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News Story from 2/4/25 vs GB (7-4 loss)


Posted on 02/06/2025 | Mike Maltese

Four Foley Goalls Were Not Enough

By Jim Mickiewicz February 4, 2025 Page 1 of 2.
Burton, Michigan
The Grand Blanc Bobcats’ Averey Schafer was a one-man wrecking crew in their game
against Bishop Foley United. It was Foley’s last road game of the regular season. It was played
Tuesday night at the Crystal Fieldhouse in Burton. Schafer scored four of his team’s seven goals
in the game against Foley. Grand Blanc won the game by a 7 - 4 final score. Without Schafer’s
four goals, Foley would have won the game.
But we don’t live in the world of ‘what ifs.’
Foley had heroes, too. Nathan Copek scored Foley’s first two goals. Captain Derek
Townsend assisted on both of Copek’s goals. Josh Cox got the second assist on Copek’s second
goal.
Copek and Towensend flipped positions on the scoresheet on the next two Foley goals.
Townsend did the scoring and Copek did the assisting. Aiden Corrrado got assist number two on
Townsend’s first goal.
Another hero in the game was Foley goalie Nate Hewson. Foley Coach Cynowa had
praise for Hewson, “Nate Hewson played a damn good game in-between the pipes… Any goalie
is going to have a tough time beating (the Bobcats’ Avery Shafer) one-on-one or one-on-o. He
did a decent job between the pipes as a whole for the game.”
The Bobcats were already ahead by a 3 – 0 score in the first period when the Bobcats
got an interference penalty with 2:59 left in the period. Twenty-four seconds later, Foley’s
Copek got the puck inside the Bobcats zone from Townsend. Copek circled along the boards to
the blueline, curled across, and took a hard wrister that got nothing but the back of the net.
The first period ended with a 4 – 1 Bobcats lead.
Foley’s shots on goal in the second period peaked for the game at 11. Foley was
awarded with two goals for their efforts. The Bobcats added-on another four goals in the period
on 13 shots.
Foley scored first in the period to make it a close 3 – 2 game. It was Copek’s second goal.
Townsend made a beautiful pass from the boards to Copek standing in front of the net. Copek
directed it in for the goal.
But in hockey, it’s hard to get ahead. The Bobcats responded with two goals of their
own to make it 5 – 2 game.

Page 2 of 2.
Townsend scored his first goal of the game to tighten it to 5 – 3. The goal came quickly
after Foley won the face-off in the Bobcats’ zone.
The Bobcats responded – again - with two more goals of their own to bring the period
to an end at 7 – 3. If you like scoring, with six total goals, the second period was your period.
The third period opened Foley banging the puck off the Bobcats’ goal pipe thirty
seconds in to the period. It ricocheted away from the net, not in. The Bobcats were then hit
with a penalty just 50 seconds into the period. Foley could not convert.
Foley would add their fourth goal with 6:45 left in the third period. It was Townsend’s
second goal of the game. It also was the last goal of the game, ending it at 7 – 4 for the Bobcats.
Coach Cynowa’s final thought: “Our biggest weak point was not shutting down that one
player, (referring to the Bobcats’ Shafer). And kind of let him walk all over us at times. But in
terms of the game, we played consistent three periods. We (had) a decent power-play.
Opportunities today, one for two on the power-play. And over-all, decent looks on-goal, too.”
Foley next game is Thursday at Lindell Arena against Farmington United. The puck drops
ta 7:00pm.
##

News Story from 1/24/25 (vs GPN 5-4 loss)


Posted on 01/27/2025 | Mike Maltese

Foley Falls by One to Grosse Pointe North

By Jim Mickiewicz   January 24, 2025 Page 1 of 2.

Royal Oak, Michigan

 

Grosse Pointe Noth’s (GPN) fifth goal in the game, coming almost halfway through the third period, was the killer. Throughout the game, neither Foley United nor GPN led by more than a goal. That was until 8:02 in the third period when GPN’s fifth goal gave them a 5 – 3 lead. 

Goals for both teams were hard to come-by in the game played Friday night at Lindell Arena. At least Foley had eight minutes in the third to play catch-up. But it’s really difficult to catch-up when you get just 6 shots on GPN net in the third while GPN peppers Nate Hewson in the Foley net with 19 shots. 

Foley’s Derek Townsend did pull Foley to within one goal with his second of the game, scored late in the third period. It crossed the goal line a split second before the horn ending the game went off. It can’t come any later than that. Nathan Copek assisted, his second of the game.

GPN won the game 5 – 4, sweeping the home-and-home series between the two teams. 

Foley Head Coach John Cynowa hoped this would be Fole’s first game of the season with a full bench. It was game number 20 of the season for Foley. But it was not to be. Three Foley players out of 16 were out ill. GPN played the game with just eight skaters and their single goalie. They roster a total of only 12 players.

“They’ve (GPN) been battling with eight or nine guys all season from what I understand talking to their coach,” said Cynowa. “There’s no doubt that they perfected the way that they play… They knew this going into the season, that they were going to have this much, same as we did. Numbers are not an excuse in this game. Both teams had small numbers. They just flat-out out-worked us at times this game. Not the whole game, but at times. We were getting out worked out there.”  

Foley was the first to hit pay-dirt in the first period with Derek Townsend’s first goal of the game, assisted by Copek at 13:18.  From there, GPN owned the shots on goal in the period getting 12 on Hewson, while Foley had a total of three in the period on Ben Bugeja in the GPN net.

GPN’s Brandon Shock responded to tie the game at 1-all at 8:08. Foley took a tripping penalty late in the first period and GPN took full advantage of the extra man. With 29 seconds left in the period, Shock scored his second goal on the power-play. GPN led 2 – 1. From that point on they never trailed in the game. 

Page 2 of 2.

The second period had both teams scoring a pair of goals. Foley’s John Cox got the first goal of the period at 13:00 straight up to tie the game at 2. Caesar Soma assisted. It took GPN until 7:32 to retake the lead 3 – 2. It was Johnny Cueter’s first goal of what evolved into a natural hat-trick.

Foley did not take this lying down. Cox came back three minutes later to net his second goal of the game, assisted by Vincent Townsend. It was back to a tie at 3-all. 

Foley outshot GPN 10 to 8 in the period. “I think the first seven or eight minutes of the second were our best,” said Cynowa. “The second period was shaping up to be one of our best period’s of the season until about ten or twelve minutes into the period it seemed to fall off a little bit. But we let one in late in the second period there, and just became one of those periods.”

GPN’s Cueter’s second goal found the back of the net with 2:50 left in the second. It was back to a one goal lead for GPN 4 – 3 to end the second period. 

That set-up the third period and Cueter’s third goal of the game for the 5 – 3 GPN lead. For Foley fans, it was the lead that couldn’t be broken.

According to Cynowa, “In some games, a hole may be three or four goals and you score two or three but the fourth is too hard to get. This one, we were never down more than two at one point, but that turned out to be too far, too deep of a hole.”

Foley has a week of practice before their next game on Friday, January 31st at Lindell Arena. Foley will host Downriver United. The puck drops at 7:00pm. 

 ##

News Story from 1/22/25 (vs GPN 9-4 loss)


Posted on 01/24/2025 | Mike Maltese

“It was a Weird Game” -  Coach Cynowa

By Jim Mickiewicz   January 22, 2025 Page 1 of 2.

Fraser, Michigan

 

“First off, I want to say I think it was just a weird game in general. From two goals being waived off for their team, our tender’s mask exploding. It’s just a weird game in general.” That was Foley Head Coach John Cynowa’s view of Foley loss to Grosse Point North (GPN) on Wednesday night.

Andre Beltran started in net for Foley. Ever wonder why goalies wear those plastic dangly neck protectors? At 1:57 into the game, on the fourth shot he faced, Beltran took a shot in the neck protector.

The protector shattered, saving Beltran’s neck. It did its job, and the refs did theirs picking up the shards of plastic in the goal crease. Beltran was okay. Foley’s Nate Hewson took over in net while Beltran searched for a back-up neck protector. 

GPN went on to win the game 9 – 4 over Foley. That is after having two goals waved off (that Cynowa referenced) in the game. The refs gave no explanations for their decisions.

Could weird also be GPN scoring three quick goals late in the third period after already being up 6 – 4? Maybe, maybe not. 

