Santa Clara Blackhawks
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Blackhawks' CAHA Playoffs Web Page.....Click Here!!

Threepeat is Sweet - Hawks Champs!
              April 9, 2006

In a start-to-finish nailbiter, the Santa Clara Blackhawks claimed the club's third consecutive CAHA Midget-A State Championship, nipping the Tri-Valley Blue Devils, 2-1.  The Blackhawks' route to the State Championship was a much tougher road than the one they traveled to win NORCAL, as they had to overcome an opening game loss in order to earn a spot in the finals, and then they had to come from behind against a very talented and motivated Blue Devils squad to win the title.  Santa Clara's depth has been one of the primary keys to their success all year long, and never was that more evident than today.  Both goals in the championship game were scored by Jason Pacheco, who registered his first points of the tournament.  The Hawks also stuck with their hot hand between the pipes, in deciding to go with goaltender Sam Boyer over one of the team's most valuable players, Devon Luna.  Their depth in the net also worked to their advantage on this day as Boyer was rock-solid, denying 22 of 23 shots and giving up almost no rebounds.  The Blackhawks' defensive work was stellar in front of Boyer as well, particularly during a 1:35, two-man advantage for the Blue Devils in the second period.

Championship intensity was evident in this game from the first drop of the puck.  Tri-Valley's first shot produced a routine save by Sam Boyer at 12:44.  Santa Clara's first scoring opportunity came when Phillip Wong zipped a pass inside to Anthony Dragotto.  But Dragotto's one-timer was rejected at 11:45.  At 7:23, the Devils caught the first break when the Blackhawks committed a minor penalty.  Jeremy Mamon and Brian Quirolo keyed a solid penalty kill effort and Boyer chipped in with a glovehand snag at 5:57.  The first goal in any game is huge, and in a playoff game it looms even larger, and it was the Blue Devils who struck first when a Blackhawks outlet pass was intercepted in the right slot.  The Blue Devils' skater moved in undefended and slipped a backhand shot past Boyer at 5:13, and Tri-Valley had drawn first blood.  The Devils then rode the momentum of that first goal to outshoot the Blackhawks, 9-4 in the period.  But Sam Boyer stopped everything that came his way.  A very nice wraparound attempt was smothered by Boyer at 3:45, and then Boyer snagged a slapshot off the next face-off with the big chopper.  Santa Clara generated a decent scoring chance at 2:01 when Dustin Holt ripped a slapshot that produced a short rebound.  But his teammates could not get to it and the Devils regained possession. Boyer came up with another big save at 1:30, this time kicking a shot aside with the pad, and the period wound down with the Devils leading, 1-0.

Santa Clara got themselves in a jam early in the second period, and Tri-Valley's failure to capitalize may have cost them the game.  The trouble started on a sequence deep inside the Blackhawks zone when a Devils skater got to a loose puck out in front and snapped off a shot that Sam Boyer rejected.  But the Blackhawks were whistled for their second penalty of the game, giving the Devils another shot on the power play.  The Hawks then made matters worse when they took a delay of game penalty just twenty-five seconds later, giving the Blue Devils a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:35.  Anthony Dragotto joined blueliners Kevin Brown and Nick Lavarias on the penalty kill and they proceeded to eat up the clock.  First, Brown blocked a shot that Dragotto was then able to ice.  With thirty-eight seconds left on the two-man advantage, Sam Boyer gained a stoppage of play with a glove save.  Patrick Castagna replaced Dragotto on the penalty-kill unit and the Captain proceeded to eat up most of the remaining time with a face-off win and an end-to-end rush with the puck.  The Devils had time for one more rush, but Boyer rejected a slapshot that Castagna was able to get to and send the length of the ice.  The Blackahwks then quickly changed-up and shortly after Phillip Wong exited the penalty box, Nick Lavarias spotted him with a long pass to center ice.  Wong deflected the puck ahead into the Devils' zone and that allowed him to sidestep his defender and break loose on a 2-on-1 with Jason Pacheco.  Wong moved in on the rush and then passed across the slot to Pacheco, who tipped it just beyond the goalie's outstretched leg for the score.

