High Flyin' Action!

The spirit of competition is in the air as the 2008 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championship Tournament continues to keep people on their feet.

Despite some delays from American Airlines causing players and even equipment to be delayed, the competition has been rolling since we dropped the puck on Wednesday evening.

Perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament thus far was that between the Stony Brook Seawolves and the UC Irvine Anteaters.

Stony Brook was crowned the Division II National Champion in the 2007 NCRHA National Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. After their successful 2006-2007 campaign, both the coach and players felt that it was time to step up their game.

“We accomplished the D2 championship in 2007, so we thought it was be a great opportunity to play better hockey and play top competition,” said Stony Brook coach Joe Tamburino.

For InlineHockeyCentral.com’s Richard Graham’s article on the Stony Brook vs. UC Irvine Sweet Sixteen game, click here.

Of course the team that everyone wants to beat is defending Division I National Champion Lindenwood University. With seven returning playing and five newcomers, Lindenwood is looking for championship number seven.

“We have the same coaching and the same system,” said Lindenwood Captain Tom Bruce.

According to fourth year player, Eric Cantrell, winning number seven may take some extra effort.

“The competition is stiffer so we have to step up our game,” Cantrell said.

Currently the Division I and Division II teams are battling out their quarterfinal matchups. Division I has matchups of UC Irvine vs. Buffalo, Lindenwood vs. Eastern Michigan, Michigan State vs. Central Florida and Missouri St. Louis vs. Florida. Division II quarterfinal matchups include Neumann vs. Maine, Truman State vs. CSU San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona vs. West Chester and UC San Diego vs. Saint Louis.

Division III and B Division games have begun and all teams have played at least one game at this point. So far Michigan State, Buffalo, Michigan, Lindenwood and UC Santa Barbara’s B teams are all undefeated. In Division III, both Broward CC and St. Charles CC are currently leading the pack, with 2 wins and 0 losses each.

Competition for the 2008 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championship Tournament continues at Tour Arena in Colorado Springs, CO and the Colorado Sports Center in Monument, Colorado.

Stay tuned for more action, as Sunday morning games include Division I and II semifinals, with their championship games at 12:30pm(DII) and 2:00pm(DI) on Sunday. Division III and B Division teams will continue round robin until mid-day on Sunday, and will enter the single-elimination brackets late Sunday with semifinals and finals on Monday morning/afternoon.

You can listen to live broadcasts of select games with Bill Courtland at www.ncrha.org/championships.

InlineHockeyCentral.com’s Richard Graham has been keeping a daily blog on his website, www.inlinehockeycentral.com under the forums section. Click on Forums, then click on Inline Hockey Forum and view the threads titled “NCRHA Nationals, Day __.”