A little insight on the first set of Pro Games today
By Raine Hernandez - 88rainehernandez@gmail.com
MISSISSAUGA – The long anticipated wait is finally over. It is the first day of the East Coast NARCh Finals down at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga Ontario, the first time that the event has been in Canada since 2013, and what better way to start the event than to kick off the beginning of the Pro Division.
12 teams will be competing to decide whom is deemed worthy of becoming the World’s best Roller Hockey team.
Here are the recaps of all the best games from Day 1 out of the Pro Division:
Halton Coyotes vs. Labeda Snipers
In what was the opening game of the tournament, the Halton Coyotes would square off against the Labeda Snipers. In their NARCh Pro debut, the Coyotes had their work cut out for them facing the defending champions.
After the Snipers would take a 3-1 lead early into the second period, the Coyotes would storm back with goals from Blake Luscombe and Aidan Board to even the score at 3.
However, the Snipers experience would showcase itself, as Brandon Hawkins would score the game-winning goal to complete the natural hat-trick, and followed by an empty-netter from Matt White, the Snipers would defeat the Coyotes by a score of 5-3.
MB Army Montreal vs. Black Ice
After coming off a Pro Championship just a week ago, Black Ice would get back on the floor to open up their NARCh Pro tournament against another team who is making their Pro debut, MB Army Montreal.
Due to the aggressive play that Montreal played with, they would have difficulty to stay out of the box throughout the opening frame, which led to goals from John Schiavo and KJ Tiefenwerth. Black Ice would never look back, beating Montreal by a score of 5-1.
Verbero Cypress vs. Excitement
After a two-year hiatus from the Pro Division, the Excitement group is back and ready to compete for a Pro title. Their opponent would be the Verbero Cypress, who have brought a completely new team to Canada, following their semi-final finish last season in Fort Myers.
With that being said, the Cypress would consist of many Michigan-born players, for example former OHL’er Garrett Ross, who often plays his Pro Roller Hockey with the Bordercats, however will be playing for the Cypress this time around in Toronto.
Ross would prove why he’s among Roller Hockey’s elite, tallying 2 goals. Also scoring for Verbero would be Matt Berry, while Kevin Maddox who was making his NARCh Pro debut also got on the board. The Cypress would take it by a score of 5-2.
While today was filled with a ton of high-rolling action, tomorrow will be just as exciting with even more games with quality match-ups to be played, but as well as the always anticipated Skills Competition, which will be slotted at 7:15 in the Main Bowl at the Hershey Centre, but as well as be live streamed on the NARCh YouTube Channel (youtube.com/NARChPlayers).