The sudden turn of events was huge for the Blackhawks and it loomed as an even larger missed opportunity for the Blue Devils.  But Santa Clara proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot when they committed their fourth penalty of the game at 9:41 of the second period.  This time, a strong penalty-kill effort by Phillip Wong caused the Blue Devils to commit a penalty of their own at 8:47, cutting short the Tri-Valley power play.  When the Blackhawks' penalty expired at 7:41, it left them with an abbreviated 54-second man advantage, their first of the game.  After stellar work on the penalty kill, the power play unit showed their talent, needing just forty-two seconds to score what would ultimately turn out to be the game winner.  Jeremy Mamon got things rolling with some good puck control in the Tri-Valley zone.  Mamon eventually sent a pass to Nick Lavarias and Lavarias ripped off a slapshot from the right point that went wide of the net.  As it came flying past the post, Brandon Shore tipped it and the puck wrapped all the way around the boards to Kevin Brown at the left point. Brown slid inside with the puck toward the center point position and then fired a shot on goal.  The Devils' goalie made the pad save, but Jason Pacheco was first to sniff out the rebound, and he buried the biscuit at 6:59 to give Santa Clara a 2-1 lead.  The Blackhawks had a chance to extend their lead later in the period, with 1:29 of 5-on-3 time of their own.  But Tri-Valley's goaltender was superb, making several strong saves.  The Blackhawks' best chance came after a Dustin Holt slapshot produced a rebound right in front.  Anthony Dragotto had an opening to shoot at and he tried to gather in the puck to lift it top shelf, but in doing so he lost control and the puck slid behind the net.  The Blue Devils escaped further damage and the players headed to the locker rooms at the end of the period for a fresh ice cut with the Blackahwks leading 2-1.

The third period was textbook defensive hockey for the Blackhawks.  Santa Clara only generated four shots on goal in the final period, but more importantly, they allowed only five.  Tri-Valley did get one more chance on the power play, their sixth of the game, at 13:50.  They wasted no time generating a good scoring chance on a howitzer of a slapshot at 13:42.  But Sam Boyer gobbled it up and gained a stoppage of play.  At 13:16, a Devils' skater got around a defender and it required Boyer to come up with back-to-back saves of the game.  First, Boyer stuffed the initial open shot from his front porch, and then he stretched the pad to the post to deny a great rebound opportunity at 13:16.  As play continued, Santa Clara's Patrick Castagna almost gave the Blackhawks some breathing room at 11:22, but his hard wrister rang off the post.  Phillip Wong, Anthony Dragotto and Nick Costa culminated a very solid shift with a backhand shot from the center slot by Dragotto at 9:03, but his scoring chance was snuffed by the goaltender.  The Blackhawks defense iced the Devils the rest of the way, allowing almost nothing to get through to Boyer.  The Devils did manage to squeeze off a snapshot at 7:19, but the Hawks' netminder vacuumed it up.  From that point on, the Blackhawks took control, preventing any kind of shot and dumping the puck deep inside the Tri-Valley zone, and then controlling it there for extended periods of time.  Tri-Valley pulled their goaltender late in the game, but they had to return to 5-on-5 hockey after a stoppage of play in the Devils' zone.  Santa Clara then ran out the clock, never allowing the puck back into the Blackhawks' zone in the last thirty seconds of play.

The CAHA Championship gives the Blackahwks the trifecta they sought from their first day of practice.  They went undefeated in capturing the NORCAL regular season title.  They swept the field in winning the NORCAL Tournament Championship, and now they have won the club's third consecutive CAHA State Championship.  Congratulations to all on a fantastic year!

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BLACKHAWKS - 2,  Tri-Valley - 1

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BOX SCORE

TEAMS	1st	2nd	3rd	TOTAL
Tri-Valley	1	0	0	1
Santa Clara	0	2	0	2

Scoring Summary

First Period
Scoring:  1, Tri-Valley, Sexsmith (unassisted), 5:13.  Penalties:  Gagliardi, Santa Clara (holding), 7:23.

Second Period
Scoring:  2, Blackhawks, Pacheco 1 (Wong, Lavarias), 10:08.  3, Blackhawks, Pacheco 2 (Brown, Shore), 6:59 (pp). Penalties:  Kiernan, Santa Clara (crosscheck), 12:49;  Wong, Santa Clara (delay of game), 12:24;  Wong, Santa Clara (slashing), 9:41;  Harrison, Tri-Valley (crosscheck), 8:47;  Hamilton, Tri-Valley (interference), 3:06;  Block, Tri-Valley (roughing), 2:35;  Venosta, Santa Clara (crosscheck), 0:38.

Third Period
Scoring:  None.  Penalties:  Yedlicka, Santa Clara (charging), 13:50.

 SHOTS ON GOAL

Tri-Valley	9	9	5	--23
Santa Clara	4	12	4	--20

Power-play Conversions:  Santa Clara: 1 of 3;  Tri-Valley: 0 of 6.  Goalies:  Santa Clara, Boyer (23 shots, 22 saves; record 2-0-0).  Tri-Valley, Carey (20 shots, 18 saves).

Plus/Minus:  +1(Brown, Lavarias, Mamon, Pacheco);  even(Castagna, Fredericks, Gagliardi, Kiernan, Quirolo, Shore, Venosta, Yedlicka, Wong); -1(Costa, Dragotto, Kotval, Holt); DNP(none).

