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| July 29, 2002
By Jim Anderson
NARCh Finals Update, Day 2
Sunday, July 29 2002
|  The battle continues...
The second day of competition is
always important at NARCh. A fast
start can wiped away in a matter of
hours. Teams can go from playing
for the #1 seed to just trying to qualify
for the playoffs as teams become
desperate to continue their season.
With all 5 divisions (Atom, Squirt,
Women, Senior and Division 1)
finishing preliminary action today,
there was quite a bit at stake.
Once again the squirts started off the
day and finished their round robin
action and then it was on to playoffs.
So close was the competition after
the prelims that teams who were
fighting for the last spots nearly had
to settle it via a shootout!
Moving on to the quarterfinals were
the Tour Flames, Matteson Cobras,
Hawks and Wind Surf & Sail Stars
where they will meet the top 4
seeded teams who are in order:
1. Rush
2. Mission Cobras
3. Oakville Coyotes '89
4. VC Vipers
Play for the squirts begins again on
Monday at 12:30 pm and updates will
be posted ASAP after each round, if
not sooner.
One item i neglected to mention
yesterday was the size of the crowds
that we've seen so far in the event.
The squirts have been packing the
house, bleachers filled with parents
and fans, all screaming and yelling.
Its just electric, especially during the
Skills competition, the players just
feed off of it.
Speaking of skills, Division 1 had
their NARCh Skills this afternoon,
here are the winners.
Fastest Skater
Brian Sharp - Tour Toronto Tigers
Sniper
Mike Morrow - Mission Empire
Snipers
Top Goaltender:
Joe Finnegan - Dry Ice
Staying with Division 1, the
quarterfinal matchups were
determined earlier this evening
Playoff for # 8 seed
#8 Team Tour vs Calgary Roller
Rangers. Will last year's 2nd place
team overcome the loss of some key
players and begin their march
towards the title?
#1 Tour Predators vs #8/9 Winner
Dave Perumean and his crew have
navigated their way to the top seed,
will they make the leap and stamp
themselves as the team to beat.
#2 Mission Empire Snipers vs #7
Detroit Mission Hyper Stars
Tim McManus and his Sniper team
are looking to add to their 7 NARCh
titles and are led by Rob Scheer and
Mike Cianfriani. The Stars have the
talent and are just looking for that
shift to shift consistency that will
advance them into the semi's.
#3 Dry Ice vs #6 Toronto Tour Tigers
Dry Ice has shown themselves to be
for real and will have a chance to
prove it on Monday vs the reigning
champs, who had a strong start on
Saturday and were unable to carry
that momentum over to Sunday's
action.
#4 Mission Rinkside Rockets vs #5
Pama Cyclones
The Rockets have been in the mix for
a couple of years and have won
some NARCh titles of their own and
the Cyclones have done well out in
CA all season long. The fact that
these 2 are seeded where they are
for the quarters shows the depth
involved in this divison as each could
easily be a top seed.
For the women, Fancy Pants have
advanced to the final after being the
top seeded team at the end of the
round robin. Showing the parity
amongst the teams, only one game
was decided by more than 2 goals
thoughout the entire preliminary
round. The #2 seeded CPH Vixens
and the #3 Team Excalibur will face
off against one another for the right to
advance to the Championship
Game.
Ah yes, the young ones. We have
semifinal matchups in the Atom
division. The #1 seeded Brea Oilers
will take on the #4 ranked Corona
Edge '94 while in the other semifinal
#2 Team Excalibur faces #3 Iowa
Spirit with the winners advancing the
1st championship game of the
tournament to be held at 5:50 pm.
Watching these kids skate out to the
Arena prior to the game should be a
treat.
Being that they are the latest teams
to play, we'll wrap up with the Senior
divison. Another group in which
playoff spots an seedings weren't
determined until the last game was
finished. Last year's runner-ups, St.
Louis Stars find themselves in a
play-in game as the #8 seed vs the
#9 seed Team Yeungling. The
winner of this game will advance to
play the top seeded Madhatters, who
finished 3rd last year in this division.
The Cobras wound up in the #2 seed
will play the Chicago Magic in their
quarterfinal while the #3 seeded
Tour Xplosion (the top 3 seeds all
had the same # of points) will face
#6 seed Greasy Joe's Bottomless
BBQ Pit (imagine trying to fit that on a
jersey) and in the last quarterfinal #4
Good 'N Plenty will go up against #5
Michigan Perf. Hockey who led all
Senior teams with 30 goals in 4
games played.
Tomorrow we'll bring you playoff
recaps, opening ceremony
information, and the lowdown on the
Pee Wee, Mite, Bantam and Junior
divisions, all of whom begin play in
the morning.
Don't forget if you are here at the
tournament and have brought your
camera and would like to share your
thoughts and pictures please feel
free to do so by using the Submit
button on the left hand side in the
menu section, just make sure to fill
out all pertinent information. Thanks
again and continue to check back for
all NARCh.com is offering during the
9th Annual North American
Rollerhockey Championships.
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