SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

Damian Spartans top Winternationals High School Division

By Phillip Brents
Posted Feb. 6, 2006

The High School Division at this year's NARCh Winternational featured an all-Ca1ifornia championship game, with the Damien Spartans downing Santiago High School, 6-1, in the title game. Arizona's Centennial High School finished third.

Damien's Nick Dillon won the high scorer award with 3.5 points per game while Darrell Newsome of Santiago was named the division's top goaltender with a .822 save percentage.

This year's field featured six teams, including three from California (Santiago and Damien varsity and junior varsity), two from Arizona (Centennial and Mountain Ridge) and one from Colorado (the Eagle Nest Raptors).

Santiago, which won the 2001 NARh Varsity Cup and posted runner-up finishes at each of the next two NARCh Finals, finished 4-0 in preliminary competition, including a 3-2 victory against Damien (which finished 3-1). Centennial and Damien's JV squad both finished 2-2, with Centennial earning the third seed for the playoffs by virtue of its 9-3 win against the Damien JV squad.

Damien, which had finished second at last year’s NARCh Finals and also at last year’s NARCh Winternationals, had defeated Centennial, 5-3, in preliminary play and the team's one-game playoff ended with an 8-3 victory by the California team. Dillon, who also won the high scorer award in the Bantam Platinum Division while playing for the Mission Velocity Habs, was on fire in the championship game, figuring in every Damian goal as the second-seeded squad built a 4-0 lead after one period.

Santiago had entered the final with wins against Damien's JV team (5-2), Mountain Ridge (5-3), Centennial (5-3) and Damien's varsity squad (3-2). Damien defeated Mountain Ridge (7-1) and Eagle Crest (12-4) in addition to the two wins against Centennial.

Damien's JV team scored wins against Eagle Crest (4-3) and Mountain Ridge (6-5). Eagle Crest finished 1-3, with its lone tournament victory coming against Mountain Ridge (10-6). Mountain Ridge finished 0-4.

NARCh Winternationals
High School Division
Saturday, Jan. 14
Santiago (Calif.) 5, Damien JV (Calif.) 2
Centennial (Ariz.) 5, Eagle Crest (Colo.) 4
Damien Spartans (Calif.) 7, Mountain Ridge (Ariz.) 1

Sunday, Jan. 15
Damien Spartans (Calif.) 5, Centennial (Ariz.) 3
Santiago (Calif.) 5, Mountain Ridge (Ariz.) 3
Damien JV (Calif.) 4, Eagle Crest Raptors (Colo.) 3
Damien Spartans (Calif.) 12, Eagle Crest Raptors (Colo.) 4
Santiago (Calif.) 5, Centennial (Ariz.) 3
Damien JV (Calif.) 6, Mountain Ridge (Ariz.) 5

Monday, Jan. 16
Santiago (Calif.) 3, Damien Spartans (Calif.) 2
Eagle Crest Raptors (Colo.) 10, Mountain Ridge (Ariz.) 6
Centennial (Ariz.) 9, Damien JV (Calif.) 3

Records: Santiago 4-0; Damien Spartans 3-1; Centennial 2-2; Damien JV 2-2; Eagle Crest Raptors 1-3; Mountain Ridge 0-4.

Playoff: (2) Damien Spartans (Calif.) 8, (3) Centennial (Ariz.) 3
Championship: (2) Damien Spartans (Calif.) 6, (1) Santiago (Calif.) 1

NARCh Winternationals excels on the court
California teams skate to 10 division titles

The 2006 NARCh Winternationals event was, in the opinion of NARCh president Daryn Goodwin, "one of the best to date, if not the best." Considering the quality of the event seems to improve each year, those are pretty strong words indeed.

But apparently warranted.

This year's Winternationals, held Jan. 13-16 and Jan. 20-23 at the Arizona Sports Complex in Phoeniz, Ariz., attracted 163 teams. While not a record in terms of number of teams, the scope of the midseason tournament seems to keep expanding in terms of quality. Teams from Oregon, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, New York as well as Canada participated at this year's event along with squads from California, Arizona and Nevada.

