrocks scored 13 seconds in and later at 11 minutes, 25 seconds ... and then at 10:52 ... and again at 8:35.

In a blink, Huron was in a 5-0 hole with no sign of coming out. By that point they were on the losing end of a 35-3 shot-count differential.

"You can never take that half-second to look around," said Dwyer. "You have to be on your toes the entire time or else they make you pay for it. They caught us watching a little bit."

"They're a dang good team."

The second period concluded in chippy fashion, as a shoving confrontation in the final minutes yielded the two team's first two penalties. Nevertheless, Huron survived the rest of the frame unscathed.

From then on, DeGroot felt "we played a little better, played a little harder," he said. "All in all, I think that playing with the desire and the heart that we did play with, trying to come back each time, it was good to see."

The Shamrocks, however, still had three goals left in them, including two in the final two minutes of the third. The latter ended the game by mercy rule with 22.9 seconds left.

At game's end, 17 Catholic Central players record at least one point. Davey Middleton led in goals scored with two.

"We were tired. They come in waves. They come right at you. We knew that going in," said DeGroot, who ended the game with only seniors on the ice.

"I'm proud of all the seniors," he continued. "We owe it to our seniors to give them the honor of going out on their last shift."

Added Dwyer, a senior, "We played as hard as we possibly could. Everyone left it all out on the rink. We have no regrets. We just wish we could've executed a little bit better."

Kaleb Roedel is a sports writer for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 and e-mailed at kalebroedel@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kaleb_R.