NCRHA Crowns Champions in Four Divisions

Lindenwood, SUNY Stony Brook, St. Charles CC and Lindenwood B take top honors.

April 16th, 2007 at 4:43AM April 16th, 2007 7:18AM

SUNY Stony Brook players hoist the Division II National Championship trophy.

A total of 58 college roller hockey teams played 141 games over 3 and a half days this past week in St. Louis , MO. At the end, titles were claimed in Division I, Division II, Division III and the B division during the 9^th annual Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, and now players can finally rest.

The championship tournament actually began three days earlier, but Saturday April 7 was the day that the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat would be felt one last time this season as the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Associationâ??s preeminent event came to a close.

The State University of New York at Stony Brook was the first school to garner a championship trophy, defeating St. Louis University 4 to 1 in Division II.

â??Itâ??s an unbelievable feeling,â? Stony Brook Captain Damon Vetere said. â??We feel like we deserved it from the beginning.â?

Ending their second year as an organization, Stony Brookâ??s players feel that they have come a long way from where they started.

â??We have been working hard for months, and we have a great group of guys,â? Vetere said.

Players for the Stony Brook team say that the late night practices got them to this point.

â??We would often practice every week until midnight,â? said freshman Matt Douglas.

After finishing 12^th out of 17 teams in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association last season, Stony Brook finished 2^nd overall in the ECRHA this year and then beat perennial DII powerhouse Neumann in the Regional Finals.

â??Itâ??s a great turn around,â? Douglas said. â??Our coaches are amazing.â?

Coach Joe Tamburino just completed his first year as head coach for Stony Brook, and he says that this victory has been a long time in coming.

â??As a player, I always wanted to have this kind of moment and these players were able to give it to me,â? Tamburino said.

For other full-time students, practicing every week until almost midnight can definitely take a toll on players but not Tamburinoâ??s team.

â??They go to school full-time and still find time to practice religiously,â? Tamburino said.

For parents, this prize feels nothing less than wonderful.

â??Iâ??ve been watching my grandson since he was 5-years-old, and this is a wonderful feeling,â? said Laura Turpin.

Runner-up St. Louis University finished the regular season tied for third in the Great Plains region, and was a six seed going into bracket play. However, SLU put together a great run behind the stellar goaltending of James Cash and almost won the whole thing.

In Division I, Lindenwood University (MO) defeated the University of Rhode Island 12 to 2. This is the fourth consecutive year that Lindenwood has won the Division I Championship, and players could not be any more proud of the streak.

â??We are very proud of the dynasty,â? said freshman Mike Thiefault. â??This was really important to us.â?

It was definitely noticeable throughout the week that other teams wanted to end Lindenwoodâ??s winning streak.

â??Our coach just told us to play our game and not let anything get to us,â? Thiefault said.

This year was exceptionally special for Lindenwood Head Coach Ron Beilsten.

â??When I started coaching this team, this group of seniors were only freshmen,â? Beilsten said. â??This year was special because we built on this together.â?

For senior Greg Thompson playing in his final collegiate championship, this tournament was bittersweet.

â??Every good thing has to come to an end, but itâ??s great to go out on top,â? Thompson said.

Rhode Island put the capstone on a spectacular season by finishing as a national finalist. The Rams were the ECRHA regular season champions with a league record of 14-1-1. In the regional playoffs, URI lost in the semi-finals to SUNY Buffalo by a score of 4 to 3. The Rams then bounced back from that disappointing loss to go 5-0-1 during the Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships heading into the championship game against Lindenwood.

This year the field in Division III increased from 4 teams to 6 teams. Newcomers included Broward County Community College (FL), Macomb County Community College (MI), and Nassau County Community College (NY).

In the Division III Championship game, St. Charles Community College (MO) beat Broward County Community College (FL) 8 to 2. St. Charles CC, which a long streak of championships snapped last year by Riverside CC of California , hopes that this is the beginning of another streak.

In the B division Championship game, Lindenwood B defeated St. Louis Community College â?? Meremec B 13 to 2.