How did that lop-sided score happen? Foley Coach John Cynowa has an insight. “I think we largely as a team shied away from a lot of physical play today on both sides, whether that’s dishing out physical play or receiving. There’s a lot of instances in the D-Zone that we weren’t playing as physical as we should have. A lot of guys get by us. Then on the flip side in the O-Zone, we coughed-up a lot of pucks just because they were coming at us, playing a little scared of the hit there.”

Okay, so three quick goals late in the third was not so weird under the circumstances.

After Hewson stood-in in-between the pipes for Foley, GPN’s Brandon Shock got the game’s first goal early in the first period. It was Shock’s first goal of three-goal hat-trick. Foley’s Derek Townsend got that goal back, tieing the game 1 – 1 later in the period. It was Townsend’s first goal of a hat-trick and it was unassisted.

GPN took control of the game on the scoreboard in the second period. Hewson was still in net for Foley. GPN scored the first three goals of the period to take a 4 – 1 lead. Aiden Burney scored GPN’s second goal, followed by Shock’s second goal of the game. He picked-up his own rebound, and skated across the front of the net to deposit the puck. 

Page 2 of 2.

The fourth GPN goal came on a clear shot from the point from Levi Olsey. Foley had chances in the period, including a break away for Brian Noe that was turned away by Ben Bugeja in the GPN net. 

GPN would hold their 4 – 1 lead until 11 seconds left in the period when Foley’s Noe would pass the puck up to Townsend for a break away on the GPN net. Paydirt at last, a Foley goal. The period ended with a GPN 4 – 2 lead.

Beltran got a new neck guard and returned to the Foley net for the third period. He may be sorry he did.

Foley was the first to score early in the period. Foley’s Townsend completed his hat-trick on a power-play to pull within a goal of GPN.  It was now 4 – 3 for GPN.

That’s when Foley’s problems really began. GPN would score five more goals in the period; Foley would score one more. GPN’s number four, Charlie Mueller would score GPN’s next four goals: a hat-trick plus one. Shock would get GPN’s last goal in the game with less than two minutes left for GPN’s fifth goal in the period. It also completed Shock’s hat-trick.

Somewhere in that pile of GPN goals Foley’s Jeremy Slotnick added one for Foley with the helper going to Townsend. It was Slotnick’s third goal of the season, and Townsend’s fourth point on the night. Townsend participated in all of Foley’s scoring.

  “At least offensively for us, it’s a matter of finishing on our rushes,” said Cynowa. “We do a decent job of getting the rushes, it’s just a matter of are we getting shots, are we getting goals on the back of it.”

All of GPN’s goals were scored while even-handed. Foley took only one penalty in the game. GPN had two minors and Foley converted on one.

GPN had 44 shots on Foley’s net. The starting goalie, Beltran, faced 35 of those shots. Hewson – 9 in first period relief. Bugeja for GPN had 18 shots on goal. Although the score was lop-sided, the saves percentage was not. Foley had a combined .79 saves percentage to GPN’s .77 saves percentage.

If Foley only could have gotten more shots on goal…

“But at the end of the day, we just didn’t deliver enough offense. We scored four but four’s not enough when they scored nine,” the final thought from Coach Cynowa.

Foley will have that chance this Friday at Lindell Arena when GPN comes visiting to complete the home-and-home series. Game time is 7pm.      ##

News Story from 1/17/25 vs Cabrini ( 7-6 Win )


Posted on 01/23/2025 | Mike Maltese

Foley Takes Down CHSL Rival Riverview-Cabrini

By Jim Mickiewicz    January 17, 2025 Page 1 of 3.

Royal Oak, Michigan

 

Foley United was leading Riverview-Cabrini (Cabrini) by a 5-4 score going into the third period. The entire game was a see-saw battle between two evenly matched teams. This was a Friday night home game for Foley at Lindell Arena. 

Sixteen seconds into the third period, Foley’s Nathan Copek completed his 3-goal hat-trick to give Foley a two-goal pad to their lead making it 6 – 4. Ryder Keegan got the sole assist.

It’s been said that a two-goal lead is the hardest one to keep. It’s especially hard when you keep opening the door to your opponent with penalties. Cabrini was granted that opportunity with three consecutive Foley penalties in the third. Cabrini had none.

The first Foley penalty for slashing came with 10:43 left in the third. Cabrini plowed through the open door that a the penalty gave them to make it a 6-5 game. Maverick Markham got the Cabrini goal to complete his hat-trick in the game.

It was down to a one shot game with lots of time - 9:21 – left in the period.

Foley took another penalty, this time for hooking, with 7:32 hanging in the period. Foley dodged that bullet and kept Cabrini from scoring. Foley then took a trifecta of penalties in the period. To mix things up, this one was for a high stick with 3:57 left in the period and single one Foley goal lead.

The third time was the charm for Cabrini. Cabrini had pulled Alex Kukich in goal for an extra attacker. They now had a two-man advantage and the face-off deep in Foley’s end.  With 2:09 left in the period, Cabrini’s Top Gun, Maverick Markham, nets his fourth goal in the game. From a two-goal lead for Foley in the period, Cabrini tied the game at 6-all late in the third period. 

Foley Head Coach John Cynowa had this observation on Cabrini’s Markham, “He definitely shows-up on the (score) sheet a lot. Luckily for us, we were able to control the puck in their zone a lot today, and get ourselves a lot of shots… I can’t remember many shifts when he wasn’t on the ice. He played a good game.”

Both teams needed, expected, to win this game. Overtime loomed. Overall, Foley out shot Cabrini in the game 32 – 25. But with the aid of three Foley penalties in the third period, Cabrini out shot Foley by a 9 - 7 margin. Nathan Hewson was in the net for Foley. 

 

Page 2 of 3.

But it was Foley that netted the game winner in the third. With just 51 seconds left in the period, Foley’s Ben Stella, unassisted, scored the game winner for Foley. It clanged off the post and ricocheted in. 

The game was like the ‘shoot out at the OK Corral.’  It took 7 Foley goals to secure the win, 7 - 6 over Cabrini. 

“I’m not going to pretend that was a flawless game,” said Cynowa. “There’s definitely some x’s and o’s that will be gone over on Tuesday at practice. But at the end of the day, any time you can put one in the win column is a good game.” 

The game didn’t start this way. Cabrini’s Markham scored the game’s first goal at 12:34 in the first period. Foley’s Nathan Copek responded at 10:24 with Foley’s first goal to tie the game. Derek Townsend and Ben Stella assisted.

At 9:38 in the first, Foley’s Derek Townsend put Foley on top 2 – 1 with an assist from Copek. Thirty-seven seconds later, at 9:01, Cabrini retied the game at 2 with Markham’s second goal. Cabrini then stretched their lead to 3 – 2 late in the first period. Ricky Neer was the goal scorer.

The second period saw the teams play to stalemate until almost halfway through the period. Cabrini added to their lead on a Carson Hunter goal at 8:22. At was now 4 - 2 for Cabrini. Twenty seconds later, Derek Townsend’s second goal of the game for Foley narrowed the lead to 4 – 3. Foley’s Copek tied the game at 4-all at 2:28 in the second. Both Derek Townsend and Nathan Copek had two goals each for Foley in the game.  

Townsend would complete his hat-trick with 1:37 left in the second. Josh Cox and Christian Whitney worked the puck to Townsend. Foley now led 5 – 4 at the end of the second. The see-saw had swung from a 2-goal Cabrini lead to a Foley one goal lead at the end of the period. 

The goal scoring binge would continue in the third period with Foley finally tasting the thrill of the win at 7 – 6. It had to be disappointed Cabrini team leaving Lindell Arena.

Both teams had one minor penalty in the first ands second periods that did not factor in the game’s scoring. Both teams had a number of scratches from their rosters. Both teams played with 10 skaters and 2 goalies. 

“This is a very evenly matched team,” per Cynowa. “I know they were struggling with some injuries right now and so are we. So, just met-up at the right time and made it an interesting game.”

Page 3 of 3.

One remarkable stat for Foley comes from hitting the post on the Cabrini goal five times in the game. The fifth ‘clang’ found its way to the back of the net for a goal.

Final thought from Coach Cynowa: “Lots of offense generated. Lot of shots. Lots of posts today. Lots of offensive opportunities in general.”