Game Winning Goal:  Pacheco (1)

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     Three Stars Of the Game

Jason Pacheco - In a full team effort, Pacheco grabs the headline scoring both goals in the title game

Sam Boyer -  Under extreme pressure, Boyer was as cool as a cucumber, stopping 22 of 23 shots for the win

Phillip Wong - Capped a great CAHA tournament with the key assist on Blackhawks' game-tying goal

CAHA Playoffs

SANTA CLARA BLACKHAWKS

TRI-VALLEY BLUE DEVILS

SOUTH COAST SABERS

CHANNEL IS. RIPTIDE

Date	Day	Time	Location	Opponent	Result
7-Apr-06	Friday	12:45 PM		@ Channel Islands Riptide	L, 2-3
7-Apr-06	Friday	7:15 PM		South Coast Sabers	W, 7-3
8-Apr-06	Saturday	6:00 PM		Tri-Valley Blue Devils	W, 5-1
9-Apr-06	Sunday	1:00 PM		Tri-Valley Blue Devils	W, 2-1

NORCAL Playoffs

SANTA CLARA BLACKHAWKS

SAN JOSE JR. SHARKS

OAKLAND BEARS

TRI-VALLEY BLUE DEVILS

REGULAR SEASON RECORD

GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GFA	GAA
15	13	0	2	28	87	23	5.80	1.53

Click "Location" for directions - Click "Result" for the write-up of each game

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PRESEASON & EXHIBITION RECORD

GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GFA	GAA
6	2	3	1	5	17	17	2.83	2.83

2005-2006 TOURNAMENTS

GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GFA	GAA
17	12	4	1	25	79	43	4.65	2.53

Presidents' Day Invitational

Date	Time	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result
17-Feb-06	9:00 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		Phoenix AA	W, 4-1
18-Feb-06	10:15 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		Utah AA	W, 9-6
19-Feb-06	11:50 AM	Polar Bears  Invitational		Boulder	W, 6-0
19-Feb-06	10:20 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		SoCal Vipers	L, 1-3

Ice Station Holiday Fest

6th Annual  THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

Date	Time	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result
25-Nov-05	4:15 PM	Thanksgiving Celebration		Kelowna	L, 1-3
26-Nov-05	8:00 AM	Thanksgiving Celebration		CA Northstars	L, 1-6
26-Nov-05	5:30 PM	Thanksgiving Celebration		SD Gulls AA2	W, 1-0
27-Nov-04	8:15 AM	Thanksgiving Celebration		SoCal Vipers	W, 7-5

End of Summer Hockey Fest

Click score under "Result" column for box score and a brief write-up of each game

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BLACKHAWKS MIDGET-A INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Click on Players' Name for his Bio

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                Goaltenders 

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BLACKHAWKS MIDGET-A TEAM STATISTICS

2005-06 Final NORCAL Standings

NORCAL Midget-A	Record	Points
BLACKHAWKS	13-0-2	28
San Jose Jr. Sharks	8-6-1	17
Tri-Valley Blue Devils	7-7-1	15
Oakland Bears	7-7-1	15
California Cougars	5-7-3	13
Santa Rosa Flyers	1-14-0	2

This Link will take you to a full list NORCAL scores to date

NORCAL Playoff Results for 3/17 - 3/19	CAHA Playoff Results for 4/7 - 4/9

News, Notes & What's Happening

CAHA Playoffs Results 4/7 & 4/8 Tri-Valley represented NORCAL in solid fashion, disposing of the SCAHA #1 seeded South Coast Sabers on Saturday morning and then coming back the same evening to shut out the Channel Islands Riptide, 5-0.  With the back-to-back wins, Tri-Valley pretty much sewed up the first CAHA Championship berth.

Upcoming Action.... The NORCAL Midget-A  Champion Santa Clara Blackhawks are looking forward to SUMMER VACATION!!

Coaches and Team Support


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Coaches:
Head Coach - Hal Nunn  -   [email protected]
Assistant Coach - Bill Fruen  -  [email protected]
Assistant Coach - Walt Pienkos  -  [email protected]

Team Support:

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PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Day	Time	Place
Tuesdays	7:45 - 9:00 PM	Logitech Ice - East
Thursdays	9:00 - 10:15 PM	Logitech Ice - South

Practice times are scheduled but are always subject to change

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Hockey, Hockey, Hockey, Hockey, Hockey all the Time

Blackhawks Page	NORCAL Jr. Hockey	SCAHA Hockey	ESPN Zone	CAHA	USA Hockey	SJ Sharks

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Updated April 11, 2006

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