We are the champions!
Teams in four divisions climb to the top at the 2008 NCRHA championships
April 17th, 2008 at 5:40AM February 24th, 2014 1:17PM
by Richard Graham
There were lots of upsets and surprises at the 2008 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association Championships, but after all the skating was over and all the penalties had been called, most of the pre-event favorites had prevailed. From April 9-14, 60 teams from seven regions played 146 games before champions were crowned in four different divisions – I, II, III and B – at the Colorado’s Tour Inline Hockey Arena (Colorado Springs) and the Colorado Sports Center (Monument).
Perennial inline hockey powerhouse Lindenwood University of the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League won gold in both Division I and in the B Division; it was seven straight championships for the stellar Division I team, as they defeated divisional rival University of Missouri - St. Louis, a team that had handed them their only loss of the season in their regional championship game. In the B Division final, Lindenwood Black defeated Central Florida, 5-1.
Aston, Pennsylvania’s Neumann College, undefeated in the regular season, emerged victorious in Division II, defeating West Chester University. Both teams play in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association.
In Division III, Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League’s Broward Community College, a team that had won 15 and tied two of its 19 games during the regular season, squeaked by the Oakland Community College Warriors of the Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey League in overtime, 8-7.
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament didn’t have anything to do with inline hockey -- American Airlines was forced by the Federal Aviation Administration to check electrical wiring in all 300 of its MD-80 aircraft – causing hundreds of flights to be delayed. The University of Tampa Spartans paid for that snafu -- the team arrived too late to play in their first scheduled game, and their equipment arrived too late for their second game – so they borrowed equipment lent to them by Lindenwood Black.
The most exciting game of the tournament ("The Miracle on Plastic") was the Sweet Sixteen game between the Stony Brook Seawolves and the UC Irvine Anteaters. Irvine, down 8-3 late in the second period, scored five straight goals to tie the game in regulation, and then scored the winning goal in overtime to stun an excellent Stony Brook team, which was led by the classy Jim Tamburino. The 2007 Division II NCRHA national champions, the Seawolves had moved up to Division I for the 2008 tournament.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Division I
Lindenwood University defeated the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL), 6-3. Tommy Bruce, picking up where he left off against UC Irvine in the quarterfinals, scored to give Lindenwood the early lead. His team built a 3-0 lead on goals by Jeff Hill and Kyle Gouge, before UMSL got on the scoreboard on a goal by PJ Tallo. But Gouge scored his second goal of the game to give Lindenwood a 4-1 lead. The Tritons tightened the score to 4-2 with 6:56 left in the second period with a two-man-advantage power play goal by Andy Meade, before the teams traded goals to make it 5-3. With 1:07 left, Lindenwood's Jeff Hill scored to put the game away, 6-3. Lindenwood deserved the win, never resorting to a prevent defense, and continued its seven-straight championships dynasty. (For a detailed story on this game, please clicke here.)
Division II
The Neumann Knights played the West Chester Golden Rams and won handily, 6-1, to continue their domination of Division II. Neumann’s speed and energy had the Rams back on their heels for much of the game, though the game was as close as 2-1 at one point. Four straight goals by Neumann put the game out of reach.
Division III
Broward Community College defeated Oakland Community College, 8-7 in overtime. Blake Johnson scored three goals and an assist in the third period to erase a 6-3 deficit, and then scored the game winner in overtime. Jason Yokubison scored four goals for Oakland CC in a losing cause. Only four penalties were called in the game.
B Division
Lindenwood University B defeated University of Central Florida B by a score of 5-1. In a penalty-filled game, with eight calls in the third period alone, Lindenwood enjoyed a 5-0 lead before Central Florida got on the scoreboard early in the third period. Five different players scored goals for Lindenwood, with Patrick Fuist scoring a goal and two assists to lead the Missourians.