Foley next faces-off against Grosse Point North on Wednesday at Fraser’s Big Boy Arena as the first part of a home-and-home series.

##

News Story from 1/15/25 CHSL Playoffs vs St Johns Jesuit (OH) (8-2 loss)


Posted on 01/17/2025 | Mike Maltese

Foley Bows to St Johns in CHSL Game Two

By Jim Mickiewicz     January 15, 2025 Page 1 of 3.

Taylor, Michigan

 

Speed Kills – That’s an old slogan for the road. The same is true on the ice for a hockey game. In the second CHSL Tournament game for Foley, the St. Johns Jesuit Titans put on a speed skating exhibition. The Titans were one of the fastest and skilled teams Foley has faced all season.

The Titans were able to control the puck, the pace of play, zone time in the Foley end, and the outcome of the game. The Titans won 8 – 2. The game was played Wednesday afternoon at the Taylor Sportsplex. Divine Child was the host of the CHSL Tournament this year.

“They definitely brought it to us today. They definitely made the most of their long drive up from Toledo. They definitely came at us with a lot of aggression,” said Foley Head Coach John Cynowa about St. Johns.

The game also represented the first time in Foley’s 20-year hockey history that Foley played a team that came from outside of Michigan. St. Johns is located in Lucas County – the Toledo area – of Ohio.

The Titans were not perfect. Foley was able to take advantage of the Titan’s errors, creating break-aways throughout the game for Foley.

“St. Johns had a tendency to (over commit). I know they were also down a few guys as well,” said Cynowa.

The game was 1 – 0 for the Titans in the first period when Foley stole the puck from a Titan player at the center ice. It created the first of several clear break aways for Foley. This one did not beat Titan goalie Lucas Borda.

The Titans first period second goal was a shortie. Foley was in the Titan zone when the Titans broke out and took the game into Foleys zone. Foley couldn’t clear the puck. The Titans were fast with good positional play. The result was a 2 – 0 Titans lead. But from one perspective, it looked like the play was off-side.  

Just past the middle of the first period, the error bug came back to bite the Titans. Foley’s Vincent Townsend won the race to a loose puck at center ice and created another break-away. Instead of shooting, he deaked Borda for a pretty first goal for Foley. It was also Townsend’s third goal of the season.

Despite the Titans dominance, it was now a one goal game. Anything could happen. The Titans lead was cut to 2 – 1.

Page 2 of 3.

Late in the first period, with the play bottled-up in the Foley end, the Titans expanded their lead to 3  - 1 off a great shot that beat Foley goalie Nate Hewson on the glove side. It was the last goal of the first period.

“We were definitely tired, said Cynowa. “With a game like, with as many guys as we have out, you want to make the most of your first period because you know your second and third are going to be pretty tiring, and we did not make the most of our first period today.”

Cynowa was referring to Foley his team’s player-shortage in the game. Foley was down four players – three on injured reserve and one out on a DQ – leaving a total of 12 players. St. John was also down three players. That still left 17 players for St. Johns.

Hewson was battered with shots throughout the game. In the first period, unofficially, he was hit with 15 shots. That expended to 19 shots in the second, and 17 in the third. Count ‘em, that’s 51 pokes at the net in the game. Despite allowing 8 goals in the game, Hewson still had an .84 saves percentage. Borda in the Titans net had an easier time. He faced 16 total Foley shots in the game.   

The second period was a shooting gallery with Hewson’s net as the target. The Titans fourth goal came early in the period from the face-off circle in the Foley zone. Their fifth goal was a pass-out from the boards in the Foley zone to Titans player Emerson Swint standing in front of the Foley net. Hewson had no chance as Swint directed the puck into the net. This was two goals back-to-back for Swint.   

The Titans were called for two minor penalties that over-lapped for over a minute late in the second period. Foley could not take score on the 2-man advantage. The second period ended with the Titans leading 5 – 1.

Foley came out charged-up to start the third period, but it was the Titans that scored the period’s first goal to extend the lead to 6 – 1. It was extended puck control in the Foley zone that led to the Titans goal. 

While the Titans had 17 shots on the Foley net in the period, they took many more attempted shots on the net that were blocked by the Foley defense.

With a little over five minutes left in the period, the Titans made it 7 – 1 on clear shot that found the back of Foley’s net.

Just 7 seconds later, off the center ice face-off, Foley’s Josh Cox fed the puck up to Brian Noe who scored a clear shot that cleanly beat Borda. It was Noe’s second goal of the season. 

 

Page  3 of 3.

The Titans score would have been even higher if it were not for the outstanding saves made by Hewson in the third period and throughout the game. At least three of his saves in the third period were Kodak moments, real beauties. 

The Titans went on to score their eighth goal off a rebound late in the third period. The goal came off the stick of Swint who completed a three-goal hat-trick. The final score ended-up at 8 – 2 for the Titans. 

Cynowa again had praise for the solid play of his first line and for Hewson. He also mentioned Foley’s newest player, Gavin Yurgo. “Gavin went out there. He’s been getting more shifts than he thought he would be getting right now. He went out and blocked his first shot and got a little stinger, came back to the bench and got some pats on the back (from the team).”

Final thought from Coach Cynowa: “It wasn’t our game today. But we didn’t just sit there and take it. A lot of our guys played pretty well.”

Foley’s next game is Friday at 7:00pm at home against another CHSL team, Riverview-Cabrini. This will be Foley’s first home game of 2025, and the first home game after a four-game road trip that extended back to December.

##   

News story from 1/11/25 vs Kenowa (7-1 loss)


Posted on 01/14/2025 | Mike Maltese

Foley’s  Game Against Kenowa Hills Was Like Two Games in One

By Jim Mickciewicz     January 11, 2025 Page 1 of 2.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

Foley United has yet to play a game this season with a complete bench. The team was short two skaters due to injury for the Grand Rapids trip, and a third was added to the list serving a DQ for the Kenowa Hills game. But Foley has always played through.

The Kenowa Hills game looked like two games in one. Kenowa Hills won the game 7 – 1, but the play in the first period was even. Foley had ten shots on goal and Kenowa Hills had twelve.  Foley’s Derek Townsend scored for Foley with the assists going to Caesar Soma, and Derek’s brother Vincent. Kenowa Hills netted two goals. 

It was a fast, competitive period of hockey.

It also saw two more Foley skaters go down with potential concussions in the period. Those players did not return to the game. The bench now was down to nine skaters and two goalies. The fatigue for those Foley players started to show half-way through the second period. It was a different game from the first period.

Foley Coach Cynowa’s assessment was “We had to start to double shifting wingers because we only had four extra players on the bench is what happened. So, you get tired, at that point, we had nine skaters. Can’t do a whole ton with nine skaters.  You’re fighting off the inevitable at that point.

“The way they were playing in the first, I think if we had all our players that’s a different game. But to lose two defensemen, two players in the first period, and moving forwards back too D (defense), that means you got at least persons double shifting every time.”

Foley’s shots on goal went from ten in the first period to two in the second and four in the third period. By the mid-point of the second period, Foley’s legs were simply not there. Kenwoa Hills added three goals in the second period and two in the third.

Coach Cynowa was still impressed with his team’s never give up commitment to the game under tough circumstances. 

Foley also played a disciplined game, taking only three minor penalties. Kenowa Hills players sat through six minors. Andre Beltran, who was recovering from an illness, took the Foley net for the first period. Nathan Hewson took over for the second and third periods.

Final thought from Coach Cynowa: “The first period is how the game should have gone. Unfortunately, given the external circumstances, the second and third didn’t go (that way).”

Page 2 of 2.

The game was played at Grand Rapids’ Walker Arena on Saturday morning. Foley’s next game is Wednesday at the Taylor Sportsplex in the CHSL Showcase. The opponent will be Ohio’s St. John High. How many players may be off of Foley’s injured reserve list is unknown.

##

News Story from 1/10/25 vs East Kentwood (4-3 Win OT)


Posted on 01/13/2025 | Mike Maltese

Foley Opens Grand Rapids Trip With a Win Over East Kentwood

By Jim Mickiewicz    January 10, 2025 Page 1 of  2.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

Foley United went into the third period of their game Friday night against East Kentwood with a 3 – 1 lead. Both teams wanted the win to kick start the second half of the season. 

