SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

Sprung Hosers take three-peat at 2004 NARCh Winternationals

By Phillip Brents
Posted Jan. 13, 2004

Like fine wine, the Sprung Hosers only seem to get better. The 35 & older roller hockey team, which draws several of its members from Skate San Diego in National City, captured its third consecutive NARCh Winternationals championship after defeating the Tour Bordercats of Detroit, Mich., 4-3, Monday in Las Vegas.

"We were favored to win it again but you never know what can happen in a championship game," said Skate San Diego hockey league director Mike Duffey, who owns playing stints with North Dakota University, the San Diego Barracudas of Roller Hockey International and the United States national team to his credit.

The Hosers, who are sponsored this year by San Diego-based Sprung Suspensions, went 4-0 in this year’s tournament. The Hosers completed round-robin play 3-0 to earn the top seed in the finals. The Bordercats went 2-1 to earn the second seed.

The teams opened the tournament with a one goal game, also won 4-3 by the Hosers.

"That team we played against was a very good team. They were very good players individually — all ice hockey players who played at the Joe Louis Arena," Duffey said.

Curt Labeda, Joe Noris (two) and Darren Chula each scored goals in the championship game. Chula got the game-winner, assisted by Duffey, to break a 3-3 tie.

The Hosers — braced by Outstanding Goaltender award-winner Bill Burke, never trailed in the title matchup, however.

"We had a big team — 13 guys this year. Our whole team played well," Duffey said.

One can call the Hosers’ championship world class. Defenseman Rich Garvey won two world titles as a member of the United States senior men’s team and claimed another as a coach with the U.S. women’s national team. Also on board the Hosers were Rob Chornomud, the current Team USA coach, and Brazilian national team captain Alexander Capelle.

"Rob just played fantastic throughout the tournament," Duffey said.

Capelle, who helped guide Brazil to a ninth-place finish in the 2003 IIHF inline world championships, had two goals and an assist in the Hosers’ 8-0 mercy rule victory against Team Misconduct from Japan.

Capelle, who played for the Hosers in the 2000 Pro Division, has appeared in world championship tournaments from 1996 to 2003 while representing his native country.

Brazil finished sixth at the 1999 FIRS world championships and eighth at the 2001 IIHF world championships.

He has brought youth players to clinics in this country to help further the level of play in Brazil.

"We only have a small area to play down there," he said of competing for space against more established sports like soccer, which is king there. "This is the greatest and the best here to learn from."

The Hosers racked up a tournament-leading 20-3 goal-differential in round-robin play, scoring two 8-0 mercy-rule victories.

Also on this year’s championship roster were Malka Arminen, Charlie Becker, Rob Hudson and Marco Thompson. Hudson is a regular house league player in Skate San Diego’s adult leagues.

Dave Brito, who also skates out of the National City rink and represented Team USAat the 2002 IIHF inline championships in Germany, was a member of Team Tour’s Winternationals Division I championship squad.

Team Tour defeated Mission, 3-2, in overtime to capture the 24 & under division title.

NARCh Winternationals began in 1997 with seven divisions and has since grown to encompass more than 20 divisions in seven years. Last year’s tournament set a record for participation with 172 teams.

This year’s tournament — the fifth consecutive to be held in Las Vegas — concludes Jan. 19.

2004 NARCh Winternationals
Crystal Palace, Las Vegas

Platinum Division Finals
Sunday, Jan. 11
Mite Division (10 & under): Nike Orange County Blades (93) 5, Anaheim Mission Bulldogs (blue) 0
Squirt Division (12 & under): Velocity 8, Mission Raiders 3
NARCh Pro Division: Team Harrow 4, Mission Snipers 3 (overtime)

Monday, Jan. 12
Pee Wee Division: St. Louis Tour Blast (89) 5, Nike OC Blades (89) 4 (overtime)

Bantam Division (16 & under): Mission International 9, Anaheim Mission Bulldogs (blue) 4
Midget Division (18 & under): Tour West 3, Nike Orange County Blades 2
Junior Division (21 & under): Pama 4, Tour Dry Ice 3
Division I (24 & under): Team Tour 3, Mission 2 (overtime)
Senior Division: Mission Lucky Charms 3, Hyper Slipjacks 2 (overtime)
Men’s 35 & Older Division: Sprung Hosers 4, Tour Bordercats 3
Women’s Division: Mission Primal 8, Tour Easton 1