QUOTEBOOK
Stick Him in the Net
“Our goalie played defense for us last year, and as you can see, we don’t have a lot of players at UCI, so we had to strap some pads on him and make him a goalie. Kevin really made some big saves throughout the tournament, and we wouldn't have come this far without him.†– UC Irvine’s Jeff Pollock
Rookie Mistake
“They dumped it in at the end of the second period, it took a bad bounce, that was lack of experience right there… like we said, I’ve only been playing goalie for six months. It’s tough to bounce back from that, but we’re proud – regardless. We came here, turned some heads, proved some people wrong, and showed that five guys can skate with everyone else.†– UCI goaltender Kevin Leonard, discussing a mistake he made, throwing a loose puck into the slot late in the second period of a 5-3 game. Lindenwood’s Tommy Bruce made him pay, and Lindenwood took a 6-3 lead and never looked back, winning 11-4.
Thanks to the Fans
“Lindenwood is the only team I’m all right with losing to… they’ve got 14 guys and are fully sponsored, head to toe. We come out with five guys and we just come out to play; we can’t hang our heads. Thanks to all the fans that helped us out; we couldn’t have made the comebacks without the fans; players from UNLV, CSU San Bernardino…†– UCI’s Mike Tasch
Fast Times
“They were just too fast and too talented; we just couldn’t hang with it. Even when I’m fresh I’m not that fast, so … I hurt my knee pretty bad when I fell early in the game. I thought I was pushed, but…†– UCI’s sharp-shooting Charlie Middleton
Little T-Money
“I’m proud to be a part of this team. It’s a good team; it’s got a lot of heart. Four of us will be back next year, and little T-Money, Mike Tasch’s little brother will play for us.†(Charlie Middleton and Fabian Mueller will be leaving.) – UCI’s Alex Frecker
Seven Years of College Down the Drain
“It’s been a pleasure to play with these guys this year; we came a long way. I’ve been playing with this team for seven years and every year we’ve been getting better. Seven years ago we played DII. This year, we kept getting better and we did what we had to do to get here… but, we came up against a really good team. [Seven years of college down the drain?] Yeah, I’m getting a Ph.D.†– UCI’s Fabian Mueller
Go Hard
“I would say we got three or four shorthanded goals; I got three, myself. You’ve got to go hard until the buzzer goes off; you never know what’s going to happen.†– Tommy Bruce, Lindenwood, Division I
Revenge on the Mind
“Yeah, we’re ready to go. We’re not going to take ‘em lightly; they’re a good team, but we’re going to come out and give it our best.†– Tommy Bruce, Lindenwood, Division I
Stepping It Up Against UCI
“We had about three or four shorthanded goals. They were all pretty nasty; we usually don’t do that, so we’re really stepping it up at these nationals… The story of the game – we were out-skating them to every puck; they only had five guys, which kind of hurt ‘em, because they were dead by the second period. They played really good, but we basically out-skated them and played strong D.†– Travis Fudge, Lindenwood, Division I
Pre-Game Strategy
“We’ve just go to do the same thing. In regionals, we beat UMSL 11-2 in our first game; in our second game, they beat us 5-4 or 6-5, something like that… we just came in with big heads. This time, we’ve got to come in with mental minds (keep your head, don’t think too much, do the easy plays) and skate hard and play hard.†– Travis Fudge, Lindenwood Division I
Speed Kills
“Lindenwood is a great team, they’ve got a lot of speed; we tried to contain ‘em but they’re way too talented. Getting an early lead is always a big part of it; you have confidence and go from there. You give an early lead to a team like that, and it’s hard to get it back. Lindenwood has so much speed that if they get the puck and skate it, they’re going to burn anybody. Speed for speed, nobody can match ‘em. They use it to their advantage. We knew had to get on Lindenwood first… but we took penalties and they got on the board first. They’re a great club, they control the puck, letting them get on top and control the game is the nail in the coffin.†– The University of Missouri - St. Louis’s PJ Tallo
Shorthanded Success
“That’s the first time we’ve given up a short-handed goal to them all year; a couple of bad bounces end up not coming your way and they’ve got a couple guys who are so fast that you can’t do a thing about it.†– UMSL’s team captain Adam Clarke
Bitter Rivals
“Each team wanted it real bad; we’re bitter rivals... they beat us in our regional championship, so it feels great to beat ’em again. They were playing a trap so we tried to use our speed and go to the outside and put the puck on the net and get the rebounds past their netminder. Everything worked out for us. We used our speed, dumped it in, and got a couple of shorties [short-handed goals]; everything helps; every little goal.†– Lindenwood’s Kyle Gouge