Foley did not help itself with a penalty called late in the second period that carried into the third period. Thirty-four seconds in the third period, the puck was in Foley’s net on the power-play and it was a new hockey game. East Kentwood was down one goal, 3 – 2. 

Then it happened. With two-tenths of a second left in the third period, East Kentwood scored on a scramble in front of Foley’s net. It’s hard to blink in two-tenths of a second, but not to tie a hockey game at 3-all.

It was onto sudden death over-time. Eight minutes of winner-take-all. Eight minutes of pure excitement. It was Foley’s first OT of the season. It took almost four minutes of OT for Foley’s Josh Cox to become the hero of the game with the winning goal, scored unassisted. 

Final score: Foley United 4 – 3 over East Kentwood.

This was the first of a two game overnight road trip to the Grand Rapids area. It was played at East Kentwood Arena Friday night.

“I’m definitely glad we started our weekend trip like this,” said Foley Head Coach John Cynowa. “We needed the win, parents, coaches, staff, needed this win. Long over-due. Makes tonight a lot more fun for the boys. Makes everything more fun this weekend.”

The over-time period also saw each team hit with major penalties. A scrum broke out behind the Foley net prior to Cox’s goal. The result was a fighting major against an East Kentwood player and a high sticking major against a Foley player. Both players also were assessed a game disqualification - DQ.  This means that both players were out of the current game, and the next two games for their team. Since the penalties were off-setting, neither team was short—handed as a result.

East Kentwood got on the score sheet first with 9:56 left in the opening period. Julian Gibson scored the first of two goals he would get in the game.  Foley responded late in the period. Ben Stella netted the Foley goal from the face-off circle in East Kentwood’s zone. Cox and Anthony Wright assisted. It was the last shot on goal for Foley in the period.

Foley opened the second period with a goal on its first shot on net in the period. Caesar Soma got the goal 12 seconds into the period with Nathan Copek doing the set-up work. This goal also came from the face-off circle in the East Kentwood zone. 

With 10:14 left in the second period Copek would go from set-up man to Foley goal scorer. Copek’s unassisted goal came from the blue ice area in front of the net in a scramble. 

The second period ended with Foley holding a comfortable 3 – 1 lead over East Kentwood.

Page 2 of 2.

The third period took Foley from feeling comfortable to sitting on pins-and-needles with East Kentwood’s goal 34 seconds into the period. It was East Kentwood’s Gibson’s second goal of the game and it came on a beauty of an old-fashioned slap shot.

East Kentwood,, down 3 – 2, would continue to press in the period. They outshot Foley 14 – 7 in the period. They did not score until their last shot in the period with two-tenths of a second left to force an overtime. East Kentwood’s Noah Burman scored the tying goal. Foley would go on to prevail for the win in overtime.

Foley had a number of stars in the game according to Coach Cynowa. “Nathan Hewson, the goalie. Definitely Noah Bobson on D played a great game. I don’t think he got beat more than once or twice on the rush. He was really doing a great job of a, even if the puck got by him, keeping the man in front of him. 

“Same with Christian (Whitney). On the PK he was lights out on D… (Our) first line, Caesar (Soma), Derek (Townsend), and (Nathan) Copek did a great job all game of pressuring them. Really the whole team, honestly. This is one of our best games this season, if not our best game of the season.”

Nathan Hewson faced 37 East Kentwood shots in net for Foley. Will Hammonds was in net for East Kentwood with 22 Foley shots coming his way in the game. 

Final thought from Coach Cynowa: “This was a good game. This is the games we like. I don’t like getting beat. I don’t like getting eat bad, or beating teams bad. This is the kind of game you like. Thinking you’re going to sneak out with it, they score with point two seconds left, and then digging deep to put one in in over-time.”

Foley has a quick turn-around. Their next game is Saturday at 11am against the Kenowa Hills Knights.

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News Story from 1/4/25 @ Port Huron HS (8-1 loss)


Posted on 01/07/2025 | Mike Maltese

Port Huron Sweeps the Season Series from Foley United

By Jim Mickiewicz   January 4, 2025 Page 1 of 2.

Port Hurron, Michigan

 

A couple of things played into Port Huron Unified’s 8 – 1 win over Bishop Foley United Saturday afternoon at McMoran Arena in Port Huron.

Let’s start with special teams play. Foley was unable to take advantage of their power plays. Foley had six of them and did not convert on any. In the third period, Foley gave up a short-handed goal while on the power play.

Foley, on the other hand, had four minor penalties called on them in the game and Port Huron scored on three of them. Four of eight Port Huron goals were scored on special teams play. Foley had none.

Foley Head Coach John Cynowa admitted that “Special teams wasn’t the greatest today. They scored on a couple of their power plays... They even scored one shortie on us today.”

Both teams had one pair of off-setting penalties in the game. 

Another factor was the lop-sided benches. Port Huron had 20 players active for the game. Foley had 11 skaters and 2 goalies: 13 out of 16 total on the roster. The difference does not look like a lot. It does take a toll on the players out there, especially as they head into the third period. 

When asked what the single biggest factor in the Foley loss was, Coach Cynowa said, “About 14 extra players on the other team…”

Adding to Foley’s shortened bench was an injury to Jeremy Slotnick who took a hard hit to the boards late in the first period. Slotnick did not return for the second or third periods. Coach Cynowa described it as an upper body injury. No penalty was called on the play.  

Port Huron scored two goals in the opening period, two in the second to Foley’s single goal, and four unanswered goals in the third period.

“I don’t think the score does the game justice, said Cynowa. “Given that it’s the first game out in the second half of the season, I thought we saw something different than we normally do. We actually had two good periods, first and second, and struggled in the third, which is pretty rare for our team this year… I appreciated the effort, the drive in the first period today.”

Nate Hewson was in net for Foley and made some great saves for the team. He faced 38 shots in the game. 

In the first period, play was lop-sided in the Foley end. Foley’s defense kept the play away from the front of the net allowing Hewson a clear view of the shots. He turned those away. 

It was a shot from the point that finally got through to the back of Foley net a little over seven  minutes, and a ton of shots, into the first period. Port Huron’s second goal came with 2:30 left in the period off of a rebound. Out of the 16 shots Hewson faced in the first period, he turned away 14.

 

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Port Huron netted two more goals in the second period before Foley got on the board with 21 seconds left in the second period. Foley’s Vincent Townsend fought for the puck along the boards in the Port Huron end and got it Derek Townsend who forced his way in front of the net. He shot a beauty of a back-hand as he skated past. The puck went in the upper corner of the net. The two Townsend brothers combined for Foley’s even-handed goal.

The third period had Port Huron add four more goals to the scoresheet: two on the power play, one shortie, and one even-handed, on 14 shots in the period. Seven different Port Huron players had goals. Port Huron’s Case Van Singel was their only player to net two goals.

Bode Gerwolds started the game in net for Port Huron. Aiden Irishh took over the duty between the pipes in the third period. 

Port Huron sweeps the season series from Foley, winning the pre-season scrimmage game, and the regular season game played at Lindell Arena earlier in the season.

Foley’s Gavin Yurgo made his debut with two shifts in the third period.

Foley’s next two games are in the Grand Rapids area next weekend. On Friday, the team faces off against East Kentwood at 7:40pmm at Kentwood Arena. On Saturday, the team plays Kenowa Hills at 11am at Walker Arena.

##

News Story from 12/13/24 vs Downriver 5-1 loss


Posted on 12/16/2024 | Mike Maltese

Friday the 13th Was Not a Good Day for Foley United Hockey

By Jim Mickiewicz     December 13, 2024

Royal Oak, Michigan Page 1 of 1.

 

Downriver Unified outshot, outgunned, and outscored Foley United to take the second game in the home-and-home series by a score of 5 – 1. The game was played Friday the 13th at Lindell Arena. It turned out to be a very unlucky day for Foley.

“This team presented a unique challenge that we haven’t in into so far this year,” said John Cynowa, Foley Head Coach. “This team really locks down both blue lines. We’ve been able to skate the Puck in zone a decent amount this year against a lot of teams. Our issue was finding the support and finding the shots on goal from there.”

The first period was scoreless despite Foley being outshot almost four to one in the period and the game. Both teams traded fruitless minor penalties in the period. Foley also was hit with a 10-minute misconduct. It was Foley’s first major penalty of the season. This type of penalty does not affect the number of players on the ice for Foley. 

