NCRHA Nationals, Day Three

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

Back at the Tour Arena... fantastic game between Truman State vs. Maine right now -- incredible game... 7-7 tie.

39 shots for Truman, 32 for Maine. Maine had a power play to end the game, but couldn't score to put the game away.

[CRadigan]

Just got done listening to that. Sounded like a great game. Dane w/ 6 goals? Ridiculous

I wanted to thank you Richard for the updates. I couldn't make it to CO to watch and your game summaries have been great.

[RichardGraham]

Hi CRadigan,

Thanks! For a moment, I thought that no one was reading 'em!

[RichardGraham]

OK, now we've got Cal Poly Pomona vs Southern Illinois -- calling Ace Jerseys! You've got to design SIU some new jerseys! (That said, they ARE leading, 1-0.)

Cal Poly has a two-man advantage... make that HAD... they took a penalty just to make me look bad... They don't score... justice!

Cal Poly's defenseman Lyntton dives face forward to block a shot that catches him on the shoulder -- both teams are giving up the body to block shots and stop rushes. Expect bruises tomorrow, boys.

#12 scores for Cal Poly... but he's not listed on the roster... oh well.

Derek Sergison scores for Cal Poly just before the end of the first period; 2-1 Cal Poly leads.

[RichardGraham]

Cal Poly continues to roll... 3-1 with 10:26 to go in the second. Make that 4-1, with 10:16 to go. The wheels are falling off for SIU at the moment.

Nice passing play by Cal Poly makes it 4-1, goal by Cody Mead. Mead was doing something to his stick at the water fountain when the game first started... whatever it was, it will be interesting to find out.

Cal Poly is buzzing on the power play, but passes are just a bit off, and then SIU's goalie makes a good save to keep it a four-goal differential. Shots favor Cal Poly, 24-11.

Southern Illinois scores a power play goal to make it 5-2, but on the next rush, Cal Poly gets its four-goal lead back; 6-2.

With 1:04 to go in the second, it's now 7-2. It's the jersey's, SIU... ;)

[RichardGraham]

It's 8-2 with 7:22 to go in the third period; shots favor Cal Poly 42-19. Now 10-2. SIU has been outscored 10-1 since scoring the first goal of the game.

Cal Poly is one shot away from 50 for the game. They got it... 50-22 in shots, final score 10-2.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

Here are the final scores from all of today's games, up to this point.

UNLV - 3 Buffalo - 6
Florida International - 4 Michigan - 6
Neumann - 9 Sam Houston State - 2
Elon - 10 Washington (STL) - 3
Missouri State - 0 Temple - 1
Grand Valley State - 6 Albany - 6
UC San Diego - 11 Tampa - 2
San Bernardino - 6 Western Carolina - 3
Truman State - 7 Maine - 7
West Chester - 3 Saint Louis - 4
Cal Poly Pomona - 10 SIU - Carbondale - 2

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

Now it's Rutgers vs. Florida International. FIU takes an early 2-0 lead, but Rutgers cuts the deficit in half with a goal near the end of the first period. Shots favor Rutgers 11-10.

The FIU Golden Panthers get a final shot after a Rutgers' player breaks his stick on a shot, but Rutgers' backup goalie sticks out a pad and kicks it out, just before the buzzer ending the first period.

[RichardGraham]

Rutgers scores on a nice top-shelf wrister to tie the game, 2-2, early in the second.

Caleb Towne, Rutgers' first-string goaltender, went down in practice after slipping on condensation and pulling a groin muscle. Backup goalie Ryan McCoyd is doing a good job, considering he was thrown into the fire in his first game of the tournament -- the very first game of the tournament, in fact -- against defending NCRHA champion Lindenwood University.

Rutgers had a power play with 5:18 left to go in the second, but picked up a penalty of their own. In 3-on-3 play, the pace slows considerably, as Rutgers sets up in its own zone.

Other team's players in the stands loudly razz the referees and flubbed shots.

At the end of the second, the score remains tied at 2-2, and Florida International has a 25-23 advantage in shots.

[RichardGraham]

At 10:43 in the third, Rutgers gets its first lead of the game, 3-2, on a goal by Collin Brady. At 8:57, Rutgers extends its lead to 4-2 on a power play goal by James Kinosian.

FIU scores to make it 4-3, but a very poor decision on a drop pass by an FIU player burns them, as Rutgers steals the loose puck, gets a breakaway and scores, 5-3, Rutgers. Tempers are beginning to flare, as well.