Tournament titles were awarded in three tiered divisions: Silver, Gold and Platinum. Teams competed within those tiered divisions in sub-divisions based on age group. Goodwin said the addition of the Silver Division for teams getting their first taste of the NARCh experience was a hit.

"The addition of (the) Silver (Division) gave a lot of teams that were brand new to NARCh a taste of what it's all about," Goodwin said. "The venue and the city were both great hosts."

Besides the actual competition, players, parents and fans also got to rub elbows with NHL players Keith Ballard, Fredrik Sjostrom, Matt Jones and Steve Gainey courtesy of the hometown Phoenix Coyotes.

Godwin said the showing at this year's NARCh Winternationals should provide a great kick-start to the second-half of the season. "This year (2006) will be a great year. Everyone is excited about heading to Toronto for the NARCh Finals in July," he said.

The big winners at this year's tournament included the Colorado Kodiaks with two championships (Silver Squirt and Atom Gold) and one runner-up finish (Pee Wee Silver) and the Mission Velocity Habs (Pee Wee and Bantam Platinum Division) with two NARCh Winternationals gold medals. The Mission Habs Junior Platinum Division team added yet another gold medal for the Habs moniker.

The Mission Snipers from Long Island, N.Y., made the long trek to the American Southwest play off with Platinum Midget and Division I titles.

The locals also came prepared with their best game as Arizona teams racked up five division championships, including thee by the Mission Arizona Stars and one each by the Team Excalibur and Rollerplex Panthers organizations.

Overall, California teams skated to 10 division titles — double that of the Arizona teams. Teams from New York and Colorado each skated to two Winternationals titles while Nevada had one champion. In all, five U.S. states and two Canadian provinces were represented in the medals parade.

Silver Division champions included the Mission Arizona Stars (Mite), Colorado Kodiaks (Squirt), TO Team Warriors (Pee Wee) and Rollerplex Panthers Orange (Bantam).

Gold Division champions included the Mission Colorado Kodiaks (Atom), AKS Mission 95 (Mite), Mission WC Warriors (Squirt), Black Beauty SV Quakes 91 (Pee Wee), Mission Arizona Stars (Bantam), River City Gamblers (Midget), Corona Edge (Junior), Damien Varsity (High School), Team Excalibur Black (Women) and Team Alaska of Nevada (Men).

Platinum Division champions included the Mission Velocity Habs (Pee Wee and Bantam), Mission Snipers (Midget), Mission Habs (Junior), Mission Snipers (Division I), LA Pama Mission Cyclones (NARCh Pro), Mission Lucky Charms (Men) and Mission Arizona Stars (35 and older).

Silver Division Review
Mite Silver: Zach Eastes of the Yuma Blaze earned high scorer honors in the Mite Silver Division by averaging two points per game while Anthony Ciurro of the division champion Mission Arizona Stars captured the top goaltender award with a .877 save percentage. The Stars defeated the runner-up Rollerplex Panthers by a 4-1 score in the championship game. The Blaze finished in third place to complete an Arizona sweep of the top three medals.

The Stars, who play their home games in the Arizona Sports Complex, received two goals from Megan Amimotto in the championship game while teammate Justin Boatman was credited with the game-winning goal.

The Panthers, who play out of Glendale, Ariz., qualified for the championship game by engineering a dramatic three-goal comeback against the California-based MPC Bulls in the final game of preliminary-round action. The 3-3 tie put the Panthers in the title game ahead of the Blaze.

Squirt Silver: Joseph Campagna of the Colorado Kodiaks averaged 4.5 points per game to win the high scorer award in the Squirt Silver Division while Justin Linn of the Thunderblades (California) stopped 85 percent of the shots he faced to earn the division's top goaltender award. The second-seeded Kodiaks defeated the top-seeded Bandits (California) by a 5-4 score in the championship game after defeating Arizona’s Team Excalibur Black 94 (the third-place finisher) by a 6-3 score in the semifinals.

California’s TO Team Warrior, seeded fifth, dropped a 3-2 semifinal decision to the top-seeded Bandits in the semifinals after turning back another Golden State entry, the Thunderblades, by a 2-1 score in a preceding one-game playoff match.