Downriver finally hit paydirt 22 seconds into the second period. Jackson Moul gave Downriver a 1 – 0 lead with an even-handed goal on a pass from Brady Deckert. Zach Perkins padded the lead to 2 – 0 on an even-handed goal with 9:27 left in the period.

Foley drew the only penalty in the period at 6:49. It was an interference call. Downriver did not convert on the penalty. The score stood at 2 – 0 for Downriver at the end of two.

The third period saw Downriver widen their lead. Early in the period, Henry Vena made it a three goal lead for Downriver. Foley drew a minor penalty shortly after that and Downriver added a power-play goal to make it 4 – 0 in their favor. Downriver was in charge of the game with a commanding lead.

Foley finally broke through the Downriver defense with 7:32 left ion the period. Nathan Copek scored his ninth goal of the season with assists to Aiden Corrado and Ben Stella. With a half period left to play and trailing 4 – 1, it still was a high mountain for Foley to climb to get back in the game.

The summit to that mountain got higher. Less than 30 seconds after Foley scored, Downriver replied with their fifth goal to make it 5 – 1 for Downriver. It was Moul’s second goal of the night.  Both teams traded additional minor penalties in the period that were killed-off. Downriver skated off with a victory.

Foley’s Nate Hewson played the complete game in net for Foley.  Chloe Martin was in net for Downriver and notched the win. 

Head Coach Cynowa was not happy after the game. It all goes back to the practice they had the day before.  “You play like you practice. No secret the practice was rough yesterday. I had guys not there. I had guys sick. I get that stuff. That’s totally fine. I had a real poor effort at practice, a real poor showing-up at practice yesterday. That’s really tough when you see a team twice in three days and you have a practice in the middle, to not be able to work on anything, to not be able to better your team and improve yourself for the second time you play that team two days later. And honestly, this is what we deserved today.”

Both teams will meet one more time at Lindell Arena on Friday, January 31st. Foley’s next game is this Thursday at the Taylor Sportsplex as Foley takes on CHSL rival Divine Child. On-ice time is 6:50pm.

## 

News Story from 12/10/24 vs Lumen Christi (8-0 Loss)


Posted on 12/11/2024 | Mike Maltese

Lumen Christi Dishes-Up Foley’s First Shut-Out Loss

By Jim Mickiewicz    December 9, 2024 Page 1 of 1.

Royal Oak, Michigan

 

Monday’s hockey game was unique. The Catholic High School League (CHSL) expanded this season for Division 2 Hockey. Two new teams were added: one from Toledo, Ohio, and one from Jackson, Lumen Christi. Bishop Foley United, in a blind draw, drew Lumen Christi for its first-round game.

Lumen Christi, with 300 students, is smaller than Bishop Foley by itself. But it has one of the top ranked hockey teams in the state. It would be one of the toughest games for Foley this season, or any season.

Foley tried hard, but could not match-up to Lumen Christi. Lumen Christi won the game, skating off with an 8 – 0 victory, ending the game 3 minutes and 20 seconds into the third period. It was Foley’s only shut-out loss this season. The game was played Monday evening at Lindell Arena.

Foley Head Coach John Cynowa acknowledged Foley’s tough match-up. “We knew this was going to be a tough game going in. I’m not upset we lost today. I think we probably played one of the better games we played all year in terms of our effort, and hanging in there as long as we did against this team. I think we played this game today better than we played the last two or three games. 

This is the best we’re going to see all year, likely, till the play-offs. And we now can’t play down to any of the rest of the teams we see. We have to go in every game thinking it’s going to be this team and playing like we played today.”

Foley goaltenders have always faced a load of shots, regardless of season, and especially when Foley faced a hot team. Nate Hewson was in net against Lumen Christi and faced 58 shots through the abbreviated game. His 50 saves earned him a respectable .86 saves percentage, the same as he delivered in Saturday’s game against Troy. Michael Palmer was in net for Lumen Christi and earned the shut-out.

“(Hewson’s) notorious for not drinking a sip of water during an entire game despite playing his a-- off every game,” recalled Cynowa. “During an injury time-out, he actually came and grabbed some water. So, I had to tell the team you know he’s really working a sweat-up down there if he’s actually drinking water in a game.” 

Lumen Christi’s 8 goals came off the sticks of seven different players. This was the most balanced attack seen this season by Foley. Isaiah Dinverno netted two goals for Lumen Christi. The following Lumen Christi players scored a goal each: Josh Dumont, Isaac Rehberg, Hayden Guilbault – who scored a power-play goal on Foley’s only penalty in the game, Harrison Botke, Luke DuMont, and Brody Bruemmer.

The CHSL Tournament continues in January when Foley will face another opponent. Foley’s next game is Wednesday evening against Downriver United at Trenton’s Kennedy Recreation Center.  

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News Story from 12/7/24 game vs Troy United 10-2 loss


Posted on 12/09/2024 | Mike Maltese

Foley United Comes Up Short Against Troy United

By Jim Mickiewicz       December 7, 2024

Royal Oak, Michigan Page 1 of 2.

 

Bishop Foley United got the first shot on goal. Troy United got the first goal. And enough goals to skate away with a comfortable 10 – 2 win over Foley. The game was played Saturday at Lindell Arena in Royal Oak. Troy sweeps the two-game series this season.

From John Cynowa, Foley’s Head Coach’s perspective, “Today shouldn’t have been a mercy. There were definitely a few goals that shouldn’t have gone in today, and that we should have had, not from a goaltending perspective. Nate (Hewson in Foley’s net) played his a-- off today, but from a team perspective, I don’t think this team was eight goals better than us today. Not saying that we should have won that game. It was a tough game to play, but I definitely don’t think this team was eight goals better than us today.”

Troy opened the scoring early in the first period on an unassisted, short-handed goal by Michael Li. It was one of two goals Li would score in the game.

Overall, there were four unassisted goals in the game, three by Troy and one by Foley. In each case, the skater worked his way around the defense to get a clear, close-in shot on the goalie. In many cases, these end-up in the back of the net. 

Foley was undeterred by Troy’s shortie. Just two minutes later, Foley’s Josh Cox goal tied the game. Ben Stella assisted on the even-handed goal. It was Cox’s third goal this season, and Stella’s fourth assist.

The game remained a tug of war with Troy holding the zone time advantage over Foley. A late power-play in the first period came back to bite Foley. Troys Quinn Corbett took advantage of Troy’s man advantage with a goal with 1:39 left in the first period. Corbett would end-up with two goals in the game.

With a 2 – 1 lead late in the first period, Troy really dished-up a tough goal for Foley to swallow. There were just 29 seconds left in the period when Troy’s Breiden Blaeske made it 3 – 1 for Troy. Troy would go on to score late goals in each period of the game. Blaeske’s goal would stand as the game winner.

Foley fought back in the early second period. Just 17 seconds into the period, Foley’s Derek Townsend beat the Troy defense for a clear shot at Nathan Holmers in the Troy net. It was a biscuit in the basket for Townsend. Troy’s lead shrunk to 3 – 2.

The problem for Foley was that Troy went on a scoring barrage for the rest of the period, netting the next four – yep, that’s right, count ‘em – four goals to make it 7 – 2 lead for them. The real pill to swallow was Troy’s fourth goal. It was scored with just 2 seconds left in the period. It was scored by Kaiser Ascencio. He went on to score a three-goal hat-trick in the game.

Troy continued to punish Foley with a relentless attack on Foley goalie Hewson. Troy piled on three more goals in the period. The third goal, to end the game (under high school’s mercy rule) with 1:28 left in the third period, was an unassisted, clear shot at the goalie by Alex Lowry, his second of the game.

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Throughout the game, Foley’s Hewson faced 52 Troy shots. This is the second game where the Foley goaltender handled 52 shots. Foley got 15 shots off at Troy’s Holmes in net. Remarkably, both goalies had identical .86 saves percentages for the game. It came down to a difference in the shots on net in the game.

When asked who was Foley’s best player today, Cynowa said “Easy, Nate Hewson… He’s facing a shot a minute. We play 52 minutes in high school. He’s easily the best player out there today. 

“Josh Cox and Caesar (Soma) just buzzing all over the ice today. They were, had good games. You know, a lot of our players had good spurts here and there. Just a consistency problem. I saw good portions of each period, we just struggled to play full periods… Not playing a complete three periods.”