Seven for Seven
“It was a well-fought game, and our team came through again defensively; that’s the first aspect at all times. This is our seventh championship in a row.†– Lindenwood Division I goaltender Dustin Brown
Astonishing Action
“It was another phenomenal year for the NCRHA and the collegiate championships; unfortunately, not enough players, parents or hockey advocates recognize the talent at this event or realize the aptitude of inline hockey nationwide. The talent, coaching and support and support of the teams competing at the NCRHA Championships would astonish even the slightest hockey advocate.†– Derek Thede, Rocky Mountain Collegiate Roller Hockey Association
“Each year we are raising the bar to bring the Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships to a new level for our member teams. Off the rink, media coverage is more extensive then we’ve ever had in the past, gaining significant exposure and recognition for our players, teams and college roller hockey in general. We continue to improve on the College Information Station which, thanks to the participation of almost half our member schools, is growing by leaps and bounds. Players should be on the lookout for an announcement shortly of the NCRHA/Revision All-American Team selections, awarding 10 players from Nationals, across all divisions, with 'head to toe' merchandise from Revision Hockey. With such loyal support from all of our sponsors, teams, staff and fans, we're really excited about what the future holds for the NCRHA.†– Nanette Houser, NCRHA director of Marketing
SHOTS AND SAVES
NCRHA Coach's Symposium
On Thursday, April 10, the NCRHA hosted an informal coach’s symposium at the Marriott Colorado Springs. The event was attended by 1984 U.S. Olympic ice hockey coach Lou Vairo, Towson coach Kevin Murphy, Western Carolina Catamounts coach Mike DeCarle, Saint Louis University coach Dan Hurt, and the NCRHA’s Rob Coggin. Vairo, the director of special projects for USA Hockey since 1992, was impressed by the leadership that volunteer coaches are providing to many NCRHA teams. “You’re on the right track,†Vairo told the symposium attendees. “You’re providing leadership, and that is what is most needed.â€
Hurt told the gathering that the collegiate players are the future leaders of our country, and that they are going to help the United States compete in the global market.
Kevin Murphy, who considers his Towson players as his children, said that there’s a reason he works so hard for his team. “My wife and I don’t have kids; I do it because I love these kids and I love this sport.â€
Mission Hockey College
The Mission Hockey College was an extracurricular event that helped bring young children in contact with the NCRHA players, helping to show them options they had to play hockey in the future: http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/article.php?article_id=52540).
Connection to Greatness
Al Pederson, the rink manager at the Colorado Sports Center, one of the two event venues, was once Ray Bourque’s defensive partner with the Boston Bruins.
Awesome Audio
Bill Courtland provided live audio broadcasts of about six games per day from Tour Arena via his website, www.ibsu.net. Copies of his broadcast tapes are available on his website. Live broadcasts of select games are available at www.ncrha.org/championships.
HockeyTube
NBC Channel 5 (Colorado Springs) and ABC Channel 7 (Denver) ran stories about the University of Tampa’s trials and tribulations relating to the American Airlines situation. CBS Channel 11 KKTV (Colorado Springs) sent a reporter and a cameraman to the Tour Arena for the DI final, airing a clip of Lindenwood’s victory over UMSL on the 11 o’clock news. The clip can be viewed at http://www.kktv.com/sports. ISPN, the Ingrum Sports Production Network, created by Tour Inline Hockey Arena owner Jeff Ingrum, taped two semifinals and the DI and DII championship games. Bill Courtland did the play-by-play, while Brian Yingling, leading scorer on Team USA last year, did color commentary. The complete production will be supplied to Comcast for broadcast in Denver and Colorado Springs. DVDs of the games will be available for purchase in a few weeks after editing and production is complete.
Print, Too
Colorado Hockey Insider, a magazine that is distributed for free at ice and inline facilities in Colorado, interviewed the NCRHA’s Rob Coggin and Antone Lawrence about the NCRHA, the event, and the sport of roller hockey.
For all the scores and more, please see the NCRHA National Championshis website at www.ncrha.org/championships.
