PRIDE AND PASSION
Division II, B, and Junior College teams gave everything in their NCRHA championship quests.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:31PM April 10th, 2009 4:27AM
by Richard Graham
Favorites fell, new champions were crowned and hearts were broken… at least, until next year. Next year, however, will be too late for many seniors who are moving on to graduation.
Held at the Sportsplex in Feasterville, PA, from April 2-5, the 2009 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association’s National Championships drew teams from across the nation. There was much drama and excitement in Division II, B Division and the Junior College Division games. Teams in those three divisions chased their collegiate inline hockey dreams just as hard as the Division I teams did, and the passion they showed during the tournament rubbed off on spectators and league administrators alike.
DIVISION II RESULTS AND WRAP-UP
Semifinal: Central Michigan 10, Neumann 4
Semifinal: Grand Valley 7, Missouri State 2
Final: Grand Valley 9, Central Michigan 7
Quarterfinal: Grand Valley 5, West Chester 4
On Saturday evening, April 4, the West Chester University of Pennsylvania Golden Rams, with 16 wins, one loss and one tie in the regular season, missed a penalty shot with no time remaining on the clock against Grand Valley State University Lakers that would have tied the game at 5-5, given the Rams a two-man advantage in overtime and an almost sure win. Though it wasn’t a championship final, it was surely one of the most exciting games in the tournament. West Chester, down 5-2 early in the third period, got a power play goal by Brian Ems at 3:19 and a goal by Bob McLaughlin at 11:42 to tighten the game up at 5-4. That’s when the real drama began.
With just seconds left in regulation, with Grand Valley holding a shaky one-goal lead and with a man in the penalty box, Grand Valley’s Nick Boyle threw his stick to try and knock away a pass. A delayed penalty ensued, and the final few seconds of regulation elapsed. At the end of regulation, Grand Valley’s Ryan Gendron took a roughing call, which meant that if a penalty shot was scored and the game tied, the Lakers’ would be down two skaters in overtime – which is basically a death sentence in roller hockey.
Tim Saraceni lined up at the center faceoff dot to take the penalty shot. The game clock showed 0:00. Saraceni, whose NCRHA bio listed his favorite hockey moment as “scoring the game-winning goal in overtime in my High School Championship game,†was forced to circle and wait while the referee explained the situation to the Grand Valley bench. Then the whistle designating the penalty shot could commence was heard. Saraceni wasted no time – he raced first to his left and then down the slot toward Laker goalie Keith Chapman’s stick and blocker side. Saraceni deked once, Chapman bit, and then Saraceni fired a shot directed toward an opening on the (his) right side of the net – and the puck clanked squarely against the post. Chapman pumped his glove and stick in jubilation and was swarmed by his teammates. Saraceni skated far back into corner of his own zone and slammed his stick down in frustration. He was joined by his teammates who consoled him, and then he and the rest of the Rams immediately skated to center rink for the traditional hockey handshake. The Rams’ players were obviously disappointed, but they showed great class in defeat.
Championship Game: Grand Valley 9, Central Michigan 7
Division II was assured of a new champion in 2009, as both the defending champion Neumann College Knights (who lost to Central Michigan in the semifinals) and the last year’s runner up, the West Chester Golden Rams, were out of the picture.
Still, this year’s championship game was be a wild one, a barnburner from the start, with eight goals scored in the first period alone, with the Grand Valley State Lakers holding a 5-3 lead as the first period ended. The Lakers padded their lead in the second, and the Central Michigan Chippewas started the third period down 7-4. The Lakers made it 8-4 on a hat-trick goal by Nick Boyle before the Chippewas reeled off three straight goals, two of which were power play goals, to inch within one, at 8-7, at 6:36. However, Nick Boyle scored his fourth goal of the game to give the Lakers an insurance goal, at 9-7. At 9:30, Central Michigan’s Chad Spezia was called for tripping, and arguing vociferously, Spezia was hit with game-ejection and game-disqualification penalties. There was no scoring beyond that point, and the Grand Valley State Lakers had won their first Division II championship.
Division II Quotebook
Nick Boyle, the captain of the Grand Valley State Lakers, scored four goals and an assist in the championship final against the Central Michigan Chippewas: “It’s pretty amazing. It’s only our team’s fourth year in the league. I played pretty well. Neumann and West Chester – for us to come out on top is amazing. Our goalie Keith Chapman saved us a lot. He made big saves for us to keep us in it.â€
Ryan Gendron, president of the Grand Valley State team: “If you had told us we’d be here at the beginning of the season, we wouldn’t have believed it. We started with just a few core guys. It feels amazing. We’d lost to Central Michigan in regionals; that makes it so much better. This is my third year, and it’s the culmination of everything that everybody on the team worked for. Both of our seniors, Tony Switkowski and Nick Boyle, deserve a lot of credit. Tony has become a regular, and as a senior, it means that much more.â€
After Central Michigan knocked Division II powerhouse Neumann out of the tournament, 10-4, Chippewa player Kyle Mouch said, “We knew that we had to come out hard and skate fast. We had to play tough defense; that was the focus of our game. We knew that we had to work it down low, and keep it going. Our power play was the difference; that’s how we get all of our goals.