Foley’s next game is Monday at 6:15pm at Lindell Arena in the first CHSL game for both Foley and Jackson Lumen Christi.

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News Story from 11/30/24 game vs North Oakland Eagles 10-3 loss


Posted on 12/02/2024 | Mike Maltese

The North Oakland Eagles Soar Over Foley United

By Jim Mickiewicz     November 30, 2024 Page 1 of 2.

West Bloomfield, Michigan

 

Derek Townsend and Nathan Copek continue to have the hot sticks for Foley. The scoring duo accounted for all 3 Foley United goals in the game against the North Oakland Eagles. The game that was played Saturday at the Detroit Skate Club saw the Eagles soar away with a 10 – 3 win over Foley.

The Eagles peppered Nathan Hewson in the Foley net with 19 shots in the opening period. They also used their speed to work their way around the Foley defense to get clear, close-in shots at Hewson. Out of four Eagle break-aways in the first period, they scored on two of them. Their third goal came on a pass from the boards in the Foley zone into heavy traffic in front of the Foley net. 

“It should have been more than three. (Hewson) was making a lot of saves. A lot of good ones,” said Foley Head Coach John Cynowa.

“We do those pre-scouts before the game,” Cynowa continued, “and you know, our two points today were they score their goals off of face-offs and they score their goals off of break aways and bad pitches by the defensemen. And right off the bat we did see a couple of, I wouldn’t even classify them as bad pitches, but this was just a fast team in general… Props to the goalies for saving as many as they did. This was, I believe, the most shots they’ve seen all year.”

With a comfortable 3-0 lead going into the second period and momentum on their side, the Eagles padded their lead. Their fourth goal was scored less than a minute and half into the period. It was also a clear, close-in shot. 

The fifth goal came off a scramble of players in front of the Foley net. 

Foley’s Hewson left the game with just under 9 minutes left in the second period with an unspecified injury. Playing half the game, Hewson faced 28 Eagles shots. Andre Beltran took over in Foley’s net.

Foley fought back in the second period. The next goal went to Foley off the stick of Derek Townsend, unassisted on a power play. The gap remained wide with the Eagles leading 5 – 1. It grew even wider late in the second period with two more Eagles goals.

With just 18 seconds left in the second period, Foley’s Nathan Copek got past the Eagles defense and took a sharp angle shot from the side of the ice. That puck saw the twine at the back of net and made a bee-line for it, sneaking past Daniel Leach minding the Eagles net. Noah Bobcean and Jeremy Slotnick assisted. 

It was 7 – 2 favoring the Eagles at the end of two.

 “I think we got out-beat in just about every aspect of the word in the second period,” said Cynowa. “That’s where they put in the majority of their goals.”

The Eagles went back on the attack less than a minute into the third period, netting their eighth goal. Foley responded minutes later with Townsend’s second goal of the game to make it an 8 – 3 Eagles lead. Bobcean got his second assist of the game for Foley.

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Then Eagles went back to work less than a minute later with goal number nine. Their tenth goal came with 1:18 left in the game on a beauty of a shot. All 10 Eagles goals were scored even-handed. Foley took no penalties in the game. The Eagles had four minor penalties with Foley scoring on two of them.

Beltran in Foley’s net for the second half if the game faced 29 Eagles shots. Combined, the Eagles got an amazing 57 shots on the Foley net. Foley had 22 shots on Leach in the Eagles net.

“I would have liked to have more chances at (their) net,” per Cynowa. “This goalie we’re playing today was making those first saves. I wish we really had more guys crashing the net for those rebounds so we could put more in… 

“What I told them at the beginning was get those first shots to test this goalie… We wanted to get those shots from the top of the circle area. But the key part is when you take that shot from the top of the circle, you have to get your own rebound and the other four guys on the ice got to be in position to get your rebound as well. That’s what was not happening.”

Out of the seven games that Foley has played, the goalie duo of Hewson and Beltran have appeared in four games. Over all seven total games, both goalies have nearly identical time in the net. Hewson has played 11 periods and Beltran 10 periods. And both goalies have identical goals against at 26. 

Over the past seven games of the season, Derek Townsend leads the Foley team with 10 goals and 12 points. Copek is tied for points with Townsend at 12 points while posting 7 goals.  

Four additional Foley players have posted 5 points so far this season: Noah Bobcean, Jerremy Slotnick, Aiden Corrado, and Vincent Townsend (Derek’s brother). Ben Stella has 4 points, Caesar Soma and Josh Cox sit at 3 each; Christian Whiteney and goalie Nathan Hewson both have a point apiece.

There was additional injury bad news in the game. Senior Anthony Wright was playing his second game for Foley this season when “he took a slash off the wrist in the third period. We hope that he’ll get it checked out and that he’ll be cleared for next week,” said Cynowa. Neither referee called a penalty on the play.

Foley’s next game is Saturday, December 7th against Troy United at Lindell Arrena. The puck drops at 7:30pm. Students from Bishop Foley and the hockey team’s united schools are admitted free.

##

 

Alumni Game 12/27 - 715pm @ Lindell


Posted on 11/25/2024 | Mike Maltese

Please email hockey@bishopfoley.org for more info.

News Story from 11/20/24 game vs New Boston 7-3 loss


Updated on 12/02/2024 | Mike Maltese

The Bounces Did Not Go Foley’s Way Against Utica-Fraser

By Jim Mickiewicz    November 20, 2024 Page 1 of 2.

Fraser, Michigan

 

The Bishop Foley United hockey team just couldn’t turn-the-corner against Utica-Fraser in the game played Thursday evening at Big Boy Arena in Fraser. Foley lost by a 7 – 3 score.  However, the game was closer than the score indicates. 

“I don’t think the score did this game justice in terms of our effort, in terms of our play for the majority of the time” said Foley Head Coach John Cynowa..

In the first period, Foley scored one goal, Utica-Fraser scored two. Foley is down by one at the end of one despite massively out-shooting Utica-Fraser 13 – 5 in the period. It was a close game.

Utica-Fraser was up two goals to none in the first when Foley’s Nathan Copek picked-off an errant pass just inside the Utica-Fraser blue line. With no defenseman back to stop him, he skated in on Andrew Boice in the Utica-Fraser net and buried the puck to bring the game within one goal, 2 - 1. To make the goal even sweeter, Copek scored short-handed. It was his sixth goal of the season.

With 4:14 left in the first period, Utica-Fraser’s Niko Labj slammed Foley’s Christian Whitney into the boards from behind in the corner behind Foley’s net.  Checking is part of hockey. You just cannot check the other guy into the upper peninsula, and you cannot check from behind. Labj got a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, typical for this type of infraction. Whitney was checked by the trainer and later returned to the game.

Utica-Fraser led by 3 – 1 in the second period when Foley’s Derek Townsend scored on a rebound shot in front of the net to bring the score ever so closer at 3 – 2. It was back to a one-shot game.

Foley’s Nate Hewson in net took a major drive-by hit at 9:38 in the period. Hewson also left Tuesday night’s game against New Boston after the first period with a lower body injury. He was cleared to play today, only to get his bell rung. Hewson will be out until November 30th. Since the play that resulted in the hit involved a Foley player, no penalty was called on the incident. Andre Beltran took over in Foley’s net.

Late in the period, Utica-Fraser added two more goals, padding their lead to 5 – 2. Foley responded with just 5.8 seconds left in the period on a goal from the stick of Josh Cox to make it 5 – 3. It was Cox’s second goal of the season. 

It was a close period, but over two periods, Foley was now trailing by two goals. Shots on goal flipped to Utica-Fraser’s favor, 15 – 9.

The game was slipping away from Foley little by little. Time was getting short, down to the third period to fight back, to get in it again. It’s hard to play from behind. But things just got worse in the third period….

Utica-Fraser turned out to be the hammer in the third period, and Bishop Foley the nail. Instead of Foley playing catch-up in the third, Utica-Fraser scored two more unanswered goals to make it 7 – 3 for Utica-Fraser. Foley just couldn’t find the answer to the Utica-Fraser play. 

