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| January 18, 2010
By Alex Morrison
Monday Championship Recaps
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Monday’s full slate of finals started out with the Bantam Silver Championship. The West Covina High Rollers and Delta River Rats each won semifinal games earlier in the morning, and were pumped to make it to the medal game. The High Rollers jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back. Leading 4-0 with 4 minutes to go, they looked as if they were going to cruise to victory. The Delta River Rats couldn’t muster a decent scoring chance… until then. With less than 4 minutes to go, they not only had a decent chance, they put themselves on the board. They figured something out then, because they followed up with another a minute later, and then another with less than a minute to go. Could they pull off the amazing comeback and send the game to overtime? It wasn’t meant to be, as West Covina held on for the 4-3 victory. The top goalie award went to Ben Barros and Kawaiiki Punua of Team Hawaii, and the high scorer was Casey Loggins of the Reebok Jr. Ducks White.
Bantam Gold was the next division to have a final. The Nor Cal Riot Black had to wait until this morning to see who their opponent would be. The Revision Devil Dogs and West Coast Warriors had the 2v3 playoff at 8am to see who would advance. The Warriors took that game 2-0, and had the daunting task of trying to knock off the #1 seed in the final. The Riot scored 3 goals in the first half, and added a fourth a few minutes into the second half. It was too much of a deficit for the Warriors to overcome, and they fell 5-1. The top goalie award was won by Aron Qualos and Mike Valesquez of the Riot Black, and the high scorer was Curtis Tanquary of the Riot Black.
The Mite Gold final followed the Bantam divisions, featuring to Southern California teams. The top seeded Anarchy were looking to continue their domination this weekend, playing the #3 seed, the Thousand Oaks Bruins. The Bruins got on the board first with a tally by Landon Sears less than 2 minutes into the game. Halfway through the first, they doubled their lead thanks to Morgan Diamond’s goal. The Anarchy cut the lead in half with 25 seconds left in the period, and hoped to take the momentum into the next half. They did just that, when Lukas Uhler tied the game a minute into the period. The Bruins came right back with 2 more goals, and putting the game just out of reach for the Anarchy. The Bruins ended up with a 4-3 victory. The top goalie was Connor Duffy and the high scorer was Lukas Uhler, both of 949 Anarchy.
Mite Silver brought the West Coast Warriors back into the spotlight, as they faced off against the Islanders from Hawaii. The Islanders won their semifinal game in the morning by a 6-0 score, while their mainlander opponent got through their test, winning 4-1 this morning. The Warriors took control in the first half, with Jacob Fraser at the reins, galloping to a 2-0 lead. The Islanders showed some pizzazz in the 2nd half, scoring 3 minutes in to cut the lead in half, until the Warriors came back 30 seconds later to make it a 2 goal lead again. The Islanders didn’t quit though, as they came right back down the floor 25 seconds later to bring the game to within 1. The last half of the 2nd period was filled with a flurry of action, coming right down to the last shot, where the Islander’s attempt went off the crossbar with 3 seconds to go. What a great finish! The top goalie was Hunter Blum, and the high scorer was Travis Eichner, both from the Islanders.
In Midget Silver, Rubin from Southern Cal matched up with the High Country Mission Hawks from Northern Cal. The Hawks were the higher seed in the game, but were completely dominated in the first half, giving up 4 goals, three of which were scored by Dustin Shimbashi of Rubin. The Hawks then attempted to go down the long road of coming back, but after giving up another and scoring one, they lost composure, and ended up falling 5-1 in the game. The top goalie in the division was Sienna Weeks of the Hawks, and the high scorer was Luke Steichen, also of the Hawks.
In the Girls’ Division, the Ragga Muffins had the opportunity to win Hawaii’s first gold medal. They had to get through the Revision Pandemonium Black team. The crowd for this one was a partisan one, with the Pandemonium playing out of the rink here, and Hawaii having the largest travelling contingent at this event. Both teams got on the board early, and then played defensively for the remainder of the first half. Someone on the bench then tapped Chelsi Wells on the shoulder and told her it was time to score. She did twice in the second half for the Ragga Muffins, keeping her team in the game, as the Pandemonium matched her goal for goal. The game went to overtime from there. Wells kept the heat on, winning the game with a beautiful goal 3 minutes into the period. The division’s top goalie was Tehilla Bengershom of the Ragga Muffins, and the high scorer was Chelsi Wells.