After losing to Central Michigan, Neumann goaltender Sean Yingling said, “It’s a disappointment. I’m a senior. You don’t want a game like that to end your career. I give a lot of credit to our team. Things don’t go your way all the time, and you have to go out with class. We did.â€
**
B DIVISION
Semifinal: Lindenwood Gold 4, Buffalo 3
Semifinal: Penn State 7, Central Florida 1
Final: Lindenwood Gold 8, Penn State 2
Championship Game: Lindenwood Gold 8, Penn State 2
The road to the B Division final was a tough for Lindenwood Gold. In the quarterfinals, LU narrowly defeated West Chester, 8-7, in overtime. Lions’ defensemen Alex Rodgers got the overtime winner. In the semifinals, Lindenwood barely squeezed past the University at Buffalo Wings, 4-3, again in overtime, on a goal by David Murphy. Meanwhile, Penn State got to the final by defeating Michigan State, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, and breezing breezed past Central Florida, 7-1, in the semifinals.
In the championship final, Lindenwood Gold scored first, and after Penn State tied the game at 1-1, Lindenwood reeled off seven straight goals to put the game out of reach. The Nittany Lions scored one more late goal, but to no avail, and Lindenwood Gold won handily, 8-2. Lindenwood was led by Patrick Fuist (two goals and an assist), James Schenewerk (one goal and two assists), and David Murphy (two goals). Penn State’s goals were scored by Jesse Patnesky and Jason Bogert. Lindenwood’s victory gave the team its sixth straight B Division national championship.
B Division Quotebook
“We played Penn State about the same as we did last time,†said Megan Gault, one of Lindenwood B’s goaltenders, and one of only three female players in the tournament. “Our power play was better at the end of the season, and a lot of players that we brought up came out of their shells and played great.â€
**
JUNIOR COLLEGE DIVISION
Semifinal: Saddleback 3, Nassau 2
Semifinal: St. Charles 5, Suffolk 4
Final: Saddleback Gauchos 4, St. Charles Cougars 3
Championship Game: Saddleback Gauchos 4, St. Charles Cougars 3
The St. Charles Community College Cougars struck first in this game, with Mike Russell scoring a power play goal, assisted by Andy Draper, after the Gauchos’ Tyler Fick took an early interference penalty. The Gauchos, however, returned the favor by getting a power play goal of their own when St. Charles’ Matt Johnson took a hooking call at 6:22. It only took Pat Kolyouthapong 18 seconds to notch the game at 1-1. At 8:20, Cougar forward Kenny Gales scored on an assist by Russell, and the first period ended with St. Charles in front, 2-1.
With a little less than three minutes remaining in the second period, Rob Alexander scored the equalizer on an assist from Gaucho’s teammate James Irwin, making it 2-2. That was the only goal of the second stanza. In the third, each team potted a goal. St. Charles struck first, with Andy Draper firing in a shot that was assisted by Matt Johnson at 4:40. Less than a minute later, Rob Alexander, with a helper from Tyler Fick, tied it all up again at 3-3. The rest of the period saw end-to-end action and much physical play, but no additional scoring. In overtime, the two teams continued to battle hard, and when Andy Draper was assessed a controversial call for tripping at the 6:08 mark, Saddleback’s James Irwin didn’t waste any time in making him pay – Irwin scored an unassisted goal at 6:32 to give Saddleback the Junior College Division championship.
After the game, the St. Charles coaches and players were upset and angry, and had many choice comments, mostly on the presumption that no such call should have been made in overtime. But the NCRHA referees had been drilled to be consistent throughout the games, and that a penalty in the first period was a penalty in overtime.
Junior College Division Quotebook
St. Charles’ Mike Russell was classy in defeat after the game, answering a reporter’s questions despite his obvious disappointment: “If you take too many penalties, it’s going to cost you. Our goalie, Ryan Wooldridge, played the best game he’s played.†Wooldridge made 22 saves on 26 shots.
Taz Viloria made 17 saves on 20 shots for the Gauchos. “We started off bad and went down early,†Viloria said. “When they hit the post in OT, it was scary.â€
“We came out tough, had a bad break, took a couple of penalties and went down,†said Tyler Fick, a freshman defenseman for the Gauchos. But we came back and won. ‘One team, one dream’ – that’s the motto we followed all year long.â€
**
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS
True Mavericks
The University of Texas at Arlington showed heart and courage at the NCRHA Finals.
by Will Doan
UTA’s Roller Hockey B team represented the Southwest Collegiate Hockey League in the B Division along with Division I schools like Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas and Texas Tech. UTA competed in the bracket consisting of West Chester, Central Florida and Missouri-St. Louis. UTA brought only four skaters and a goalie, without any backup payers, which is known as an “Iron-Man†team. UTA knew that going to nationals was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and competing at this level with only five players was going to be hard. But these dedicated players came to represent the league and the school with pride. After suffering defeats from West Chester, UCF and UMSL, and being outscored 36-0, UTA faced one of the most highly respected hockey programs in the nation — Michigan State — in the first round of the playoffs. Although the game ended in a rout for the Michigan State Spartans, 17-0, the Mavs never gave up, playing the full 36-minute game to end their run at the national tournament.
