Repeats All Around

This weekend saw some great action at the WCRHL Regional Championship Tournament.  In the end, the champions of each Division were all repeat champions from 2004-2005.  In Division I, Riverside Community College defeated UC Irvine by a score of 11-10 to repeat their title.  In Division II, the University of Nevada Reno defeated UC San Diego to repeat as champion.  In the B Division, Cal Poly SLO B Gold defeated Cal Poly Pomona B in a 4-3 overtime game with much excitement.

 

In Division I Round Robin Play, Riverside CC and Cal Poly SLO would dominate, going 3-0 to lead each pool and earn a spot in the semifinals.  UC Santa Barbara went 2-1, losing only to Cal Poly SLO by a score of 6-2.  UC Irvine would go 2-1, losing only to Riverside CC by a score of 13-1.  CSU San Bernardino and UC Davis would finish 1-2, with CSUSB defeating Chapman 7-5 and UC Davis getting a forfeit win from Modesto JC.

 

The Division I Semifinal games had a lot riding on them.  Should RCC win their game, the winner of the other semifinal would earn the WCRHL?s automatic bid to the 2006 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships, to be held at the Carolina Sportsplex in Morrisville, North Carolina.  UC Irvine would get past Cal Poly SLO by a score of 4-1, with the 4th goal being an empty netter with one second to go in the game.  RCC beat UCSB by a score of 9-3; RCC was ahead 7-0 at the end of the second period, UCSB would battle to get 3 goals, but not before RCC scored 2 more of their own.  This would pit RCC against UC Irvine for the Division I Championship.

 

In the Division I Final, the score would be tied 5-5 at the end of the first period and tied again 7-7 at the end of the second.  Riverside CC opened up the scoring in the third period with 4 goals in less than 4 minutes.  That would prove to be enough, even a natural hat trick by UC Irvine forward Charles Middleton couldn?t catch RCC as they went on to their 2nd consecutive WCRHL Division I championship.  Charles Middleton of UC Irvine with 6 goals and 2 assists and Brandon Barnette of RCC with 4 goals and 3 assists led their teams in scoring.

 

Division II action saw a 4 team Round Robin Pool, with the top 2 teams advancing to the Championship Game on Sunday.  UC San Diego finished round robin 3-0 and University of Nevada Reno finished 2-1, losing only to UCSD 7-4 in the opening DII game on Saturday.  Nevada and UCSD both inched past Long Beach State, by respective scores of 7-5 and 5-3.

 

The Division II Final was a classic.  With Nevada starting goaltender Matt Van Ness on the bench, as a result of an ankle injury in their game against Long Beach, they did not let that effect them and played a tight game with UC San Diego.  UC San Diego would strike first 2 minutes into the game with a goal from Ben Yeaton, who would finish with 2 goals on the game.  Nevada would score 3 straight goals, one in the 1st and 2 in the 2nd.  UC San Diego would strike back and get within one with 15 seconds left in the 2nd period.  Nevada forward Devon Hume would strike halfway through the 3rd period, with his 3rd goal of the game, to put Nevada up 4-2.  UC San Diego?s Ben Yeaton struck back about 45 seconds later to get within one goal again, but the game played itself out and Nevada held on to win their 2nd consecutive WCRHL Division II Championship.
 
The B Division would also play in one 4-team Round Robin Pool, with the top 2 teams advancing to the Championship Game on Sunday morning.  Cal Poly SLO B Gold dominated their competition, scoring 20 goals and allowing only 4 in round robin play.  Cal Poly Pomona B would earn the other spot in the B Division Final, beating Cal Poly SLO B Green 5-2, tying UCSB B Gold 4-4, and losing to Cal Poly SLO B Gold 5-2 in their first game of the tournament.

 

Cal Poly SLO B Gold would meet Cal Poly Pomona B in the B Division Championship Game on Sunday morning, and it was Cal Poly SLO B Gold that would strike first, with a powerplay goal by Sean Fujihara 5 minutes into the game.  Pomona would strike back 5 minutes later, but SLO would answer back, and the conclusion 1st period the score would be 2-1 SLO.  SLO took a 2-goal lead just 26 seconds into the 2nd period.  About a minute later, SLO player Shane Saltzgiver would take a double-minor penalty, and Cody Mead of Pomona would score a powerplay goal, assisted by Scott Matsumoto.  The remainder of the 2nd period would offer each team some powerplay time, but not a full powerplay for either squad, and there was no additional scoring in the period.  Down by only 1 goal entering the 3rd period, Pomona would have to kill off a penalty halfway through the period, but after doing so gained some momentum, and with slightly less than 2 minutes remaining in the 3rd, Cody Mead would score his 2nd goal of the game to tie the score at 3-3.  The 3rd period would end 3-3 and overtime would be needed.  It took only 3 minutes and 22 seconds into the overtime to determine a winner, but the action was non-stop.  SLO had 5 shots in the overtime period while Pomona would have just 2.  Bart Long of SLO would get the game-winning goal, assisted by Stephen Rockwell, and Cal Poly SLO B Gold would win their 2nd consecutive WCRHL B Division Championship.

 

Congratulations to the Champions, Runners Ups for game well played, and thank you to all teams that participated in the WCRHL Regional Championship Tournament.

 

All teams are looking forward to the next step, the 2006 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships.  The NCRHA Selection Committee will be meeting very shortly and an announcement will be made online at www.ncrha.org as well as www.wcrhl.com.  Stay Tuned!