Seventy Four Teams look for one last Tournament Win in 2001 Nexed Cup

If anyone was wondering if the sport of inline hockey was still growing, they found their answer over the holiday weekend at the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse. Over 70 teams converged on the Fieldhouse for the Nexed Cup, which was held December 28th, 29th, and 30th. Last year?s Holiday tournament attracted around 40 teams. This years? field featured four adult divisions including a women?s division, two high school divisions and eight youth divisions.
In the Atom Division, Team Nexed was too overpowering for anyone as they marched to a 4-0 win in the final game against Belle Tire. Alex Aleardi, tournament top scorer, led the way with a goal and three assists while Mike Szmatula recorded the hat trick for the talented Nexed team.
The Mite Gold championship game saw Team Rage go up against the young Team Force. The Rage would hold on for a 3-1 win getting goals from Kyle Junga, Brennan Fulton, and Justin Pleschette. Johnny Pincura would score in the second for Team Force but they were unable to get any closer. Both goalies, Kyle Cross (Force) and Erin Laurain (Rage), were stellar between the pipes.
Team Hyper met the Honeybaked ?91 team in the Mite Platinum final, coming out firing, scoring two goals in the first two minutes of play. Team Hyper never looked back, scoring five more times in the second period while cruising to a 9-1 win. Shane Bersbach had 4 goals in the final to go along with Travis White?s 3 assists, Shane Murphy?s goal and 2 assists, and Shawn Sydlowski?s 2 goals. Team Hyper would win Nexed skates for their efforts.
The Squirt Gold final pitted the Mullet Hunters against the Cyclones. The Mullets were never threatened throughout the tournament but only held a 2-0 lead at the midway point of the game. However, Brandon Egglesfield would snipe two goals in the second and assist on a third to help the Hunters pull away from the Cyclones. James Donovan also had two goals and Ryan Compeau notched a goal and three helpers. Jason Westfall scored twice for the Cyclones in the losing cause as his team suffered a 6-2 loss.
No surprises in the Squirt Platinum division as the Hyper Falcons out skated the Tour Flames in the final by a score of 6-2. Mike Rourke and Richard Goodson led the way with two goals apiece. Shane Sluka had two for the Flames.
The Peewee Gold division saw another Rage team in the final going up against the Hyper Falcons. This would turn out to be a lopsided game as Hyper skated to a 7-1 win led by Sean Kruk?s hat trick. The Falcons would also get goals by Scott Henige, Richard Goodson, Matt Gerbe, and Matt Crubaugh.
The newly formed Nexed Detroit team would prove to be overpowering in their final game against the Tour Venom ?87 for the Peewee Platinum title. They rolled to a 10 ?2 victory led by Tim Reeder?s hat trick and two assists. Ryan Bond had a goal and three assists and Tony Mchugh chipped in with a pair of goals as well. Joey Salinger had both of the Venom?s goals.
The talented Bantam Platinum division featured the Tour Venom and the Metro Storm in the championship game. Metro received goals from five different players including Giovanni Bugli, Nino Musitelli, Billy Burns, Travis Hanway, and Eric Reinhart. The Venom got two goals from Brian Hetrick and a goal from Kyle Scott who hit three posts in the game. Anthony Tocco played brilliantly for the Metro storm.
Dakota would upend Eisenhower in the Freshman high school division by a score of 2-1. Mike Hengy led the way for the Cougars with a goal and an assist. Eisenhower did win in the Varsity Silver division as they tripped up Utica by a 5-4 score in overtime. Mike Capruzzo would be the hero in this one scoring with just over two minutes left in the extra stanza. He would also be named the tournament high scorer while teammate Aaron Sarzyenski would take home top goalie honors. Charles Fleece had the hat trick for Utica but it wasn?t enough.
The Womens? final game saw a match-up of both Nexed teams. The more experienced Team Nexed went on to a 10-2 win over the young Nexed Girls who played hard all weekend long. Julie Bradford and Dawn Gould had 2 goals each for Team Nexed and Michelle Hernandez and Amanda Kalesavich had a goal and 3 assists each.
The Bronze division featured the Stingers against the Downriver Hornets and it was goaltender Mike Muscat who made the difference for the Stingers as he turned away shot after shot from the Hornets. Andy Lane and Ken Burnock each recorded 2 goals in the Stingers 5-2 victory.
In somewhat of a surprise Halan?s Hockeyshop snuck into the Silver final as the top seed against a talented MMRA team. Halan?s would go up 2-1 early in the second with Marcus Hughes second of the fortunate to get to the championship, after wins over Jones Soda and the Tour Venom. Nexed would get goals from six different players including Chris Kahre, Dave Kozlowski, Chris Kozlowski, Chad Roy (2), Matt Edmondson, and Drew Donahue. Dante Damiani?s hat trick for the Stars was the only goals they could get past the stingy Nexed net-minder, Jamie Bufalino.
The winners in each division received from Nexed, hockey bags, pants, gloves, skates, jerseys or bearings. The tournament was another success for the Fieldhouse and the DRHA staff, with congratulation to all those teams winning in the last tournament of 2001. The year 2002 will once again bring some great inline hockey to Hockeytown, as the NARCh Great Lakes Regional will be held at the Fieldhouse at the end of May. Teams will have plenty of opportunity to get tuned up for NARCh, as the Fieldhouse will host a St. Patrick?s tournament as well as an Easter tournament. Check the DRHA website at www.DRHA.com for more tournament information.
game but MMRA would reel off three straight to post a 4-2 win. John Griffin notched 2 goals for MMRA. BJ Lentz was tournament high scorer.
Team Nexed won the Gold division with a 7-3 win over the Detroit Mission Hyper Stars. The Stars were undermanned all weekend and were fortunate to get to the championship, after wins over Jones Soda and the Tour Venom. Nexed would get goals from six different players including Chris Kahre, Dave Kozlowski, Chris Kozlowski, Chad Roy (2), Matt Edmondson, and Drew Donahue. Dante Damiani?s hat trick for the Stars was the only goals they could get past the stingy Nexed net-minder, Jamie Bufalino.
The winners in each division received from Nexed, hockey bags, pants, gloves, skates, jerseys or bearings. The tournament was another success for the Fieldhouse and the DRHA staff, with congratulation to all those teams winning in the last tournament of 2001. The year 2002 will once again bring some great inline hockey to Hockeytown, as the NARCh Great Lakes Regional will be held at the Fieldhouse at the end of May. Teams will have plenty of opportunity to get tuned up for NARCh, as the Fieldhouse will host a St. Patrick?s tournament as well as an Easter tournament. Check the DRHA website at www.DRHA.com for more tournament information.