July 23, 2009

NCRHA at NARCh Provides Tons of Excitement

Mississagua, ON – For three days in the middle of the summer, players from around the NCRHA came together to compete for regional pride in an all-star tournament at NARCh. Player from twenty-four team put aside their differences and formed teams representing the MCRHL, ECRHA, SCHL and WCRHL.

In addition to the exciting hockey being played, many of the players took advantage of what South Ontario had to offer and took in the sites and sounds. Many players headed into Toronto to experience the Friday night showdown between the Red Soxs and Blue Jays, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and other miscellaneous attractions. For others, they headed to Niagara Falls to experience the excitement of the Falls and the Casinos.

The first two days of the tournament involved a three game round-robin that saw the MCRHL emerge as the favorites of the tournament with an explosive offense and a stifling defense. The WCRHL earned the second seed by virtue of a 4-2 victory over the east coast and many people around the rink were expecting a MCRHL/WCRHL final.

The ECRHA finished third in the round robin, with their only victory over the SCHL in a 5-2 victory. Sadly, in every tournament a team must finish last and this year it was the SCHL. The guys from the southwest didn’t allow a short bench to quench their desire for victory and gave everything they had but just kept coming up short.

The first semifinal between the MCRHL and SCHL provided little if any drama as the MCRHL took a 2-0 lead into halftime before pulling away in the second half for their second dominating win over the SCHL in three days. The other match between the favored WCRHL and ECRHA, provided some excitement for those in attendance.

After Jordan Tasch (UC Irvine) scored a phenomenal goal to stake the WCRHL to a 1-0 lead, the ECRHA fired back with a shorthanded tally by Matt Biegun to tie the game at 1-1. Things stayed that way until the closing moments of the first half when Robbie Fulton (Rutgers) broke free and fired a well placed shot into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead at the half. The WCRHL wouldn’t go home quietly as Tommy Neer (San Diego State) tied the game late and set things into overtime. In the overtime period there were plenty of chances for both teams to clinch a trip to the finals but it was Paul Valvo (Stony Brook) who sent the ECRHA into the final with a spectacular finish.

In the final, things started out slowly before the MCRHL would break the scoreless shutout. Ryan Gendron (Grand Valley State) got the scoring started, finding the back of the net to put the Midwest on top 1-0. Shortly later, Dave Hollingshead (Ohio State) would use to explosive speed to blow past the ECRHA defense and tap in what would end up being the gold medal clinch goal. Richie Carelli (Penn State) would score the lone goal for the ECRHA as Adam Goldberg (Michigan) was outstanding in the goal and stopped every good chance the east had.

1^st – Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey League (MCRHL) – 1^st title

2^nd – Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA)

3^rd – Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League (WCRHL)

4^th – Southwest Collegiate Hockey League (SCHL)

Top Scorer – Jordan Tasch – UC Irvine (2.75 PPG)
Top Goalies - Matt Smith (Ohio State) & Adam Goldberg (Michigan)