With 2:07 left in the game, FIU scores to tighten things up; 5-4. This could get interesting. With 1:34 to go, FIU gets the break it's looking for, as Rutgers takes a penalty in front of their own net. Florida will end regulation play with a man advantage. 1:10 left in the game, 1:36 on the penalty clock. FIU gets several chances but can't jam the puck in the net. 30 seconds to go, another great chance, the bounces seem to be going Rutgers way. Woops, spoke to soon again... with 6.6 seconds left, FIU scores, and the crowd cheers wildly -- are they for FIU, or are they just being loudly ironic? Who knows? It doesn't matter... we're now in the elimination round, and this game's going into overtime.

[RichardGraham]

Both teams are at full and equal strength at the beginning of overtime. FIU comes up with the puck. Shots favor Rutgers 44-32.

Jay Mills FIU takes a shot that deflects off Rutger goalie McCoyd's helmet, the puck lies in the crease, and an FIU player scores, breaking his stick on the play. The crowd cheers wildly, McCoyd slams his helmet into the boards, and FIU moves on in the tournament. Rutgers is done.

[RichardGraham]

In the second elimination-round game at Tour Arena, it's Missouri-Columbia vs. Long Beach State, and LBS has a 2-0 lead with 7:22 left in the first. The west-coasters also have a 8-1 advantage in shots.

Mo-Co makes it 2-1 after keeping the puck in the LB zone for quite some time.

Ryan Burrows is Long Beach's most obvious threats -- he's getting lots of opportunities. He scored 88 points on 54 goals and 34 assists this season. First period ends, 2-1, Long Beach in the lead.

[betteronice]

Richard I appreciate the updates, you're doing a great job!

On another note, does anybody know when the D2 seedings will be posted?

[RichardGraham]

Second period, Long Beach on the power play early. Long Beach takes a 3-1 lead while I'm yakking to Dave Resky and Dave Smallwood at the Mission-Itech booth. When I get back to my laptop, there's 2:33 left in the second and Co-Mo scores to make it 3-2.

Shots favor Long Beach 28-19, and there's 1:36 left in the period. Co-Mo takes a penalty, and LBS will be on the power play for the rest of the period... which ends at 3-2.

[BLIZARD_HOCKEY]

Rhode Island - 0
Eastern Michigan - 0

Pre-Game

1st Period Goals
No goals scored.

1st Period Penalties
No penalties assessed.

[RichardGraham]

Long Beach scores at 11:07 of the third to go up, 4-2. With 8:26 left in regulation, shots favor LBS 35-21.

A slapper from the slot by David Rey tightens the game up to 4-3 with a little more than seven minutes to go in the game. Rey, a 19-year-old freshman for the University of Missouri-Columbia Tigers, scored 19 goals and 6 assists for 25 points during the season.

Power play LBS, several saves by Co-Mo goaltender Chris Dahlberg, a 6' 2", 210 lbs netminder from O'Fallon, Missouri, who wears the interesting choice of number 13.

3:26 to go in a tight game -- it's still anyone's game to win, but time is running out on the Tigers.

An untimely hooking penalty on Bryan West gives Long Beach State a power play with 2:35 left in regulation. Long Beach returns the favor, getting an infraction of its own... 3-on-3 play with less than two minutes to go. Big paddle-down save by Dahlberg keeps it a one-goal game.

Long Beach takes another penalty with 1:08 remaining, it's a 3-on-2 power play for Co-Mo.... and they score. 4-4 with 57.5 seconds left... and Co-Mo is still on a power play for 20 seconds. Another penalty against LBS, now it's a 4-on-2 pp but times is running out... Co-Mo takes an ill-advised shot that misses the net and comes back into their own zone... At the end of regulation, it's a tie game, 4-4. Here comes OT!

[RichardGraham]

In overtime, Co-Mo has a 4-on-2 for 34 seconds to start the period. LBS kills 14 seconds of it. Shots favor LBS 43-32. One penalty is killed... Loose puck in the corner, tied up, all back at full-strength, Long Beach dodges a big bullet.

LBS hits side of the net, one player thinks it's in and raises his stick in the air...

8:24 remaining in OT, and Socrates Anagnostou ends the suspense, scoring from the middle of the slot. Figures, Plato would never have scored on that shot -- too contemplative...

Final score: LBS 5, Missouri-Columbia 4.