“There’s plenty of things I don’t like about this game,” said Cynowa with a critical assessment of his team, “(but) their effort isn’t one of them. They’ve been tired, but they’ve been tired all year, playing through it all year. I don’t have a problem with their effort. I have a problem with some of the x’s and o’s things, some of the missed passes, some of the whiffing on shots, but I don’t have a problem with the effort.”

Shots were close to even in the period. Foley ended the game with 34 shots on Boice in the Utica-Fraser net. Utica-Fraser had 33 on the Foley goaltenders. 

Utica-Fraser’s Ashtin Fertik led his team in scoring with two goals. Niko Labj, Nate Sheridan, Jax Cristodero, Jayden Walls, and Landen Tilney each had solo goals. Foley had 8 minor penalties in the game. Utica-Fraser had 5 minors, plus one major and game misconduct.

Final thought from Coach Cynowa: “We had plenty of good scoring chances similar to last night’s game. The difference is (the shots) were falling last night. The bounces were going our way. Plenty of good looks todays. We just weren’t finishing.”

Foley’s next game is Saturday afternoon at Lindell Arena as Foley takes on Legion from the Sandusky Thumb area. Game time is 5:00pm. 

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News Story from 11/19/24 vs New Boston 14-6 win


Posted on 11/22/2024 | Mike Maltese

By  Jim Mickiewicz Page 1 of 3.

Westland, Michigan

 

Starting in 1991, the winner of the Lions-Cowboys Thanksgiving football game was awarded a large smoked turkey with six legs, (four extra legs were added on). To get a leg, you had to be a game star. 

So, why talk about football in a hockey story? It’s for two reasons. 

First, Bishop Foley United’s hockey team won their game against New Boston by a 14 – 6 score. Kind of like two touchdowns and PATs versus two field goals. Second, Foley’s Derek Townsend scored an incredible six goals, a double hat-trick, like a 6-point touchdown – but better. He gets a leg of the turkey. There were plenty of other Foley stars to share the other five legs.

“I had to crack a joke in there, telling (the Foley team) they put more points up there than the Jaguars this weekend… I’ve never been part of a high scoring game like that,” commented Foley Head Coach John Cynowa.

He also was also impressed with Townsend’s play, saying “We did some goal setting this year ahead of these games. Derek (Townsend) came into his coaches meeting with us with a goal of scoring a hat trick, and he crossed that off twice today.”

The game was played Tuesday evening at Modano Arena in Westland.

Other legs from that rare multi-legged turkey go to Foley’s Nathan Copek with a 3-goal hat-trick. Copek has five goals on the season. Turkey legs also go to Jeremy Slotnick and Caesar Soma with 2-goals each, and Ben Stella with a solo goal. The sixth leg goes to the entire Foley team. It was their first victory of the young season.

Foley’s Nathan Hewson started the game in goal. Hewson left the game after the first period with a lower body injury. His availability for Wednesday’s game against Utica-Fraser is questionable. Andre Beltran took over the goalie duties for the rest of the game. He gets the win in net.

Coach Cynowa feels that the Foley team took inspiration from Hewson. “I think part of it was playing for Nate, the goalie, too. Nate got hurt in-between the first and second there, and he pulled out, and I think part of that was rallying around him, too. Andre got his first win as a high schooler today. It came off of a great job getting in there in the game down one, and coming in there and supporting your goalie there after getting hurt.”

The play in the game was not sharp. The score is a good indication of that.

Scoring opened in the first period with a short-handed goal by New Boston’s Johnny Dembowski. Dembowski would lead New Boston in scoring with four goals in the game.

Foley returned the favor a minute later with Townsend’s first goal, assisted by his brother, Vincent Townsend. Goals came rapid fire in the period. One minute after Foley tied the game, New Boston retook the lead with Dembowski’s second goal, scored on a power-play.

2 of 3 Pages.

Less than a minute after that, Foley’s Jeremy Slotnick netted his first goal to tie the game. Caesar Soma and Christian Whitney, in his first game for Foley, assisted. The goal was even-handed. The game was tied at two.

That’s four total goals in less than four minutes. Later in the period, New Boston added two goals from the sticks of Jake Trythall  and Tanner Kuhn. Foley scored a goal late in the period to close the scoring gap to a single goal. Soma scored for Foley, assisted by Stella and Slotnick.  

New Boston led 4 – 3 at the end of one.  

“The first period, I definitely think, everyone wanted to have back. I’ll take responsibility for my part in that as well as the players.” Said Cynowa after the game. “In the locker room they took their responsibility. I don’t think we took them serious enough going out there in the first, and I think they kind of surprised us a little bit. I told them at the beginning of the game both teams were looking for their first win. I don’t think it was going to be easy. They really took it to us in the first. We had some inward thinking to do between the first and the second, and we were able to turn it around.”

Nine goals were scored in the second period, six by Foley and three by New Boston. By the end of the period, the score was 10 – 6 for Foley. Foley took command of the game. 

The score see-sawed for a while in the period. Here’s how it went down.

 

Thirty seconds into the period, Foley’s Copek tied the game at four. With twelve left, New Boston’s Dembowski took the lead back with his third goal of the game. It was now 5- 4  for New Boston. Jump ahead to ten minutes left and Foley’s Copek tied it back-up at five-all. Less than a minute later, Townsend retook the lead with his second game goal. Foley was ahead 6 – 5 when Dembowski tied it again 30 seconds later. 

By the time the second period was half over, the game was tied at 6-all. The see-saw was struck in mid-air. That’s 12 total goals in the first half of the game. If you like scoring, you came to the right game. 

From the mid-point of the second period, Bishop Foley went on to score the last eight goals in the game. New Boston’s offense was shutdown. It ended with Foley mercying New Boston at 7:32 of the third period, 14 – 6. The complete Foley box score is below.

Foley’s Hewson faced 14 New Boston shots on goal in the first period. Beltran faced 11 shots total in the second and third periods for a total of 25 for the game. Zaylin Zawodna faced 34 shots in the New Boston net. 

Final thought from Coach Cynowa: “Definitely a good offensive outing by everyone. I think we almost got everyone in on the point sheet somewhere today. Definitely a good offensive showing today… Got to enjoy that for the next 12 hours until we focus on our next one.”

 

(See Next Page for the Foley Box Score).

Page 3 of 3.

Foley Box Score:

Per Scorer Assist 1 Assist 2 Time Type

1 D. Townsend V. Townsend --- 12:56 Even

1 J. Slotnick C. Soma C. Whitney 10:44 Even

1 C. Soma B. Stella J. Slotnick 2:22 Even

2 N. Copek V. Townsend D. Townsend 16:32 Even

2 N. Copek A. Corrado J. Slotnick 10:08 PP

2 D. Townsend V. Townsend N. Bobcean 9:14  SH

2 J. Slotnick --- --- 5:39 Un

2 D. Townsend N. Copek A. Corrado 2:58 Even

2 D. Townsend --- --- 2:42 Un

2 C. Soma J. Cox N. Copek   :24 PP

3 N. Copek N. Bobcean B. Stella 15:34 Even

3 B. Stella --- --- 12:11 Un

3 D. Townsend N. Copek --- 11:17 Even

3 D. Townsend N. Copek --- 7:32 PP

 

News Story from 11/16/24 vs Grand Blanc 7-3 loss


Posted on 11/18/2024 | Mike Maltese

Foley Hockey Closes Out Its Opening Home Stand with a Loss

By Jim Mickiewicz      November 16, 2024

Royal Oak, Michigan   Page 1 of 2. 

 

The word ‘Bishop Foley’ has an ‘L’ in it. What’s missing is a ‘W.’ The same is true about the Foley United hockey team. It has collected three ‘L’s so far, with no W’s. 

Foley United increased its goal production in a game to three in its 7 – 3 loss to Grand Blanc. Foley also upped its shots on goal in a game to an early season high of 22. The game was played Saturday at Lindell Arena. 

“We got pucks on net. We’re putting some of the puzzle pieces together,” said Foley Head Coach John Cynowa.

The second period was bad news for Foley. Grand Blanc scored five goals in the second period to tack onto its 1 - 0 lead from the first period. Foley scored two of its three goals in the game in the second period to close the gap. But Grand Blanc still left the period leading 6 – 2.

The third period saw both teams exchange goals to close out the game at a 7 – 3 score for Grand Blanc. This was Foley’s third game of the season, and Grand Blanc’s first.

