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| May 11, 2010
San Jose Regional #2 Recaps
|  May 8th-9th at Silver Creek Sportsplex
San Jose Recaps –
Cub Division – The Cubs have become a familiar site here for the regional qualifiers as there’s a solid group of parents involved at Silver Creek as well as a solid core from Antioch. There were some new kids out for the first time from both squads, which is always exciting to see. There may even be enough out of both facilities to field two teams each for the FINALS. The championship was a close one most of the way, but the River Rats pulled it out 8-5. The cherry on top for this division is when Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan came out to present the awards. Mr. McLellan could not have been nicer and more gracious, quality guy. Not that I need another reason to root for the Sharks, but I certainly have one.
Atom Division – 3 teams made up the 8’s, Revision Mustangs, Silicon Valley Quakes, and Puck Attack. Mustangs and Quakes are always eager to play so it was great to get a new team in the mix, which is what Puck Attack is. Puck Attack improved every game and managed a tie against the Mustangs and only lost to the Quakes by 3 goals their last game. The Mustangs beat the Quakes in the round robin, which is the first time it’s happened to my knowledge. Not to take anything away from the Mustangs, but the Quakes did play 2 divisions and seemed a bit tired. In the championship the Quakes revenged their loss and won 6-4. Jaden Guzman, Nathan Durrans, and Own Bohn all had 2 goals each while Coalson Wolford had 3 of the 4 goals for the Mustangs. This rivalry seems to be getting a little more competitive, which is good.
The Mite Division was comprised of 5 teams. The Delta River Rats Red are playing in their first NARCh Event as a team and the Blue Rays are a brand new team. Unfortunately the Blue Rays got handled pretty well and I just hope they left with a smile and a willingness to come by again after going back to their rink and practicing hard. The silver championship matched up the Delta River Rats and Silicon Valley Quakes 01’s, the atom team playing up. This was a close division and the River Rats could easily be playing for the gold title instead of silver, but they lost two close games to the Mustangs and Quakes. In the silver championship Joe Merkel had a hat trick for the River Rats and they defeated the younger Quakes Squad 9-4.
In the Mite Gold Championship it would be rematch from last month between the Silicon Valley Quakes and Revision Mustangs. In that one the Quakes were victorious 2-1. These two teams are pretty evenly matched but the Quakes seem to usually end up on top, as they also defeated the Mustangs in the preliminary game 4-2. This game looked like it might be the same result as the Quakes were up 2-0 with two goals by Jacob Kim, but the Mustangs fought back and Tristan Macalolooy scored twice for his squad to tie the game. We went to overtime and the Mustangs controlled possession of the puck, but couldn’t find the net. We then went to a shootout and after 4 shooters each we were still tied! In the sudden death shootout Coalson Wolford of the Mustangs put his team on top and you got the sense it might be over. The fait of the Quakes at this point rested on the shoulders of Jacob Kim, the Quakes shooter. In one of the most confident things I’ve ever seen a 10 year old do, Jacob pointed his stick at the goalie in mid-stride as he headed down the rink, similar to what Owen Nolan did in the NHL All-Star Game years ago. Jacob delivered too, scoring very patiently to tie it up yet again. The next Mustang shooter missed and Jeff Payne made no mistake on his next attempt and sealed yet another championship for the Quakes in this matchup of balanced squads. The crowd was heavy for this one and they were all entertained, as I was.
The Squirt Division saw 8 teams in action, including 2 new teams, Icemen and Jr. Cougars. The Quakes and Rampage went undefeated to earn the #1 and #2 seeds, while the Iceemen and Mustangs Black rounded up the top 4 competing in the gold semis. The Rampage got past the Icemen in a crazy game, scoring within the last few minutes to tie it then scoring with a second left to win it. The Quakes faced off against the Mustangs, and the Mustangs took this one to advance to the final, setting up a rematch from the last regional for the championship. The championship would end the exact same way it did 6 weeks ago with the Mustangs Black defeating the Rampage, even by the exact same score, 3-1.
Squirt Silver might have been our most balanced division of all, as I honestly think on any given day any of the 4 teams could have came out on top. Both semi’s were tight, as Team Redline barely got past the Chico Firebirds in a great game, 6-5, and the same could be said about the Revision Mustangs Silver defeating the Jr Cougars, 4-3. In the championship Khoa Ngugen put his team on the board first for the Mustangs, and also scored last, which proved to be the game winner as the Mustangs defeated Redline 4-3. One side not, it seems these families are tight as they were genuinely happy for every child on the floor to receive an award.