[RichardGraham]

Rhode Island vs. Eastern Michigan is just starting.

John Pellegrino of Ace tells me that EM was caught in the American Airlines snafu and arrived 45 minutes before their first game, with less than a complete team. They lost that game 12-5, to Missouri St. Louis, but since then, they've shutout Stony Brook, 2-0, and defeated Colorado State, 11-5.

Rhode Island got to this point by losing to UC Irvine, 7-1, defeating Ohio State, 5-3, and beating Missouri-Columbia, 3-1.

Lots of penalties in this game midway through the first period, and Rhode Island has the man advantage at the moment. But Eastern Michigan's John Schultz picks up a loose puck, fights off two RI players on the far boards, then cuts toward the net, makes a deke, and scores a beautiful goal to put EM up, 1-0.

Two-man advantage for RI now, down to a one-man advantage now... 21 seconds remaining in the power play... With 4:08 remaining in the first, RI is unable to score, and there's a faceoff in the Eastern Michigan zone.

With 3:53 left in the first, EM brings the puck down the rink and scores again; 2-0, EM leads.

The Rams have a power play... make that a two-man advantage, with 2:18 left in the period... EM clears the puck out of their zone, RI sets back up, EM steals the puck, Jason Deskins makes a nice spin move and causes RI to take a holding penalty. Now it will be a 3-on-2 for Rhode Island... barring further penalties.

A parent walks by and says, "Eastern Michigan is a good team. They spend a lot of time killing off penalties... and still win."

EM effectively kills off this power play, and the period ends with the Eagles holding a 2-0 lead.

[RichardGraham]

Early in the second period, referee Vic Zuniga gets run over behind the Rhode Island net, and soon after makes a motion on a call that I don't recognize... "He's kicking out the goalie," one spectator surmises. I still don't know what happened. It's stilll 4-on-4.

Now Rhode Island takes a penalty. The team has a big advantage in shots, 12-4, but are down where it counts, on the scoreboard, 2-0. Eastern Michigan doesn't score on the power play, and there's 7:24 remaining in the second period.

Rhode Island's Brendan Nelson comes in on a rush... Aaron Diez gets a stick up high toward Nelson's neck area, and takes a high sticking call... EM back on its heels again... and this time they pay for their transgression -- RI scores. 2-1 with 5:36 to go in the second.

Eastern Michigan still only has four shots on goal... they'd better stay out of the box and get some shots soon, as they're playing with fire here.

Rhode Island almost makes me a prophet on a 2-on-1, but can't convert.

EM takes another penalty, this time to David Aliff. RI can tie... 2:33 left to go... puck is deflected over the net. Faceoff in the Eastern Michigan zone... 1:54 to go... very close call, but puck stays out of the net... EM is blocking shots... didn't clear the zone, deflection goes wide... now they'll clear the zone... EM players fakes shot, makes a move, mishandles the puck... RI has the puck, shot blocked into the corner... Nelson takes a delayed penalty... EM scores with less than a second left on the clock! The second period ends with Eastern Michigan holding a 3-1 lead. That's got to hurt.

RI has the lead in shots, 18-6... EM is scoring at a 50% shot success rate at the moment... Period ends, 3-1.

[RichardGraham]

EM starts the third period the consistent way they've played the rest of the game... taking a penalty. This time it's Daryl Cross. NICE saves by the EM goaltender...

[Ref Vic Zuniga threw out the starting EM goalie for some remark he made... and the numbers on the roster to equate to the #39 that the current goalie is wearing, so he MIGHT be one of these three characters: #31 Gene Diamond, #37 Christopher Angle, or #87 Jamison See.]

7:00 left in regulation... big collision into the RI net... what will the calls be? Penalty on RI? Are you kidding me? That's EM's area of expertise, isn't it? The penalty is on the Rams' Matt Biegun, and the faceoff is in the RI zone. EM sets up.

40 sets a pick, second EM player takes the puck behind the net, RI's
goaltender follows the second player to the left side of the net, but player #2 drops the puck behind the net for third EM player, Mike French, who scores a wraparound on the recently vacated corner of the net.

"They did that to us, too," said the mother of one player for UCI, who watched the play. 4-2, EM leads.

With 4:03 remaining, however, RI scores to make it 4-3. This game's not over yet.

"What a snipe!" David Aliff fires one top-shelf on a two-on-one... EM's back up by two, 5-3.

