SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

www.geocities.com/sdprepsports

E-mail us at [email protected]

Home   Swimming/Diving   Cross Country  Track & Field   Roller Hockey   Water Polo   CIF Scorecard

Opportunity knocks for Dana Hills Dolphins in NARCh Varsity Cup SoCal Regional

By Phillip Brents

Posted May 5, 2002

The Dana Hills Dolphins rode three game-ending goals by Ryan Luzum to a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory against Marina High School in the finals of the NARCh Varsity Cup Southern California Regional played April 28 at the Anaheim Hockey Club.

Just 20 seconds after Andrew Kleinhaus scored to give Marina a 3-1 lead, Luzum ignited the Dolphins’ rally with an unassisted goal to cut his team’s deficit on the scoreboard to a single goal. Dana Hills then seized the game’s momentum by capitalizing on a double roughing minor penalty assessed to Marina’s Tim Krause. After Marina had killed the first two-minute minor, Scott Smith set up Luzum for a power play goal with 5:35 to play to tie the game. After the game-tying goal, Krause received a 10-minute misconduct penalty and then a game misconduct penalty to liven up the controversial ending. Luzum scored the unassisted game-winner just under two minutes later with 3:41 left in regulation.

With an 18-8 bulge in shots in the second half of play, Dana Hills outshot Marina 26-15 for the game.

“In every game the players supported their goalie with aggressive back-checking and shot blocking. They forced the other team to turn over the puck. Our players wore out the other teams with their speed and passing, they never gave up. They believed they could win. It was so good to coach this team -- they played their hearts out for me,” said Dana Hills coach Josh Milenksi.

Innocently enough, the teams had played to a 1-1 draw through the first half. Dana Hills’ David Vandenberg scored the game’s jump goal by Marina’s Ian Rezac supplied the equalizer with 2:42 left in the first half, assisted by teammate Jared Gibo. Marina then scored the opening two goals of the second half to take a two-goal lead. Gibo gave Marina its first lead of the contest at the 14:20 mark and Kleinhaus made it 3-1 off another setup pass by Gibo at 12:41.

Dana Hills’ Evan Baker earned the division’s Top Goaltender award while the division’s High Scorer award went to Michael Doran of Santiago High School’s second team. The Dana Hills goaltender posted a .925 save percentage by stopping 37 of 40 shots in preliminary round play. Doran tallied eight goals and three assists for 11 points.

“The competition this year was the best I’ve seen at the high school level. Every game we played was hard fought. We believed we could win. Coach Josh was the key in getting us to play the best hockey we could in every game. When I scored the winning goal in the championship, it was because of a complete team effort -- we always play as a team,” Luzum said.

The top-seeded team in the 16-team draw, Dana Hills had to survive an overtime shootout against Davis High in the semifinals while fourth-seeded Marina topped sixth-seeded Santiago High, the 2001 NARCh Varsity Cup champions, by a 3-1 score in the other semifinal.

The overtime shootout ouster was bitterly disappointing for seventh-seeded Davis, which had won an overtime shootout against second-seeded Capo Valley in the preceding quarterfinals. Dana Hills topped eighth-seeded Damian Hills 6-3 in the quarterfinals while Marina eliminated fifth-seeded Calvary Chapel 4-3. In another one-goal quarterfinal, Santiago edged Santiago 2 by a 3-2 score.

As for the competitive nature of this year’s tournament, of the seven playoff games, six were decided by two goals or less and five by one goal or less. It was also the largest in terms of varsity-level participation.

"In the past, the Varsity Cup has been divided into varsity and junior varsity divisions but this year’s tournament had 16 teams in one division. It was the most competitive tournament ever – a ton of one-goal games and overtimes. The level of competition was really balanced," said NARCh Hockey Director Daryn Goodwin.

Under new rules implemented by NARCh this season, every team that plays in a Varsity Cup Regional qualifier now has the opportunity to participate in the NARCh Finals. Teams will be placed in Varsity Platinum or Varsity Gold divisions based on their performance in regional play.