Gold Division Finals
Atom Division: AKS San Clemente (95) 4, Anaheim Mission Bulldogs (blue) 3
Mite Division: AKS San Clemente (93) 5, West Coast Warriors 1
Squirt Division: Team Excalibur (Black) 3, Mission Young Guns (Black) 2 (overtime)
Pee Wee Division: Las Vegas Tour Rebels (Red) 6, Local Boyz 5 (overtime)
Bantam Division: Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 4, CCM Devil Dogs 1
Midget Division: Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 6, Knights of Corona 2
Junior Division: Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 6, Knights of Corona 2
Women’s Division: Team Envious 2, AMB Pink 0
Senior Division: Chupacabraz 4, Chicago Magic 3 (overtime)

High School Division: Marina 3, Damien 0

College Division: Michigan State 6, University of Central Florida 5 (overtime)

College Division
Preliminary round play
Friday, Jan. 16
Eastern Michigan 5, South Florida 1
Cal Poly Pomona 5, Neumann 4
Michigan State 2, Moorpark 1
Missouri Rolla 3, UC Santa Barbara 2
Saturday, Jan. 17
University of Denver 3, Towson 3
CSU San Bernardino 5, University of Michigan 2
Central Florida 8, Illinois State 0
Penn State 3, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 0
University of Denver 3, University of Michigan 1
Towson 3, CSU San Bernardino 2
Missouri Rolla 4, Moorpark 3
Michigan State 8, UC Santa Barbara 4
Sunday, Jan. 18
Michigan State 4, Missouri Rolla 1
Moorpark 3. UC Santa Barbara 2
South Florida 4, Neumann 2
Eastern Michigan 7, Col Poly Pomona 3
Central Florida 6, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 3
Penn State 3, Illinois State 1
Towson 4, University of Michigan 3
Penn State 5, Central Florida 2
CSU San Bernardino 6, University of Denver 0
South Florida 4, Cal Poly Pomona 1
Monday, Jan. 19
Illinois State 1, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 1
Eastern Michigan 6, Neumann 1
Quarterfinals:
#1 Michigan State 4, #8 Missouri Rolla 3 (overtime)
#7 South Florida 3, #2 Penn State 2 (overtime)
#6 Central Florida 3, #3 Eastern Michigan 2
#4 Towson 8, #5 CSU San Bernardino 1
Semifinals:
#1 Michigan State 4, #7 South Florida 2
#6 Central Florida 4, #4 Towson 1
Championship: #1 Michigan State 6, #6 Central Florida 5 (overtime)

High School Division
Preliminary round play
Saturday, Jan. 17
Marina 5, Damien 1
Dana Hills Dolphins 1, Woodlands Highlanders 0
Eagle Crest Raptors 3, Temecula Valley 3
Sunday, Jan. 18
Damien 6, Woodlands Highlanders 1
Dana Hills Dolphins 6, Eagle Crest Raptors 5
Marina 6, Temecula Valley 1
Monday, Jan. 19
Damien 6, Dana Hills Dolphins 1
Marina 3, Eagle Crest Raptors 0
Woodlands Highlanders 4, Temecula Valley 3
Playoff: #2 Damien 10, #3 Dana Hills Dolphins 2
Championship: #1 Marina 3, Damien 0

Bantam Division Playoffs
Playoff: #5 Bladium Bombers 9, #4 Knights of Corona (Grey) 3
Semifinals:
#1 CCM Devil Dogs 9, Bladium Bombers 3
#2 Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 8, #3 Las Vegas Tour Rebels 3
Championship: #2 Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 4, #1 CCM Devil Dogs 1

Midget Division Playoffs
Playoff:
#3 Nike Buffalo Wings 5, #6 NorCal Mavericks 1
#5 Mission Water City Serpents 4, Nor Cal Riot 3
Semifinals:
#1 Knights of Corona 6, #5 Mission Water City Serpents 2
#2 Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 6, #3 Nike Buffalo Wings 5
Championship: #2 Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 6, #1 Knights of Corona 2

