Mission Cup Recap From Joe Dumars Fieldhouse

Favorites find Mission Cup Elusive at the Fieldhouse

Forty-seven teams squared off at the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse for the two-day Mission Cup. This represented what could be the last time teams could get quality competition in prior to the Detroit NARCh Regional at the end of May. Although the tourney was only two days it was jam packed with exciting games from early morning to late at night.
The Mite division featured Team Hyper, the local favorite, going up against the Wolves. The Wolves are made up primarily of ice hockey players from the Mt.Clemens Wolves; further proof that the transition from ice to inline and the ability to do both is definitely manageable. Although, the Wolves came up short in this one, they kept the game close the entire way and gave Team Hyper all they could handle. Shane Bersbach recorded all four Hyper goals while Shane Murphy chipped in with two assists. Rory Rinnan had a goal and a helper for the Wolves who lost 4-2 in a hard fought game.
A rematch of the previous tournament was set when the Tour Flames advanced to the final to meet the Nexed Snipers. The Snipers lost to the Flames in overtime just two weeks earlier in the Hyper Crusade. This one would be sweet revenge for the Snipers who would score the games? last six goals in posting an 8-5 win. Currey Dearmitt led the way with 3 goals and 1 assist while Dan Burnett (2), Chad Rutkowski, Brett Sackman, and Andrew Binkowski would also score for the Snipers. The Flames got 2 goals each from Anthony Maini and Nate Taurence but it wasn?t enough.
Team Projoy St.Louis would make the most of their trip to Motown as they went as far as they could go in the tournament, and put icing on the cake by beating the Mission Bulldogs in the championship overtime. The teams traded goals the entire game with four different players scoring for St.Louis including Aaron Schultz, Scott Hyde, Brandon Etterer, and Dave Warren. The Bulldog scorers were Dustin Gazley (2) and Brad Murphy. Both goalies, Dustin Boose for Mission and Richard Fuchs for ProJoy were stellar between the pipes. It was Warren?s goal with a minute to play in the extra stanza that would go down as the game winner.
The Bantam division also had a Mission Bulldogs present and they would go up against the high-powered Team Easton. In this case someone did ?let the Dogs out? and they were hungry as they tallied three goals in the first two and a half minutes of the game. Easton would come back somewhat but would go down 6-3, as they just could not recover from the initial onslaught. Kevin Devergilio, Anthony Cosmano, and Brandon Naurato each had two goals for the Bulldogs while Chase Cosens, Anthony Ciraulo, and Steve Kruszewski lit the lamp for Easton. Easton had to be happy with their showing, as several new faces were added to the roster. Goaltender, Anthony Tocco for the Bulldogs had an outstanding weekend in net for the Bulldogs.
The Womens division was a battle of five teams. The Cincinnati Eagles would travel to the ?Joe? and would play well in all of their games but seemed to come up just short on most occasions. What would you expect when having to deal with the likes of the Nexed Girls and Team Nexed? These two would meet in the finals once again but this time the Nexed Girls would roll away with the victory by a 3-1 margin. Ashley Cottrell, Geena Prough, and Jillian Szandzik would score for the Girls while goalie, Heather Guenther would turn aside all but one of Team Nexed?s shots. Juli Bradford had the lone score for Nexed.
The local Devil Dogs would down the Downriver Hornets by a score of 6-1 in the Men?s Bronze division as they received a hat trick from Brandon Ryan and goals by Anthony Fracassi, Brian Bontomassi, and Jay Graunstadt.
Diamond Racing won the Silver division. The talented bunch would roll all over the Killer Bees in the final and post an 8-2 win in the process. Will McMahon led the way with 3 goals and 2 assists as Ryan Ashton, Aaron Connor, Matt Noel, and Dusty Mysen would each have two points in the contest as well.
The six team Gold division would come down to the Detroit Mission Hyper Stars against Team Nexed. Mission would register four first period goals and skate to an impressive 6-2 triumph. Some familiar faces were big parts of this one as Dante Damiani scored 4 goals for Mission while Brandon Schnurr had two himself. Chris Kozlowski and Mike Frank were the only two Nexed players to get one by Mission goaltender Steve Kampf. Kampf would take home top goalie honors. Both these teams will be searching for NARCh Gold come Nationals in St.Paul, Minnesota.
Next up at the Fieldhouse is the Detroit NARCh Regional over Memorial Day weekend. This is a five-day tournament with the Varsity Cup taking place the same weekend for the top high school teams in the area. Over 100 teams from across the US and Canada are expected for this year?s qualifier. For more information, visit www.DRHA.com or contact Joe Hawkins/Matt Koleski at (586) 731-3080 x26.