The championship game was an exciting, back-and-forth affair until Cameron Mitchell gave the Kodiaks the championship game victory by scoring the game-winning goal with just 53 seconds left on the score clock. The Colorado team had taken an early 1-0 lead but had to fight back to tie the contest at 2-2 while the Bandits twice fought back to deadlock the score at 3-3 and 4-4. Mitchell and Campagna each scored twice in the game for the Kodiaks, who also got a goal from Taran Ferdowsian. The Bandits were keyed on the scoreboard by Trevor Riffey, Tyler Beck, Spencer Brown and Hunter Weinstein. Campagna finished the tournament with 27 points (20 goals, seven assists) and netted five points in the championship game on two goals and three assists.

Pee Wee Silver: Mike Friel of the Colorado Kodiaks captured the high scorer award in the Pee Wee Silver Division by averaging three points per game while Riahon O'Reilly of the Arizona Heartbreakers earned top goaltender honors with a .902 save percentage. The Kodiaks, however, fell 5-4 to California’s TO Team Warrior in the championship game, with the Heartbreakers finishing in third place.

The ending of the championship game was about as dramatic as they come. The Californians bested the Kodiaks on a power play goal by Cheyne Tackett with nine seconds to play in regulation time. The game-winning goal came just seven seconds after the Kodiaks had tied the game on a short-handed goal by Steven Craig. Before that, Tackett had given Team Warrior a 4-3 lead 29 seconds after the Coloradoans had tied the score at 3-3.

In the semifinals, the top-seeded Kodiaks topped the fourth-seeded Bandits, 4-2, while the second-seeded Heartbreakers dropped a 3-1 decision to third-seeded Team Warrior. The playoffs started with two games: the Bandits eliminated the fifth-seeded Rollerplex Panthers by a 5-1 score and Team Warrior ousted the sixth-seeded MPC Bulls white by a 6-1 score.

Bantam Silver: Ryan Winingham of the Michigan Cobras was the Bantam Silver Division high scorer with 2.33 points per game while Jamie Castro of the Mission Labeda Warriors Grey won the top goaltender award with a .800 save percentage. The Cobras finished runner-up to the Rollerplex Panthers Orange by a 6-1 score in the championship game while the Warriors finished third in the division. The third-seeded Panthers defeated the second-seeded Warriors, 5-4 in overtime, in the semifinals while the top-seeded Cobras topped the fourth-seeded Arizona Heartbreakers, 5-3, also in the semifinals.

Gold Division Review
Atom Gold: Top goaltender honors in the Atom Gold Division went to Robert Jacobson of the Mission Warriors 97 with a 0.764 save percentage while A.J. Vanderbeck of the Colorado Kodiaks averaged 4.8 points per game to claim the high scorer award. The Kodiaks bested the California-based Warriors by a 6-4 score in the championship game while the MPC Bulls Blue, also from California, finished third.

Blake Terry scored three consecutive goals to give the Warriors an early 4-2. But the Kodiaks later tied the score on a power play goal by Troy Terry and Vanderbeck added the last two goals of the game to break the tie.

Mite Gold: The top-seeded AKS Mission 95, braced by division high scorer Scott Savage (3.8 points per game) and division top goaltender Kenny Eakle (.900 save percentage), topped the MPC Bulls Blue, 6-0, in an all California matchup to win the Mite Gold Division title. The Mission Warriors 96 from British Columbia, Canada, finished third.

Squirt Gold: Austin Shaver of the Mission Arizona Stars averaged two points per game to capture the Squirt Division high scorer award while Gregory Barrett of Team Excalibur Black 93 turned in a .908 save percentage to win top goaltender honors in the division. Team championship honors, however, went to the Mission WC Warriors from Canada after defeating Team Excalibur Black, 2-1, in the finals. The second-seeded Stars, after dropping a 10-5 semifinal contest to the third-seeded Warriors, finished third. Fourth-seeded AKS Mission 93 was shut out 4-0 by top-seeded Team Excalibur Black, also in the semifinals.