Junior Division Playoffs
Playoff: #3 Knights of Corona 3, #2 Team Dry Ice 0
Championship: #1 Projoy ISCA Grizzlies 6, #3 Knights of Corona 2

High School Division
The semifinals in the six-team field pitted second-seeded Damien against the third-seeded Dana Hills Dolphins. Damien wasted little time — 90 seconds, to be exact — in taking a 3-0 lead and later ran off strings of three- and four-goal runs to roll to a decisive 10-2 victory. Damien had previously defeated the Dolphins by a 6-1 score in preliminary round play.

Marina had advanced directly to the championship game as the top-seeded team after finishing undefeated in preliminary round play with victories against Damien (5-1), Temecula Valley (6-1) and the Eagle Crest Raptors (3-0). After recording an impressive 14-2 goal-differential in early-round play, Marina capped the tournament with a 3-0 shutout victory in the finals.

Jared Gibo opened scoring in the championship game after a scoreless period of five minutes and Marina added two more goals within the next two minutes to jump to a 3-0 advantage. Marina locked down defensively thereafter, allowing Damien to record just 17 shots in the game on goaltender Michael Urbano.

Josh Laricchia, who assisted on Gibo’s game-winner in the championship game, earned the High Scorer award in the division by averaging 2.25 points per game while Urbano notched a superlative .952 save percentage to win the Top Goaltender award.

Dana Hills finished third in this year’s tournament while the Woodlands Highlanders finished fourth.

College Division
Michigan State continued its dominance of Winternationals by winning its fourth consecutive title. The Spartans’ perfect record in the tournament continued with victories against Moorpark (2-1), UC Santa Barbara (9-4) and Missouri Rolla (4-1) in preliminary round play and subsequent wins against Missouri Rolla (4-3 in overtime) in the quarterfinals, South Florida (4-2) in the semifinals and a 6-5 overtime championship game victory against Central Florida.

Sixteen teams entered this year’s tournament, with CSU San Bernardino, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Moorpark, Cal Poly Pomona and UC Santa Barbara representing established California programs. Also on board were teams representing the University of Denver, Towson, University of Michigan, Illinois State, Penn State, Neumann and Eastern Michigan.

CSU San Bernardino defeated the University of Michigan, 5-2, dropped a 3-2 contest to Towson and shut out the University of Denver, 6-0, to earn the fifth seed in the quarterfinal playoffs. However, the California team fell 8-1 to fourth-seeded Towson.

In other preliminary games, Cal Poly Pomona edged Neumann, 5-4, while Moorpark defeated UC Santa Barbara, 3-2, and Cal Poly SLO skated to a 1-1 tie against Illinois State.

Michigan State’s magical Winternationals run also ended in its first playoff game against eighth-seeded Missouri Rolla. But MSU rebounded after its 4-3 overtime win in the quarterfinals to defeat seventh-seeded South Florida, 4-2, in the semifinals and roll onto the court against upset-minded Central Florida in the championship game.

Both South Florida and Central Florida had provided the shockers of the tournament after South Florida eliminated second-seeded Penn State, 3-2 in overtime, in the quaterfinals and Central Florida dispatched fourth-seeded Town, 4-1, in the semis.

The Spartans twice held three-goal leads on the Bulls in the semifinals while UCF eliminated Towson on the strength of four unanswered goals in the other semifinal matchup.

In the championship game, Michigan State twice held two-goal leads before the teams skated into the halftime intermission with the Spartans holding a 3-2 lead. MSU got the all-important jump-goal to start the second half but Central Florida — led by a contingent of players from the Bauer Pythons 1999 Junior Division Winternationals championship team — buckled down to tie the contest at 4-4.

The game’s dying minutes proved hectic. Division High Scorer award-winner Kenneth Jung gave Michigan State a 5-4 lead by scoring a power play goal but Central Florida came back to tie the game with just 38 seconds left.

Overtime once again proved to be a good luck charm for the MSU Spartans, who edged UCF to continue their four-year reign as Winternationals champions.

Towson finished third in the tournament, followed by the University of South Florida in fourth place.