WCRHL All-Star Weekend Recap
All-Stars Leave Fans Wanting More
WCRHL February 13th, 2008 at 11:00PM February 14th, 2008 12:02AM
The WCRHL All-Star Weekend held at the 949 Roller Hockey Center this past weekend had it all; competitive matchups in every division, high-scoring all-star games, and an alumni game, reuniting players from 5 different universities.
Big news in Division II was Claremont College earning their first win of the season. Claremont defeated Sonoma State University by a score of 3-0, for their first win as well as first shutout of the year. Claremont goaltender Michael Mulroy made 16 saves for the shutout win, and Corey Hadden scored 2 goals to lead the Centaurs.
Probably the most evenly matched Division II game of the weekend was #2 Cal Poly Pomona matching up Sunday morning against #3 CSU San Bernardino. Cal Poly Pomona prevailed by a score of 4-3. Neither team was able to jump ahead by more than 1 goal. CSUSB would score to get ahead by 1, then Pomona would tie it up, 3 times, before scoring the 4th and final goal with 3:01 left in the game. Erick Rivas had 3 points for Pomona, as well as Joey Galeno with 2 goals, and Christian Bernad with 2 points to lead CSUSB.
Going into the final weekend of Division II play, the top 6 teams have all clinched playoff spots, but where they fall within those top 6 spots is still anyone’s guess. UC San Diego has been ahead in the standings all season long, followed closely by Pomona and CSUSB. USC, UC Riverside and University of San Diego make up the final 3 playoff spots in Division II.
In Division I play, UC Irvine continued their domination, and are now 15-0 on the season. The Anteaters dispatched Long Beach State, Cal Poly SLO, UCSB and UC Berkeley this weekend by a combined score of 35-13. UC Irvine will face what might be their toughest opponent, UNLV, this coming weekend at Coast 2 Coast. Both teams play with a solid core of top-notch players, typically with only 2-3 men on the bench.
Chico State had a strong showing at the event, coming out with 2 ties and 2 losses. The Wildcats tied both Long Beach State and Chapman, and losing 2-0 to UNLV and 4-3 to Norcal rival UC Davis. Chico State will miss the playoffs but showed that they will be a contender next season.
Similar to Division II, the top 6 teams have their playoff spots locked up in DI. Cal Poly SLO and UCSB have both finished their regular season and currently sit in 4th and 5th place. UC Irvine, Long Beach State, UNLV and UC Davis will play this weekend at Coast 2 Coast and we will see how they all stack up for the Regional Championship Tournament.
In the B Division, it is still Cal Poly SLO B Gold leading the pack, followed closely by UC Santa Barbara B Gold. With 3 games remaining for each B team this weekend, the 4th playoff spot is up for grabs. The top 4 B Division teams will receive bids to the Regional Championship Tournament. SLO B Gold, UCSB B Gold and UCSB B Blue have their playoff spots locked up. 4th place Cal Poly Pomona sits 4 points ahead of 5th place Cal Poly SLO B Green. The 2 teams will not meet this weekend. Cal Poly Pomona can clinch the 4th spot with 1 win and 1 tie or with 1 win and a SLO B Green loss.
The All-Star games held on Saturday afternoon and evening were a spotlight of the league’s most talented players. In the Division II/B All-Star Game, 15 goals were scored on a total of 60 shots. 3 of those 15 goals were scored by goalkeepers, who skated on the wing, received passes in the middle of the slot, stickhandled and shot past their rival netminders. The crowd was definitely into that, as well as cheering for Sonoma State forward, Scott Runge. Scott had some good scoring chances, but wasn’t able to put the puck by the goaltenders; he did end up with 2 assists in the game. This game had goaltenders changing on the fly with the opposition rushing down on them. Brendan Welch of University of San Diego led all scoring with 2 goals and 5 assists. Erick Rivas of Cal Poly Pomona finished with 2 goals and 1 assist. Leading the Dark team was USC goaltender Elie Tawil with 2 goals.