Pee Wee Gold: Raymond Mesa of the MPC Bulls Blue finished as the Pee Wee Gold Division's high scorer by averaging 2.7 points per game while Bijan Ford of AKS Mission 91 took home the top goaltender award with a 0.888 save percentage. However, the division's team championship went to the Black Beauty SV Quakes 91 with a 4-1 title game victory against the Mission Westcoast Warriors from Canada.

AKS Mission 91 finished third in the division after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Warriors in the semifinals. The Quakes downed the MPC Bulls Blue-1, 6-4, in the other semifinal. In all, six California teams advanced to the eight-team quarterfinals. Joining the Quakes, AKS and Bulls were the MPC Bulls Blue-2, Huntington Beach Vipers and Nor Cal Extreme.

Bantam Gold: Michael Inoyue of the Black Beauty SV Quakes took home the high scorer award in the Bantam Gold Division by averaging four points per game while Taz Gahr of the MPC Bulls Blue captured top goaltender honors in the division with a.871 save percentage. The second-seeded Mission Arizona Stars got the chance to hoist the championship trophy, however, with a 3-2 victory against fourth-seeded AKS Mission 90.

The top-seeded MPC Bulls Black team was relegated to third place after a 5-4 semifinal loss to AKS, which had eliminated the SV Quakes Teal team by a 4-0 score in a one-game playoff match. The Stars edged the SV Quakes Black team, 2-0, in the semifinals.

Midget Gold: The River City Gamblers from Alberta, Canada, and the MPC Bulls and Black Beauty SV Quakes, both from California, comprised the top three teams in the Midget Gold Division. High scorer Michael Inoyue of the Quakes averaged four points per game while teammate Steven Verbugge earned the top goaltender award with a .831 save percentage. The Gamblers topped the Bulls, 5-4 in the championship game while the Quakes advanced as far as the semifinals before falling 5-2 to the Bulls.

The playoff round started with three games, with the seventh-seeded Rink Bandits from Arizona knocking off the second-seeded Mission Raiders from California, 2-1; the third-seeded Bulls topping the Adidas Selects from Oregon, 9-1; and the fourth-seeded Revision Devil Dogs dropping a 6-2 decision tot he fifth-seeded Quakes in an all-Golden State matchup.

Junior Gold: The Corona Edge, Revision Devil Dogs and Mission Raiders (all from California) were the top three finishers in the Junior Gold Division. Andrew Lau paced the Raiders with 2.8 points per game to earn the division high scorer award while Jason Boatmen and Jesus Rodriguez of the Devil Dogs shared the top goaltender award with a .893 save percentage. The Edge, however, took home top honors in the division with a 2-1 championship game victory against the Devil Dogs. Joe Bosko and Jason Alfonsi scored early goals for the Edge and Corona netminder Justin McAulay allowed just one score by Martin Flores.

The top-seeded Raiders lost 3-1 to the fifth-seeded Edge in the semifinals while the third-seeded Devil Dogs beat the second-seeded Corona Mission Lucky Charms by a 3-2 score to cap another upset. The Edge defeated the BC (Canada) Warriors, 5-4, in a one-game playoff match to jump-start their championship playoff run.

Women's Gold: Arizona's Team Excalibur Black -- braced by division high scorer Melissa Tuazoh (2.2 points per game) and top goaltender Chelsea Wilkinson (.901 save percentage) -- defeated the Tour (New Jersey) Jaguars, 4-3 in quadruple overtime, to win the Women's Gold Division title. The MPC Bulls from California finished in third place, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Jaguars and losing 3-0 to Team Excalibur Black in preliminary round play.

The teams exchanged early goals before the defending champion Jaguars took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Catherine Santo. However, Janei Estada answered with a power play goal of her own to level the contest at a pair of goals but Santo responded with her second power play goal of the game to put the New Jersey team up 3-2. Estrada sent the game into overtime with the only goal of the second half to complete her hat trick in the game. Jess Vidal scored the eventual game-winner for Team Excalibur in the fourth OT period.

Men's Gold: Team Alaska of Nevada defeated perennial NARCh powerhouse Greasy Joe’s Bottomless BBQ Pit from St. Louis, Missouri, 5-4, to capture the championship title in the Men's Gold Division. Tony Luiten scored the game-winner for Team Alaska in the second overtime period after teammate Devon Hume had sent the game into overtime on a power play goal with 1:30 left in regulation play.

