February 28, 2005

Eastern Michigan And Western Michigan B Take Home Hardware

MCRHL Crowns 2005 Champions in Wixom

The 2005 MCRHL Championships were highlighted by 10 one-goal games and capped off with two great finals February 25-27 in Wixom, MI.

In the Active Division, Eastern Michigan won their second consecutive Haschel Cup, defeating the #1 ranked Michigan State Spartans 5-2. The game was in doubt until the final, empty net goal by the Eagles late in the third. By winning the tournament, the Eagles clinched the MCRHL?s automatic bid into the Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships to be held in Fort Collins, CO.

There was plenty of action leading up to the finals as well, although few upsets occurred in the Active Division bracket. Miami beat Michigan in the first round in an overtime thriller, 7-6, then eliminated Michigan from the tournament in the loser?s bracket two rounds later by scoring the game winning goal with just 15 seconds remaining. Those wins, combined with a good showing against Michigan State and a narrow loss to Western Michigan puts the Redhawks in the thick of the national tournament bubble. Both them and the Wolverines will anxiously await next week?s selections.

The full results of the tournament are posted, and stats will be coming soon. Here?s how the Active Division teams finished:

1^st - Eastern Michigan

2^nd - Michigan State

3 - Western Michigan

4 ? Miami

5/6 ? Michigan/Illinois State

7/8 ? Ohio State/Illinois

In the Development Division, Eastern Michigan B came up one goal short of defending their crown and completing the second consecutive Eastern Michigan sweep of the MCRHL. The Western Michigan B Broncos, who narrowly missed the national tournament last season, put themselves as the top MCRHL team when bids are handed out next week. The new tournament format could have hurt the Eagles, since they finished with only one loss in the tournament, but lost the biggest game, the one-game final.

The best game in the Development Division tournament and probably the entire MCRHL Championships was the third round elimination game between Michigan B and Michigan State B. The game went to overtime tied at 5 and was a few minutes into the second overtime before being decided with a Wolverine goal. The game was the longest in MCRHL history and had fans on both sides on the edge of their seats, especially during a wide open second OT period. It?s unfortunate for some of these teams that there are only 8 B teams invited to nationals, but as a result, the tension of this bracket is extremely high, and made for great hockey.

Northern Illinois made a great attempt to crash the party, but was eliminated on Saturday night by the Wolverines, 5-1. That set up a great semi-final between Western Michigan B and Michigan B not decided until the final buzzer, and then the great final game followed. Over half of the Development Division games (8 of 14) were decided by one goal, and this division has been a lot of fun to watch over the last two seasons.

Here?s how everyone finished in the Development Division:

1^st - Western Michigan B

2^nd ? Eastern Michigan B

3^rd ? Michigan B

4^th ? Northern Illinois

5/6 ? Michigan State B/Illinois B

7/8 ? Michigan Tech/Ohio State B

All in all, it was another great weekend for the MCRHL, and many teams will be looking towards the selections next week to see if they advanced to the national tournament.

The MCRHL will be announcing its all-star selections within a week or so as well, inviting all of the members to compete for the MCRHL all-region team in summer events when possible.

Stay tuned to NCRHA.org and MCRHL.com in the next couple of weeks for updates, outlooks, news, and stats and we race towards the selections for the 2005 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships.