SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

California teams leave 2003 NARCh Finals laden gold

By Phillip Brents

Posted Aug. 4, 2003

With 10 division champions and 20 finalists, California teams once again dominated the parade of champions at this year’s NARCh Finals.

But what else has been new in the tournament’s 10-year history?

Success came across the spectrum of play in what was the largest, deepest and most watched finals (webcast on NARCh TV) ever with 350 teams and 5,000 total players assembled for the two-week stay July 17-30 at Teco Arena in Estero, Fla.

Nine California teams were represented in the 14 Platinum Division championship games, with five -- the Nike OC Blades 88 (Pee Wee Division), Hyper Cal Selects (Girls Division), Labeda Hosers (35 & Older), Cal Selects (Women’s Division) and El Dorado Golden Hawks (High School Division) -- all winning gold medals. Scoring runner-up finishes were the OC Blades 96 (Cub Division), Nike OC Blades (Mite Division), Mission Marvel Silver Surfers (Squirt Division) and Santiago (High School Division).

The numbers were nearly identical -- seven finalists and four champions -- in the Gold Division. Champions included the AKS Empire 92 (Mite Division), Mission Marvel Spidermen (Squirt Division), Labeda Militia (Pee Wee Division) and Rivermen (Junior Division). Runners-up finishes went to the Upland AKS Empire 90 (Squirt Division) and Mission Raiders (Pee Wee and Bantam divisions). The Squirt Division featured an all-California final.

Tour Pacific Cup teams helped christen the newly added Silver Division with six finalists in the five divisions, coming away with two championships in the process. CPH (Squirt Division) and Team Excalibur (Pee Wee Division) won titles while the AKS San Clemente Empire (Atom Division), Labeda Knights of Corona (Mite Division), San Diego Gulls (Squirt Division) and Team Excalibur (Bantam Division) all finished second. In all, the new division featured four California finalists, one all-Golden State championship game (Squirt Division) and one champion.

The two Arizona teams’ Silver Division finishes brought the Tour Pacific Cup’s NARCh sparkling honor roll to 11 division titles and 21 finalists.

The big winners at this year’s NARCh Finals also included teams from Michigan (four champions, three finalists), Missouri (three champions, four finalists) and Florida (two champions, two finalists). Championships also were won by teams from New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, Rhode Island and Canada.

A team from Japan (Women’s Gold Division) finished second to highlight the international contribution.

This year’s Platinum Division parade of champions included: Cub Division, Tour Bordercats (Michigan); Atom Division, Bauer Junior Pythons (Florida); Mite Division, St. Louis Tour Blast 92 (Missouri); Squirt Division, Rollin Hogs (Michigan); Pee Wee Division, Nike OC Blades 88 (California); Bantam Division, Mission Honeybaked (Michigan); Junior Division, Mississauga Hyper (Ontario, Canada); Division I, Mission Snipers (New York); High School Division, El Dorado Golden Hawks (California); Senior Division, Team Hyper (Michigan); Women’s Division, Cal Selects (California); 35 & Older Division, Old Hosers (California); Pro Division, Team Rink Rat (Rhode Island); and Girls, Hyper Cal Selects (California).

This year’s Gold Division champions included: Atom Division, Gulf Coast Storm (Florida); Mite Division, AKS Empire 92 (California); Squirt Division, Mission Marvel Spidermen (California); Pee Wee Division, Labeda Militia (Michigan); Bantam Division, Ktek Kondors (Colorado); Junior Division, Rivermen (California); Senior Division, Greasy Joe’s Bottomless BBQ Pit (Illinois); and Women’s Division, CPH Mission Vixens (California).

This year’s Silver Division champions included: Atom Division, Marple Junior Gladiators (Pennsylvania); Mite Division, Mission Cobras Selects (Missouri); Squirt Division, CPH (California); Pee Wee Division, Team Excalibur (Arizona); and

Bantam Division, Mission Grizzles (Missouri).

Platinum Division

The Nike OC Blades 88 team won its second consecutive NARCh Finals title by defeating the St. Louis Tour Blast 88 by a 5-2 score in the Pee Wee Division. The Blades used two goals by Jumbo Combs to take an early 2-1 lead and retaliated with three goals in the final three and a half minutes of the game to break a 2-2 tie.

The Blades had to get past a tough Hosers 88 team in the semifinals, winning 3-2, before even getting the chance to defend their Platinum title. The semifinals featured two California teams and two Missouri teams as the Blast 88’ers knocked out the Blast 89’ers by a 5-2 score.

Two more California teams joined the fray in the quarterfinals as the AKS Empire 88 fell 2-1 to the Hosers and the Blast 89’ers topped the Alexander Steel Thunder, 4-2. The Las Vegas Tour Rebels were the fifth Pacific Cup team to qualify for the division playoffs, falling 5-4 to the Hyper Falcons from Michigan in the one-game playoff to make the quarterfinals.

The Cal Selects edged Massachusetts’s Team Mission, 2-1, to capture the Women’s title. The Selects returned many of the players who finished runner-up to Team Mission the previous year in Minnesota but emerged with gold medals this year on Olympian Angela Ruggiero’s game-winning goal with 26 seconds to play in regulation.

The Labeda Easton Catz, also from California, clinched third place in the Women’s Division by virtue of their 7-0 shutout victory against the Buffalo (N.Y.) Nightmares.

Many of the same players who suited up for the Cal Selects in the Women’s Division final returned three days later to Teco Arena to help the Hyper Cal Selects defeat the Mystery Gals from Florida, 6-1, to capture the inaugural Girls Division championship. Hyper started scoring just 50 seconds into the game and took a quick 3-1 lead on a power play goal and short-handed goal.

California’s Fierce Bubbles finished fourth in the division after an 8-0 loss to Arizona’s Black Stars.

The Mite Division final featured another California-Missouri matchup, this time with the St. Louis Tour Blast 92 team coming out on the winning end with a 3-2 overtime win against the Nike OC Blades.

The Blades burned the Tour Rapid Fire Smoke from New York by an 8-3 score in the semifinals while the Blast denied there would be an all-California final by slipping past the LaVerne Marvel X-Men, 2-1. The Las Vegas Tour Rebels gave the Tour Pacific Cup three of five playoff qualifiers in the division but fell to the Smoke, 7-4, in the one-game playoff to advance to the semifinals.

The Blades, X-Men and Rebels finished in the same order at the NARCh Finals as they did at the Pacific Cup Finals a month earlier (first, second and third in the AAA Tier).

Michigan’s Tour Bordercats stalled the OC Blades 96 team in the Cub Division final, 6-2, while the Mission Marvel Silver Surfers rode a big wave to a second-place finish in the Squirt Division following their tight 4-3 loss to the Michigan Rollin Hogs.

The Silver Surfers pulled off one of the biggest upsets at this year’s NARCh Finals with their 2-1 semifinal win against the defending Pacific Cup champion Nike OC Blades 90. The Blades had topped the Silver Surfers by a 5-2 score for the Pacific Cup regional championship title one month beforehand.

The Blades defeated the South Florida Junior Lightning, 6-5, in overtime in the Cub semifinals while the eventual division champion Tour Bordercats topped the Mission Rapid Fiore Snipers from New York in another close matchup, 6-4.

In finals not involving California teams, the Bauer Junior Pythons defeated the Junior Wizards 6-3 in an all-Florida Atom Division matchup while titles in the older youth age groups went to Michigan’s Mission Honeybaked (Bantam Division) and the Mississauga (Ontario, Canada) Hyper (Junior Division).

The Nike OC Blades 94 was the lone California team to reach the Atom semifinals, falling to 3-1 to the Junior Wizards. The Blades shut out the Mission Cobras Elite, 3-0, in the playoff round to advance to the semifinals. The Las Vegas Tour Rebels also advanced to the playoff round but were eliminated 6-2 by the Tour Bordercats from Michigan.

The defending Bantam Division champion Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 86 team advanced as far as the quarterfinals in this stacked and parity-ridden division before suffering elimination at the hands of the OC Blades, 3-1. The Blades then bowed out after a gut-wrenching 3-2 overtime loss to the eventual runner-up Big Willie from Missouri in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Mission Honeybaked eliminated the Tour Mudcats from California, 10-4.

The Mudcats had finished second at the Pacific Cup Finals and got a measure of revenge by defeating the 2003 Pacific Cup champion Las Vegas Tour Rebels, 4-2, in the opening round of the division playoffs in Florida.

Two California teams — the Tour Mudcats and Sleestaks@eproshop.com — advanced to the Junior Division semifinals. Sleestaks@eproshop.com fell 3-0 to the eventual champion Hyper while the Mudcats, who eliminated the defending champion Detroit Stars in an exciting 2-1 double overtime quarterfinal-round matchup, dropped a close 3-1 decision to the Tour Bordercats from Michigan.

A glut of California teams, in fact, filled the highly competitive Junior Division playoff field. Four teams from the Golden State took the court in the opening round, with the Mudcats, Dr. EM Armadillos and reigning Pacific Cup champion Mission Patriots Red emerging with victories. The Bordercats, however, eliminated the Armadillos, 3-2, in the quarterfinals and the Patriots ended their run at the same juncture following a 3-2 loss to Sleestaks@eproshop.com.

The Mission Snipers continued their NARCh dynasty by winning the Division I championship with a 4-2 victory against Team Tour from Missouri to bring the organization’s title count to 11. The Snipers — their roster loaded with many of their past heroes like Pete Pennecke and Derek Kern — had to get past an upset-minded Anaheim Mission Bulldogs team via a 5-4 win in the semifinals. The Bulldogs twice had leads in the contest, including an early 2-0 lead in the game’s first 53 seconds and later rallying for a 4-3 lead before the Snipers won the game with two late goals.

The Snipers won another close duel with a California challenger, edging EProshop.com, 6-5, in the quarterfinals. The Mission Hyper Pirates were the third team from the Golden State to qualify for the Division I playoffs but fell 5-4 to the Ontario (Canada) Tour Firewheels, 5-4, in the quarterfinals.

The West emerged victorious against the East in four of the six Platinum Division All-Stars games contested. The West defeated the East 8-4 in the Atom Division showcase game and claimed an 8-2 rout in the Mite Division matchup while dealing the East a 7-4 setback in the Squirt Division contest and doubling the score on the East in a 10-5 win in the Pee Wee Division game. The East — traditionally supported by ice hockey talent — won the older two divisional games, though by close margins. The East defeated the West, 5-3, in the Bantam Division All-Star clash and edged the West, 4-3, in the Junior Division matchup.

Gold Division

The top two teams in the 2003 Tour Pacific Cup Mite AA Elite Tier Finals both were represented in the NARCh Mite Gold Division semifinals. The Pacific Cup champion AKS Empire 92 shut down the NPI Force from Iowa, 4-0, in the semifinals before dominating the St. Louis Blast, 8-0, in the championship game. The Blast prevented the title game from becoming an all-California affair by edging past the Pacific Cup runner-up Nike OC Blades 93 by a 5-4 score in the other semifinal.

The Mission Marvel Spidermen finished third in the Pacific Cup AA Elite Tier but won it all at the NARCh Squirt Gold Division Finals by defeating the Pacific Cup AA Select champion Upland AKS Empire 90 by a 6-1 score in the finals. The Empire had upset the CPH Quest (fourth at the Pacific Cup AA Elite Tier finals) by a 3-1 score in the semifinals while the Spidermen sped past the Palm Beach (Fla.) Nailers, 6-1, to earn their date in the championship game.

The Spidermen finished 4-0 to cap a grueling playoff run that also saw them pick up wins against the Mission Hyper Crunch from Louisiana (6-4 in the opening round) and OC Blades 91 (3-1 in the quarterfinals). The Empire topped the Florida Wizards 91’s (5-1 in the opening round) and Pennsylvania’s Team Breakaway 90’s (3-2 in the quarterfinals) to meet the Quest in the semifinals.

The NARCh Pee Wee Gold Division championship tilt proved a see-saw contest as the Labeda Militia from Detroit downed the Mission Raiders, 4-3, in overtime. The retooled Raiders had finished as the Pacific Cup champions in the Pee Wee AA Select Tier after the Irvine team had rolled to last year’s Gold Division championship.

Two of the four semifinalists in the Pee Wee Gold Division were from California, with the Raiders eliminating the Tour Nor Cal Mavericks, 7-1, while the Militia turned back the East Coast Fury from New Jersey, 3-1.

The California playoff entries were not limited there, as the Militia tipped the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs Grey, 3-2, in overtime in the opening playoff round and Rush (second AA Select Tier at the Pacific Cup Finals) downed the Texas Hotwheels, 4-0.

Two more all-California playoff matchups were featured in the opening round as the Mavericks (fourth AA Elite Tier at the Pacific Cup Finals) turned back the TSA Twisted Wristers while the LaVerne Ironmen (third AA Select Tier Pacific Cup Finals) eased past the Marvel Vision, 4-2. The CPH Canadiens defeated the ProJoy Predators from Florida, 4-1, to bring the total California playoff entries to eight in the division, with five advancing to the eight quarterfinal slots.

The Mavericks downed the York Region Majic Windows, 6-5, while the Raiders bested the Canadiens, 6-1, in an all-California matchup and the Militia stoned the Ironmen, 6-2. Meanwhile, the Fury advanced to the semifinals with its 3-2 cliff-hanger win against Rush.

The Rivermen continued the Golden State’s gold medal parade in the Gold Division by defeating Colorado’s Ktek Kondors, 4-2, to win the Junior Division title. Three of the four semifinalists were from California, with the Pacific Cup AA Tier champion CPH Black and Octane joining the West Coast showcase.

The Rivermen turned off the Octane, 9-1, while the Kondors flew past CPH, 5-3, however, to gain their finals matchup.

The CPH Mission Vixens became the fifth California team to win gold in the Gold Division after defeating Japan’s Team Misconduct, 4-1, to capture the Women’s Division title.

The Ktek (Colorado) Kondors edged the Mission Raiders from California, 3-1, to claim the Bantam Division title. The Raiders were joined in the semifinals by the Marvel Silver Surfers (third AA Elite Tier at the Pacific Cup Finals), whom they eliminated by a 3-2 score.

Both the Raiders and Silver Surfers won quarterfinal playoff games by shutout, with the Raiders dealing the ISCA (New Jersey) Grizzlies a 2-0 defeat and the Silver Surfers swamping the Tour (Michigan) Bordercats, 7-0.

The opening round of the Bantam Division playoffs featured six more California teams: the Comets, Hyper HB Selects, Tour Nor Cal Mavericks Green (four AA Elite Tier Pacific Cup Finals), Chula Vista Golden Eagles (2002 NARCh runners-up), CPH Riptide and CCM Devil Dogs (second AA Select Pacific Cup Finals). All failed to advance, however. The HB Selects Red defeated the Devil Dogs, 5-3, for the 2003 Pacific Cup AA Select Tier title.

In other non-California finals matchups, the Gulf Coast (Fla.) Storm breezed past the Tour (Michigan) Bordercats, 7-1, to win the Atom Division while Greasy Joe’s Bottomless BBQ Pit from Illinois sandwiched the Madhatters from Texas, 4-1, to capture the Senior Division.

Silver Division

NARCh’s newest championship division debuted with finals in five age groups: Atom through Bantam.

If this were NARCh, there wouldn’t be a high profile California presence otherwise and the Silver Division proved no exception to this rule as the AKS San Clemente Empire (Atom), Labeda Knights of Corona (Mite), CPH (Squirt), San Diego Gulls (Squirt) all advanced to championship games, with CPH rolling past the Gulls, 5-0, to win the all-California Squirt final.

The Empire dropped a 4-0 decision to the Marple Junior Gladiators from Pennsylvania. If there was any consolation for West Coast fans, the Nike OC Blades 96 team captured third place in the division with its 6-0 victory against the Mission (N.Y.) Snipers.

The Labeda Knights of Corona won the Mite Club Select title at this summer’s Pacific Cup Finals but finished second at the NARCh Silver Division finals to the Mission Cobras Selects from Missouri, 3-1. The Corona squad did earn some prestige points after defeating the Sand Sharks from Arizona (third Mite Club Elite finishers in the Pacific Cup Finals), 4-3, in the semifinals. The San Diego Scorpions also made it to the semifinals but fell 3-1 to the eventual champion Cobra Selects.

The Squirt Division semifinals were stocked to the limit with four Tour Pacific Cup teams. Joining CPH and the Gulls were a pair of Team Excalibur teams from Arizona, both of which went down to defeat by their California rivals.

Both the Pee Wee and Bantam divisions, however, proved showcases for Arizona squads as Team Excalibur shut out the Junior Growl from New Jersey, 3-0, to win the Pee Wee Division and finished second to the Mission (Missouri) Grizzlies by a 2-1 overtime score in the Bantam Division.

Teams – whether to fine-tune or re-invent themselves -- now will look to reload for upcoming Tour Pacific Cup season later this fall.

For more information, visit the website at www.narch.com.