After the game, UTA and Michigan State players conversed and took pictures together; commemorating UTA’s run to nationals and forever earning the respect of other teams, divisions and fans. The four skaters and goalie representing UTA at nationals have been considered to be one of the most dedicated to the game. UTA didn’t care what the outcome was but played for the most important reason of all – fun.
Some league directors from SCHL and others from different regions thanked UTA for coming all the way and hoped UTA had a blast. Stephen Brim, Ryan Kallus, Eric Ficht and Quang Nguyen and I will forever remember that in 2009, we went to nationals, representing the University of Texas at Arlington and the Southwest Collegiate Hockey League with pride and good sportsmanship. After all the festivities and the trip back home, the UTA players didn’t leave a place to play hockey but left a place after showing fans and players true dedication to the sport “for the love of the game.â€
First-Year Team to National Champions in One Season
How Saddleback College’s Hockey Team Exemplifies the Success of Roller Hockey in Southern California.
by Jill Fox
In April of 2008, the Saddleback College roller hockey team had just received its charter from the college, and had just begun to recruit players for the team. Fast forward one year, and the Saddleback College roller hockey team is standing in the middle of a very crowded hockey facility in Philadelphia, PA, flanked by a three-foot-tall trophy, screaming fans and a gigantic banner proclaiming them the “2008-2009 NCRHA Junior College National Champions!†They had just knocked off the seven- time National Junior College Champions, St. Charles Community College, in an exciting overtime win.
What happened in between, demonstrates the love and commitment that roller hockey players have for their sport. It’s important to know that roller hockey is still not an NCAA recognized sport. Therefore, no funding is given to the teams, and no scholarships are available to the players. These kids have to pay for everything out of their own pockets. It’s no easy task for kids to pay for both their tuition, and their own hockey costs. Hockey is important to them, so they make it work.
Saddleback College plays in the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (www.ncrha.org). The NCRHA has seven leagues, and Saddleback is part of the Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League (www.wcrhl.com). The NCRHA is the governing body for college roller hockey, and consists of 134 college hockey teams from all across the country. Locally; Chapman, CSU Fullerton, El Camino, CSU Long Beach, San Diego State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, U of San Diego and USC are also members of the WCRHL.
Saddleback College’s team was founded on April 8, 2008, by Taz Viloria, who was the goalie for Mission Viejo High School’s varsity roller hockey team at the time. Taz was getting ready to attend Saddleback College in the fall, and had a strong desire to play college hockey. Since Saddleback College had no hockey team, Taz worked extensively with the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, to make his dream of playing college hockey a reality. Taz, being a nationally ranked roller hockey goalie, was able to recruit several talented players to join him on the team. When all was said and done, Saddleback ended up with two teams, one playing in the Junior College (JC) division, and one playing in the B division.
Both teams were successful this past season, with the B team having a 12-4 regular season record, and making it all the way to the playoffs at Nationals before being eliminated. This is quite an accomplishment for a team that almost folded in September because they did not have a goalie. Had it not been for James Irwin, one of the most talented skaters on the A team who stepped up and offered to play goalie for the B team as well, this team may have been finished before the season even started. Instead they ended the year being ranked 10th in the country in the B Division.
The JC team began the season by winning the College Division of the “Give Blood Play Hockey†tournament (www.givebloodplayhockey.org/tournament) held in Irvine, California in September. They went on the have a regular season record of 13-3, beating many Division 1 schools along the way. After receiving a bid to Nationals, the JC team went on to win all three round robin games, their semi-final, and the final game, earning them the National Collegiate JC Champion title. They won their final game in OT, on a goal by James Irwin. (The same guy who had stepped up to help out the B team all season long.) Now that’s hockey karma!
Roller hockey is very big in Southern California, and continues to grow quickly. Roller hockey players are even making their way into the NHL. (Anyone ever heard of a former SoCal roller hockey player named Bobby Ryan?) The Anaheim Ducks (www.anaheimducks.com) have launched a huge initiative to grow both ice and roller hockey in SoCal, and have put money and resources into rinks and teams at various levels. The Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF) (www.ihf-hockey.org) has made roller hockey teams a staple in most every Orange County high school. Seven of the nine players on Saddleback’s national championship team are products of the IFH, with six of them having played for Mission Viejo High School. There are approximately 55 high school roller hockey teams in Orange County, and 15 middle school teams as well. The 949 Roller Hockey Center in Irvine (home rink for the National Champion Saddleback Gauchos), is also home to as many as 40 exceptional, travel roller hockey teams. This rink is the hub of roller hockey on the West Coast (www.949rollerhockey.com).
With the love of roller hockey, and all of the talent in SoCal, you can see how the Saddleback College Gauchos went from first year team to national champions in their first year of existence!