Gerald Morris (.902 save percentage) helped the Megaplex Bikini Thieves from Illinois capture third place as the division's top goaltender.

In the semifinals, second-seeded Team Alaska defeated the third-seeded Bikini Thieves, 4-3, while top-seeded Greasy Joe's topped the fifth-seeded E-Puck from Illinois, 4-1. The Mission Revision Raiders had earned the fourth seed in the playoffs but were eliminated, 4-3, in a one-game playoff by E-Puck.

Platinum Division Review
Pee wee/Bantam Platinum: The Mission Velocity Habs, led by top goaltender award-winners Ashley Valencia and Brad Atkinson, captured championship titles in both the Pee Wee and Bantam Platinum divisions. The Habs defeated the Tour Outcasts, 3-1, to capture the Pee Wee Platinum title as the netminder duo combined for an .888 save percentage. The Habs duo combined for a .871 save percentage to help lead the Habs advance to the Bantam Division title game where they defeated the Sin City Snipers by a 7-4 score. Nick Dillon who also finished as the high scorer in the High School Division for Damien High School, also helped key the Habs to success in the Bantam Division by capturing the high scorer award whiles averaging four points per game.

The third-seeded MPC Bulls Black, led by division high scorer Casey Wedge (2.7 points per game) finished third in the Pee Wee Platinum after dropping a 7-3 semifinal decision to the second-seeded Outcast while the Corona Labeda Warriors finished third in the Bantam Platinum Division. The top-seeded Habs downed the fourth-seeded Corona Mission Labeda warriors Purple, 4-3, in the Pee wee Division semifinals.

Brett Olinger and Parker Conant scored power play goals to give the Habs an early 2-0 lead in the Pee Wee championship game. The Outcats halved the Habs’ lead to a goal but Olinger scored short-handed into an empty net to give the Habs their 3-1 victory.

A different cast of characters keyed the Habs to the Bantam title but the same coach was behind the bench for both titles: Nick Dowling. Goals by John McGuinness, Darren Nowick and Matt Deutschmann helped the Habs overcome an early 1-0 deficit against the Sin City Snipers and Dillon added a goal in the second half to extend the Habs lead to 4-2. However, Snipers rallied to tie the game on goals by Ryan Scheafer and Nick Robone. But the Habs responded with unanswered goals by Cameron Rowand and Deutschmann to win the Bantam title.

Midget Platinum: Joshua Frazier of AKS Mission 88 and Rowan Porter of the Mission Snipers each averaged 2.2 points per game to share the high scorer award in the Midget Platinum Division while Nevin Iwatsuru of AKS Mission 88 earned the top goaltender award with a .797 save percentage. Both teams advanced to the championship round, with the Snipers scoring a 4-3 overtime victory.

The Snipers held a 3-1 first-half lead on goals by Porter, John McGuinness and T.J. D’Agostino. But AKS rallied to send the game into overtime on second-half goals by Frazier and Georgie Barber. Frazier finished regulation play with points on all three AKS goals after connecting with Barber for the game’s early1-1 equalizer.

AKS entered the first overtime with a power play but could not convert, thus setting the stage for McGuinness’ power play goal with a minute to play in overtime to give the title to the Long Island squad.

The fourth-seeded Mile High Mayhem finished third in the division after a 3-1 semifinal loss top-seeded AKS. In the other semifinal, the second-seeded Snipers downed the third-seeded Arizona Selects by a 1-0 score.

Junior Platinum: The California-based Mission Habs continued their success in the Platinum Division by downing the York Mission Triumph from Canada by a 3-2 score to win the Junior Division title. Colorado’s Team Ktek entered the playoffs as the top-seeded team but fell 5-4 in the semifinals to the fourth-seeded Triumph. The Habs, seeded third, eliminated the second-seeded Mission Snipers, 5-2, in the semifinals. Top individual awards went to a pair of standouts from the second-seeded Mission Snipers: Jeff Carey (2.75 points per game) as high scorer and J.P. Susco (.800 save percentage) as top goaltender.