3:14 left to go... Can EM stay out of the penalty box? Nope. Dumb question to ask. "An act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place..." Dave Dziuban takes a penalty in the offensive zone with his team holding a two-goal lead.

This could really be the game-defining moment, as RI scores less than 20 seconds into the penalty to make it, 5-4. Live by the penalty, die by the penalty?


1:54 to go.. another great snipe, this time by Rhode Island's TK -- 5-5 . This may be the third straight game to go to overtime.

1:15 left, RI is carrying the play... Jason Deskins gets the puck for EM, holds on as a defender goes down, steps around him, and fires a hard wrister that finds the back of the RI net. 6-5 with less than a minute to go.

27.6 ticks left... in the EM zone... 31-17 shots favor RI. Scramble in front of net... RI shoots over the crossbar with an empty net below... 16 seconds left... 41 steals misses empty RI net... gets own rebound off the end boards and fires it home. 7-5, Eastern Michigan leads, and will win.... I predict... brave, huh?

Game over -- 7-5, Eastern Michigan.

Almost the third straight OT game in the elimination round. Some GREAT hockey is being played. Lots of drama, lots of action, tons of passion. This is hockey, baby!

[RichardGraham]

OK, folks, here comes the fourth elimination game in a row at the Tour Arena -- UCI vs. Stony Brook. Let's check in on scores from the Colorado Sports Center first....

UNLV 9, North Texas 0
Ohio State 6, Colorado State 4
Florida 3, Michigan 2
Towson 0, Central Florida 3 IN PROGRESS

[RichardGraham]

This will be a very interesting and emotional game. It's UCI's fleet five vs. Stony Brook's deep bench and its Tamburino Two.

21 seconds in, Stony Brook scores. 1-0.

53 seconds in, Stony Brook scores again. 2-0.

A quick lead is exactly what Stony Brook wanted, as UCI will probably have to expend quite a bit of energy to catch up. However, as Ace's John Pellegrino says, it's a bit too early for Stony Brook to celebrate... there's a lot of hockey left to be played. 9:25 left in the first period; UCI probably did not expect to be down by two this early. Here's where character and heart will come in.

UCI on the power play... can they get one back? Not yet... Steven Zawalich scores a shorthanded goal for Stony Brook, 3-0.

On the same power play, UCI finally gets one back -- 3-1. UCI's goal is not yet reflected on the scoreboard.

Bad rebound, Dan Castellano pops it home. 4-1 in favor of the Seawolves.

6:11 to go in first period... four goals on six shots for Stony Brook.

Mike Tasch makes great moves, but an even better save by Seawolves' goalie keeps Irvine from closing the gap.

Tripping call on Stony Brook's Tom Cartwright behind the UCI net... "How could that be?" lyric plays on sound system... interesting timing. Coincidence? You be the judge.

3:38 left in the first, UCI's power play needs to score... scrum in front of the net... Irvine can't jam it in... even strength, 2:40 to go... Irvine with the puck... goal! An Irvine player roofs a snap shot from the top of the slot; 4-2. Game's not over yet.

Great pass from Jim Tamburino to a man in the slot, a shot, and an even better save by UCI's Kevin Leonard.

Ace's John Pellegrino says that UCI Irvine should walk the puck down and control the play, but that they're trying for the long pass. A strategic mistake, in John's eyes.

The period ends with a 4-2 score in favor of Stony Brook.

[showtime89]

North Texas? What happened to them? I'm not trying to pick on them, but an 0-4 record with 3 goals for and 40 against? I know one game was Lindenwood, but still.

[RichardGraham]

UCI starts out the second period on an early power play... The Anteaters get several chances, but Stony Brook is pouncing on the rebounds first.

Delayed penalty on UCI... Stony Brook is giving UCI a rest by holding the puck so long in their own zone... 3-on-3... another penalty on Stony Brook... 3-on-2 now... Irvine sets up, shot, loose puck, UCI's Jeff Pollock dives toward the net, puck is frozen, no goal. Middleton gets the one timer off -- GOAL! 4-3. We have a game.

6:57 left in the second... Middleton gets his own rebound, but Stony Brook's goalie gets back in position quickly to make the save... even strength now... Stony Brook's gets a goal on the ensuing rush... 5-3, Stony Brook in front by two again.

Penalty on UCI's Alex Frecker... Seawolves make the Anteaters pay... 6-3. Now 7-3...