The peewee division consisted of 10 teams and we broke them down into the top 4 and bottom 6. Three teams went undefeated in the prelims, the Pacific Storm, Nor Cal Riot, and Valley Thunder Blue. Rounding out the top four was the Bend Bullets from Oregon. Bend would have to face off against the Storm, who scored 26 goals in the prelims and only let up 5. It was a good game and the Bend squad is talented, but the Storm just showed a little more and went on to a 5-2 victory. The Nor Cal Riot also found a worthy opponent in the Valley Thunder Blue, and the game was closer than the score, but in the end the Riot prevailed, 4-0. In what seems to be a common theme for this writeup, this was a rematch from the first regional. This one would have a different outcome though as the Riot seemed to have the bounce and defeated the Storm 5-2. Clayton Carr has a hat trick for the Riot. Like many times the score sheet doesn’t always tell the story. The Storm played up in bantam too and literally skated from one championship game over to the other rink to play in this one, so they were pretty spent, and it showed. Not saying the Riot wouldn’t have had a chance to win even if they didn’t, but it would have definitely been a tighter game.
Peewee Silver was also a good division, as the Nor Cal Extreme needed overtime to defeat the Mustangs to move on to the semis, and the Valley Thunder White barely defeated the Rampage 4-3 to move on. The Chico Firebirds looked strong against the newly formed Valley Thunder White team and defeated them somewhat easily and the Extreme carried their momentum past the Quakes to advance to the final. This championship was back and forth and really could have gone either way. Most of the game was tied 1-1 and it looked like we were going to overtime. As I learned a long time ago, you never want to give up a goal in the first or last minute, but unfortunately for the Extreme this is exactly what happened. Gabe Wackerman got sprung on a breakaway and scored with just 42 seconds remaining in the game to seal the title for the Firebirds.
The Bantam Division also had 10 teams. The top four teams to battle it out in the gold semis were the Nor Cal Riot Red, Silicon Valley Quakes, Gong Show, and Revision Mustangs. The first 3 went undefeated while the Mustangs only blemish was a tie to the Pacific Storm, the peewee team playing up. Riot Red got past the Mustangs and Gong Show defeated the Quakes. Riot Red seems to be peaking at the right time, as they faired better than expected in Irvine and they find themselves in the championship here. They had a much deeper bench than Gong Show. Unfortunately we were running late yesterday and I think some of the Gong Show may have taken off for Mothers Day obligations. Regardless the Riot Red team defeated Gong Show 4-2, as Matt Fisher scored 2 of the 4 goals for the Riot.
In the Silver semis the Pacific Storm got past the newly formed Delta River Rats Red Team and Public Enemy defeated the Eschelon Nightmare. The strong peewee team playing up also prevailed in the championship game and frustrated Mission Public Enemy by a final of 4-0.
8 Midget Teams played in this one and Bodangles seemed to clearly be a class above the rest. They went through the round robin scoring 21 goals and only letting in 3. They defeated the Eschelon Nightmare in the semis, while Ron’s Bakery defeated the Paso Predators to set up the final. Bodangles is basically the Pink Pony Team that was in the Gold Championship game last year in Toronto. Chris Kumata came to play in this championship as his hat trick helped Bodangles defeat Ron’s Bakery by a final of 6-2.
In the Silver Semi Finals the Revision Mustangs took care of the Silicon Valley Quakes Team and Mission Public Enemy defeated the High Country Mission Hawks. Unfortunately neither game was that competitive. The championship game was, as the shots were basically identical in this up and down the rink battle. Michael Corral had a great game with a hat trick for the Mustangs, but if I were picking an mvp for this game it would have been Cody Horwood, who had a hand in every goal, 1g, 4a. The Mustangs won by a final of 5-3.
There were only two junior teams for this event and since the juniors and men’s are typically evenly matched, we combined divisions and then split them back out. Bodangles went 1-2 against the men’s teams and the Sportsplexinators went 2-1. The junior championship was a great game, as most of these guys have grown up together and played either with or against each other for years. Just like the midget final, Chris Kumata was the difference maker in this one, scoring the last two goals for Bodangles as they got past the Sportsplexinators 5-4.
In the Men’s Division, Team Inline Warehouse got past the Reno Aces and the Happy Campers defeated NCR to set up the final. The game would be tied going into half, 2-2. The second half was all Inline Warehouse as Erik Long came up big in net and they scored 3 unanswered goals to win the championship by a final of 5-2. Josh Print also had a hat trick.
Thanks for playing in this event and we look forward to seeing all of you in a few months for the NARCh FINALS!
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