Freshman Andre Beltran started his first game of the season in goal for Foley. Beltran faced 12 shots in the opening period and allowed only one goal. The second period was tougher. On 13 shots, five goals were scored, two of those on the power-play, including one power play that carried over from the first period.

Nathan Hewson was tapped to play the third period in Foley’s net. He equaled Beltran’s performance from the first period, allowing just one goal on 12 shots.

The second period was just plain old bad news all around for Foley.

Foley opened its scoring with 11:11 left in the second period. At that point, Grand Blanc lead by a 3 – 0 score. Josh Cox got his first goal of the season with assists going to Aiden Corrado and Noah Bobcean. 3 – 1 for Grand Blanc.

It was 5 – 1 for Grand Blanc when Nathan Copek closed the gap to 5 – 2 on his unassisted goal. It was Copek’s third goal on the season. Grand Blanc added a goal with 2:34 left in the period to make it 6 – 2 to close the second period. 

Foley made a game of it at 11:21 of the third period. Aiden Corrado, who assisted on the team’s first goal earlier in the game, scored on the power play. The goalie, Nathan Hewson, got the only assist on the play.

It was now 6 – 3, but not for long. Grand Blanc closed out the scoring with an even-handed goal three minutes later to reach the game ending score of 7 – 3 for Grand Blanc.

Foley got its first penalties of the season – three minors. Grand Blanc would score on two of them. Grand Blanc also had thee minors in the game. Foley converted on one of them.

Page 2 of 2.

Grand Blanc had a total of 37 shots on the Foley net, and Foley had 22 shots on Cooper Brocklehurst in the Grand Blanc net.

Final thought from the Head Coach, “I just told them in the locker room, you know, we’re going to win some, we’re going to lose some. But the one sure thing, that there’s no easy games. So, we knew what we were getting into this season, and we knew we were going to have to battle.”

Foley’s next game is Tuesday at Mike Modano Arena as Foley faces-off against New Boston. Game time is 7:30pm. On Wednesday, Foley takes on Utica-Fraser at Fraser’s Big Boy Arena at 7:30pm.

##

News Story from 11/15/24 vs Port Huron 4-1 loss


Posted on 11/18/2024 | Mike Maltese

Port Huron Earns a Win Against Bishop Foley United

By Jim Mickiewicz       November 15, 2024   

Royal Oak, Michigan Page 1 of 1.

Bishop Foley United dropped its home opener at Lindell Arena Friday night against Port Huron Unified by a 4 – 1 score.

Port Huron opened the scoring with 3:05 left in the first period on a goal from Brendon Welker. It took 20 seconds for Foley to respond with a goal from Vincent Townsend. It was assisted by his brother, Derek Townsend. This was the first time that two brothers combined on a scoring play for Foley.

Port Huron retook the lead with 1:14 left in the period. Jimmie Nelson got the goal to make the score 2 – 1 for Port Huron. Although this would stand as the game winning goal, the game was within reach for Foley going into the second period. 

“It was a good first period,” said Foley Head Coach John Cynowa. “I’m not disappointed with how the game went today. I think today was definitely not for lack of effort.”

Looking at what needs improvement, Cynowa said “I think what we really noticed, what we saw there today, was a series of being one step too late, a series of lost battles that were all by a step or two. But I definitely think the effort was there today. We played a much better game than we played last week.” (What Cynowa is referring to is the scrimmage that Foley played against Port Huron last Thursday). “I’m definitely not disappointed with the play today. Just kind of unfortunate on the bounces not going our way.”

Jake Longo scored two goals for Port Huron in the second period, one early in the period, one late. Foley had no answer for these goals. The period closed out with a 4 – 1 lead for Port Huron. 

Foley could not break through the Port Huron defense. Despite having five power plays in the game, getting shots on the Port Huron net was difficult. 

Cynowa said, “Their team took a few today. It was a very well officiated game. I think our players understand that with a small bench,” (Foley played with 12 total players), “it’s even worse playing with a man down. Playing a very disciplined game. Focusing more on the game than any of the extra-curricular activites.”

Foley placed 13 shots on Maverick Dyer in the Port Huron Net. Nathan Hewson had a load of work in the Foley net. He faced 38 Port Huron shots, and had a solid .894 saves percentage. Foley had no penalties in the game.

This was a much different Port Huron squad from the one Foley played last season. Port Huron unified with several other area schools in the off-season.  Last season, the Port Huron team had ten total players. This year, the bench was full with 21 players. Fifteen of these players were new to the team. 

Final thought from Cynowa, “I think (whether) it was the power play or five-on-five, I think what we saw was we were doing a good job of gaining the offensive zone and gaining entry into it and then we are not connecting once we get there. We missed the net a lot today.” 

Foley’s next game is Saturday against Grand Blanc at Lindell Arena. The puck drops at 5:00p.  ##

News Story from 11/13/24 vs Troy HS 9-1 Loss


Posted on 11/15/2024

Troy United Takes the Season Opener in Hockey

By Jim Mickiewicz November 13, 2024 Royal Oak, Michigan
Page 1 of 2.


The new hockey season did not start the way that Bishop Foley United’s Head Hockey Coach
John Cynowa had hoped. Foley lost 9 – 1 to Troy United Wednesday night in the season opening game
for both teams. The game was played at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena in Troy.


Getting shots on the Troy net was problematic throughout the game. Troy had 34 shots on
Foley’s Nathan Hewson in net. Foley managed 6 shots on Nathan Homes in the Troy net. How does Foley
improve on getting shots on net?
“(Troy) did a real good job cycling the puck in our offensive zone, which by the time we were
clearing the puck out of our zone, we were already gassed, way too tired by the time we got down there
in their zone,” according to Cynowa. “So, playing a little more disciplined down in our zone, not chasing,
not being so tired, allowing us to have a little bit of legs left by the time we get to the offensive zone will
create more shots.”
This was also opening the season against an experienced opponent.
“We knew (Troy) was pretty good. They moved the puck well. They graduated one senior, who
was their back-up goalie last year, so we knew they were going to move well as a team. We knew they
had almost double the amount of players as we did. We knew it was going to be a fast game. Our first
period was our worst. That’s what we need to clean up,” said Cynowa.
Troy did not net their first goal until six and half minutes into the first period. Half-way through
the period they took a 2 – 0 lead and held it until there was 2:34 left in the first period. That’s when Troy
made it a 3 – 0 game. They widened their lead to 4 – 0 just 19 seconds later.
Foley, down only two goals, was in the game throughout most of the first period until the
bottom fell out at the end of the period. A four-goal deficit is a big hole to climb out of, especially
against an experienced team.
The second period was an improvement for Foley. The team cut the goals against in half. Close
to four minutes into the period, Troy widened the gap to 5 – 0. That’s where the score stayed until the
last three minutes in the period when they added their sixth goal of the game.
Foley came out competing in the third period. They did not give up, but it was just not to be
their game.
Coach Cynowa said, “I told (the team) in the post-game talk, I appreciate the team not laying
down in the third period knowing that it was already six-nothing. They came out fighting and that’s all
we can ask for.”
Troy got a good bounce and scored just 15 seconds into the period. Now at 7 – 0, Foley’s Nathan
Copek picked-up the puck, skated around the Troy defense and stuffed the puck in. The unassisted goal
came just 30 seconds after Troy scored. At 7- 1, it spoiled the shut-out for Troy.
“I’m happy with the goal,” said Cynowa. “From (Copek’s) perspective, I’m sure it’s a tough game
to get your first goal in. It was a good one. Got it off a nice break.”

Page 2 of 2.
Copek and Brian Noe also accounted for Foley’s two goals in a scrimmage earlier in the week
against Port Huron.
Troy added two more goals in the third to end the game at 9 – 1. Foley took no penalties in the
game. All of Troy’s goals were even-handed. Troy was assessed three minor penalties in the game.
Copek’s goal was scored even-handed.
Troy’s Ben Dumas and Joey Clark led their teams with two goals each. Solo goals were scored by
Caleb Dominguez, Gavin Blaeske, Yuto Kuwabara, Brody Gibb, and Quinn Corbett.
Foley’s next game is Friday against Port Huron at 7:00pm at Lindell Arena in Royal Oak. Saturday
Foley faces-off at 5:00pm against Grand Blanc at Lindell.

https://bfcathletics.com