Unpopular call on Charlie Middleton for attempting to jam in a puck after the whistle. Stony Brook scores, 8-3... eight goals on 16 shots...

Less than a minute left in the second... it's looking dark for UCI, especially as Mike Tasch gets a hooking call...

But Middleton gets a shorthander to cut the deficit to 8-4, and that's how the period ends.

[RichardGraham]

Here we go, third period -- penalty on Stony Brook... can UCI get closer? UCI leads in shots at least, 23-18... With 8:12 left, the Anteaters do score, making it 8-5. How much gas do they have left in the tank?

Another penalty on Stony Brook's Ryan Keane; can UCI get within two? Yep, Middleton snipes another from the corner... 8-6. Timeout, Stony Brook... How much time is left? 6:45.

Delayed penalty, Irvine gets the shot off... save... interference on Stony Brook... double minor... unsportsmanlike conduct call? Are the Seawolves turning into Eastern Michigan here on the penalty front?

UCI shot off the post.. still plenty of time on the power play, but not in the game... 3:35 left... Seawolves clear their zone... Tasch makes a great move, gets off a shot, blocked on the way in? With 2:09 to go, UCI scores... 8-7, 2:09 to go.

Time out. Irvine gets a minute's rest.

When, if they do, will Irvine pull their goaltender?

Stony Brook goalie makes save, puck bounces behind and over his back, he bats it away... Tamburino gets a shot, saved, UCI with the puck... at 1:04, they pull their goalie... Stony Brook clears, gloved down by an Anteater, UCI shot goes off side of net... with 20.1 seconds left, Tasch SCORES! 8-8. Unbelievable.

"Cal - i - fornia" is the chant from the stands.

Overtime, once again.

[BLIZARD_HOCKEY]

I'm listening online and just can't believe this!

CAL- I - FORNIA!!!

[RichardGraham]

"U-C-I. U-C-I. U-C-I."

That's the chant as the overtime period begins.

Nice shoulder save by Anteaters' goalie. poke check... rolling puck... Stony Brook shot and save...

9:26 left... UCI scores! 9-8 OT victory.

"West Coast. West Coast. West Coast." is the final chant.

[BLIZARD_HOCKEY]

U-C-I!!!!

Middleton to Muller, takes a shot, Ohhhh off the iron. Rebound to Frecker, he scores!!! UC-Irvine makes the comeback!!! Six consecutive goals and the Anteaters will advance to the next round!!!

[showtime89]

Rich, can I guess there's Wi-Fi at the rink or do you have a 300ft Cat-5e cable trailing you where ever you go?(I could picture this after seeing that Great Wall of China picture)

[alex]

I listened to the broadcast of that game and it sounded like one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen/heard. I can only imagine having been there in person.

[Dangl*]

That was the sickest roller hockey game I have ever seen... And the loudest... Irvine took over the game in the third period... And the one player who only so the rink like twice in the entire game scored the game winning goal in overtime...

Don't underestimate the west coast!

[RichardGraham]

Hey Ron,

Wi-Fi, baby. They actually hooked up wireless at the Colorado Sports Center the night before the first games there. They might have had wireless here at the Tour Inline Hockey Arena prior to the tourney, but I'm not sure. I do have a pretty long extension cord (borrowed from Ace Jerseys), because my battery power is about as weak as my slap shot.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Alex,

It WAS amazing. I was sitting at a table in the north-eastern corner of the rink with John and Yvona Pellegrino of Ace Jerseys. John sensed that UCI was going to make a comeback; I certainly didn't predict it.

John said, "They're just too composed, to mature; they don't panic, and they play as a team."

Looking back at my posts, I can see some of my phrasing:

"Less than a minute left in the second... it's looking dark for UCI, especially as Mike Tasch gets a hooking call... "

"Can UCI get closer? UCI leads in shots at least, 23-18... With 8:12 left, the Anteaters do score, making it 8-5. How much gas do they have left in the tank?"

But then things started to change... as Stony Brook continued to take penalties, it was evident that UCI was getting some confidence back, especially after their slow start, and being down 3-0 early. More on that later, but it was one of the greatest comebacks I've ever witnessed, for sure.

[William Bourque]

The Combo of URI/EMU and UCI/SBU was easily the best back-to-back games of the tournament that i have witnessed. The amount of overtime games today shows how strong and evenly matched some of these teams are.

Good Luck to all the teams who made it to play tomorrow.