"The game was a lot of fun. I had played my half of the game and was a little bored on the bench, so I grabbed a stick and skated out for a few minutes. Who knew I'd outscore both of my USC teammates," says Tawil. "I'm just hoping that they'll credit me a few goals and lower my goals against average a little."
Justin Hannah from UC Santa Barbara also finished with 2 goals for the Light team. 7 other players contributed, scoring 1 goal each, including Cal Poly Pomona goaltender Adrian Gonzalez. The final score was Dark 9, Light 6. Click here for game details: http://wcrhl.com/game.php?game_id=74298
Photos of the Division II/B All-Stars are forthcoming.
The Division I All-Star game was a lot less goalie-friendly. These skilled players scored 19 goals on 59 shots. UNLV’s Shawn Pearson led all scoring with 3 goals, and Charlie Middleton (UC Irvine), Mike Tasch (UC Irvine) and Josh Hackworth (Long Beach State) all finished with 3 points as well. The fans saw goaltender Kevin Leonard (UC Irvine) deking through his opposition, Ryan Burrows (Long Beach State) picking the puck up with his stick and lifting it over the goaltender’s left shoulder for 1 of his 2 goals, and 8 other players getting 2-point games. This game was definitely a 1-hour highlight reel.
"The all star game was definitely the most fun out of all the all star games I've played in.. The players were all having a good time joking around, we didn't really care about the score. We went out there to have fun and to put on a show for the people watching," comments UC Berkeley captain Charles Banh.
Present to observe the event and former high school league standouts competing, Jay Piz of the Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF) says, "the level of competition, sportsmanship and skills were dazzling! This event could easily serve as training film to younger members of the sport who will someday fill the collegiate ranks." Piz, who was following IHF alums in games and all star competition, summed his feelings about the now collegiate athletes by saying, "they’re good examples of local kids who kept with it and now are ambassadors of the sport at the collegiate level. One day they'll be bringing their sons and daughters to the rink and cheering them on."
Click here for game details: http://wcrhl.com/game.php?game_id=74299
The WCRHL also hosted it’s annual Alumni Game on Saturday evening. This game was a lot of fun, and reunited teammates and rivals from years past. Alumni from UCSB and UC Berkeley (dark team) faced off against alumni from Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Davis and University of San Diego (light team). The 2 goaltenders were Jeremy Guinta (UC Davis) and Danny Aoun (Cal Poly Pomona). The Light team prevailed, mostly due to the phenomena that is Tom (Wiebe-show) Wiebe (Cal Poly Pomona). Wiebe scored 4 goals and even assisted on one to teammate Rick Purcell (Cal Poly Pomon). The dark team battled throughout the game, with 3 goals and 1 assist scored by Jon Maganis (UC Berkeley). This game was also definitely not goaltender-friendly, as several of the alumni (League Director Brennan Edwards included) may have lost a step or two! The goaltenders both made some big saves, mostly on Jeremy Guinta’s end when defending against the Light team. The goaltenders switched teams each period.
Click here for game details: http://wcrhl.com/game.php?game_id=74300
All graduating seniors are encouraged to send an e-mail to [email protected] with your name and contact information so that you can be notified of these opportunities in future seasons. We are looking to hold 2 alumni games during the 2008-2009 season, the first one on October 26, 2008 at Rollin’ Ice in San Jose, CA and the second in Southern CA in February 2009.
The WCRHL continues league play this weekend, February 16th with dual events at Coast 2 Coast Hockey in Huntington Beach, CA and at the Davis Indoor Sports Center in Davis, CA. That will conclude the regular season and the Regional Championship Tournament will be held on March 1-2, 2008 at the 949 Roller Hockey Center in Irvine, CA. The WCRHL will also be hosting a free youth roller hockey clinic, aptly titled the “Mission Hockey College†at 5pm on Saturday March 1st. For information please email [email protected].