Next up was the Women’s Gold final. The Bullets had pulled off an upset in the semi, shutting out Dry Ice, while Cheeehuu!! beat Pama 3-1 in a great game with an empty netter at the end. The women from Hawaii looked strong, peppering the Bullets’ goalie Teresa White with shot after shot (28 in total for the game). They snuck one past her in the first period, thanks to Rachel Chun. Cheeehuu!! did not score again in regulation, but kept the Bullets off the board through the first period, until the 9 minute mark of the 2nd frame, when Jen Simas tallied one for the Oregonians. Great defense and amazing goaltending kept the game tied and sent things to overtime. During the overtime, the Bullets goalie made some incredible saves, keeping them in the game. That’s when Kodi Snider of the Bullets stuffed home the game winner, earning the ladies from Oregon the gold medal. The top goalie was Teresa White, and the high scorer was Kodi Snider.
In Women’s Platinum, a few upsets took place in the semifinals, when the Pandemonium took care of the surprisingly strong team from Mexico, Makime. The other game was a rematch of the Women’s Platinum final in Toronto at the NARCh Finals, pitting Mission against Revision. Mission added the name Momentum this year, and that momentum may have been enough to get them through this game, looking great against a very solid Revision team. Once the final began, the game was dominated by Mission. Cherie Stewart did what she is known for, taking over the game with a hat trick, and the gorgeous goaltending of Danielle Groen kept Pandemonium off the board. Groen ended up with the top goaltender award, and Kayla Demint of Revision was the high scorer for the division.
The Junior Platinum final looked like a great one on paper. The Silicon Valley Quakes had dominated the prelims, and earned the #1 seed, while the Ducks looked like an all around solid team, and a tough matchup in the playoffs. While no one was surprised to see these two teams in the championship, the surprise came when the puck dropped. The Ducks flew past the Quakes, with great goalkeeping by Taz Villoria and nice goals. The division’s top goaltender was Villoria while the high scorer was Travis Noe of the Ducks.
In Men’s Gold, the Revision Devil Dogs sailed into the final, and was set to face CA Standard. Martin Flores of the Devil Dogs took his team on his back and scored all three goals in the game, while Mike Nicastro kept Standard off the board. The top goalie award went to the duo of Nicastro and Arman Kenareki, while the top scorer was Mike Tasch of the Devil Dogs.
Junior Gold was up next, and the Nor-Cal Riot had the tough task of facing Mission Hysteria. The Hysteria are a solid team, especially with the scoring power of Jeff Brown. Brownie put Hysteria on the board in this game, but that was after the Riot started things off with a goal. The game was tied late, and was a great battle, until 1:14 remained, when Chase Norman scored the game winner. The Hysteria threw what they could at the net in the last minute, but didn’t succeed in tying it up, and the Riot took the gold medal. The division’s top goalie was Gregory Hamm of Team X, and the top scorer was Dusty Cipolla of the Mission Raiders.
The last division to finish the event was Midget Gold, which really should have been labeled Midget Platinum. This entire division was filled with Platinum players. The 2 teams playing in this one were basically the same teams as the Junior Platinum final. The Quakes and Ducks battled once again, with the Quakes hoping for a different outcome this time. The game was a slow one, with tired players from a long weekend and only 2 substitutes for each team. Much of the game was a puck possession battle, with teams trying to set up their dream play, while watching the clock tick away. Unfortunately for those watching, it was not the most exciting thing they have ever seen, but it helped the Quakes make it to overtime tied 1-1 with their So Cal opponent. Once overtime began, the Quakes started to skate up and down the floor, and the exhausted Ducks struggled to keep with their assignments. The game winner was scored less than 2 minutes into extra wickets, and Jacob Hickey was the reason, sniping one from the slot. The top goalie for the division was Angel Rios of the Ducks, and the high scorer was the Quakes’ Hickey.
We not turn our attention to the next NARCh Winternationals, in Bethpage, New York next month. Look for us at SkateSafe from February 12-15. Hope to see you there!
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