Pat Lee gave the Habs a 1-0 lead and the Californians later added another goal but York responded with goals each time to deadlock the contest at 2-2. Finally, Lee gave the Habs a 3-2 lead on a redirection shot in the second half that stood up as the game-winner. Thomas Stahl and Mark Dowsett scored for the Triumph.

Division I Platinum: After failing to garner a top three finish in the Junior Platinum Division, the Mission Snipers broke through to defeat the LA Lama Mission Cyclones, 3-1, to capture the Division I Platinum title, with the York Mission Triumph finishing third. Jeff Carey, who led the Snipers as the Junior Division High Scorer, also led the Long Island squad as the Division I high scorer by averaging 2.3 points per game. Top goaltender honors in Division I went to Robby Sudduth of the LA Pama Mission Cyclones with a .890 save percentage.

Carey scored the game’s first two goals, with assists going to Jason Downing and Jorge Bravo, to stake the New Yorkers to a 2-0 lead. Juaquin Chavria brought the Cyclones to within a goal at 2-1 but Snipers veteran Mike Cianfrani netted to give the Long Island team a two-goal lead and the eventual championship title. Carey finished the division with 14 points.

Men’s Platinum: The Golden State’s Mission Lucky Charms -- supported by division high scorer Brandon Barnette (3.3 points per game) and top goaltender Ryan Nichols (.830 save percentage) -- defeated the top-seeded Savage Wolves from New York, 7-2, in the Men's Platinum Division championship game to avenge a 3-1 preliminary-round loss. The Hyper Slipjacks, also from California, took third.

Brandon Barnette scored five of the Lucky Charms’ seven goals in the title game. The Wolves’ Bill Katinsky took a 1-0 lead but the Californian team responded with six unanswered goals to steal the game’s momentum.

The Lucky Charms’ championship game victory reversed the order of finish between the two finalists at this year’s event.

35 and older: The top-seeded Mission Arizona Stars edged the second-seeded (San Diego) Sprung Hosers, 4-3, in a tightly-contested championship game. Dan Maxwell and Michael Hunt scored early goals for the Arizonans, who held a 2-1 lead. But the Hosers, who earlier got a goal from Donny Holmstrom, netted the game-tying goal from Randy Garvey. But the Stars would score two unanswered goals — one each by Hunt and Todd Bergs — to take a 4-2 lead. Daryn Goodwin assisted on Garvey’s second goal of the game with just over three minutes to play but that was as close as the California team would get. The Hosers finished runners-up in the division for the second consecutive year.

Changing of the guard? Cyclones top NARCh 2005 champ Mudcats to claim winternationals Pro title

The second-seeded LA Pama Mission Cyclones, braced between the pipes by division top goaltender Rob Laurie (.855 save percentage), defeated the defending 2005 NARCh champion Tour Mudcats (led by division high scorer C.J. Yoder), by a 8-4 score to win the NARCh Pro Division.

The championship game showcased several players from the Inline Hockey Association that recently suspended operations midway through its first fully professional season at the Anaheim Convention Center.

At Winternationals the cash got delivered as the Cyclones received $8,000 for winning the tournament title and the Mudcats received $2,000 as the runner-up team.

Yoder, who averaged 2.8 points per game to capture the division high scorer award, drew an assist on teammate Brian Yingling’s jump goal and scored his team’s second tally to deadlock the two finalists in a 2-2 tie after the Cyclones had responded with unanswered goals by Jerry Osterkamp and Juaquin Chavira.
Itan Chavira gave the Cyclones a 3-2 lead after the first half and the Cyclones doubled their lead on the first goal of the second half, scored by Aman Kler.

Dan Costanza and Yoder hooked up to trim the Cyclones’ lead to 4-3 but the Cyclones responded with four consecutive goals to secure the Winternationals title. Osterkamp and Christian Skoryna (WCHL Fresno Falcons) each picked up goals in the second-half goal rush for the Cyclones while the Chavira brothers combined for six points in the game.

The Cyclones, who finished runner-up the previous year at Winternationals to Team Ktek from Colorado, had earlier edged the Mudcats, 3-2, in preliminary-round action.

Team Mission, which dropped a 4-1 preliminary-round decision to the Cyclones, finished third in the division.