As the top four finishers at the Southern California Regional, Dana Hills, Marina, Davis and Santiago are eligible to participate in the NARCh Varsity Platinum Division Finals at the Xcel Arena in St. Paul, Minn., later this summer. As the fifth- and sixth-place teams, Capo Valley and Calvary Chapel, have a choice of competing in either the Platinum or Gold Division at the Varsity Cup Finals while the remaining 10 teams from the Southern California Regional are eligible to play in the NARCh Varsity Gold Division Finals.

Those 10 teams eligible to compete in the NARCh Varsity Cup Gold Division Finals include Santiago 2, Damian, South, Temecula Valley, Etiwanda, Laguna Hills, Granite Hills, Bonita Vista, Monte Vista and Carpenteria high schools.

Varsity Cup play is being featured in five NARCh Regional tournaments this year. Following the So Cal event, tournament dates are scheduled May 3-5 at the All American Sports Mall in St. Louis, Mo.; May 10-12 in Ellerton, Fla., May 17-19 in Moriches, NY., and May 24-27 at Joe Dummars Fieldhouse in Detroit, Mich. Francis Howell North upset higher-seeded CBC by a 6-3 score to capture the Midwest Regional in St. Louis.

San Diego County’s three entrants in this year’s Varsity Cup Southern California Regional finished 13^th, 14^th and 15^th among the 16 participating teams. Granite Hills, which finished runner-up (via a 7-6 overtime loss to Rancho Bernardo) in the finals of the club-based San Diego County High School Roller Hockey Conference championship game, fared the best of the three with a 0-2-1 record in pool play. Granite Hills tied eighth-seeded Damian 4-4 but dropped opening round games to ninth-seeded South (6-1) and fourth-seeded Marina (8-2). Both Bonita Vista, the reigning champions of the state’s lone CIF-sanctioned roller hockey league, and three-time county club champion Monte Vista both finished 0-3 in Varsity Cup play.

Bonita Vista, the two-time Metro Conference post-season tournament champions, dropped a close 2-0 game to fifth-seeded Calvary Chapel and (playing without their top scorer) lost by a narrow 4-3 margin to 11^th-seeded Etiwanda. The Barons, who finished 14^th in the standings, fell 6-1 to second-seeded Capo Valley.

"It was really fun. Even though we didn’t do that well, it was better playing against teams up there (at the Varsity Cup) than down here (San Diego) because it was a learning experience. We’d rather lose and be forced to try harder than beat some team 12-1," said Bonita Vista goaltender/defenseman Doug Lentz who tallied a goal and assist in his team’s 4-3 loss to Etiwanda.

Monte Vista’s losses – all by respectable margins – came against seventh-seeded Davis (5-4), 12^th-seeded Laguna Hills (6-3) and third-seeded Santiago 2 (5-2).

Dana Hills earned the top playoff seed based on a 19-3 goal-differential in pool play. The Dolphins defeated Santiago 5-2, Temecula Valley 5-0 and Carpenteria 9-1. Capo Valley notched a 15-5 goal-differential to grab the second playoff seed after defeating Etiwanda 4-2, Bonita Vista 6-1 and Calvary Chapel 5-2 in pool play.

Santiago 2 received the third playoff seed following pool-round victories against Laguna Hills (8-0), Davis (5-4) and Monte Vista (5-2) while Marina secured the fourth playoff seed after downing Damian 3-2, Granite Hills 8-2 and South 4-3 in preliminary-round action. South finished as the tournament’s tough draw team, losing a pair of 4-3 decisions to Damian and Marina in pool play, to be denied a spot in the quarterfinals. South, which defeated Granite Hills 6-1 to open tourney play, finished pool play with a 12-9 goal-differential.

The NARCh Finals are scheduled July 27 to August 8 at the Xcel Arena, the home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

Capo Valley 3-0-0 6 15-5

Calvary Chapel 2-1-0 4 8-6

Etiwanda 1-2-0 2 7-11

Bonita Vista 0-3-0 0 4-12

Calvary Chapel 2, Bonita Vista 0

Capo Valley 4, Etiwanda 2

Capo Valley 6, Bonita Vista 1

Calvary Chapel 4, Etiwanda 1

Etiwanda 4, Bonita Vista 3

Capo Valley 5, Calvary Chapel 2

Dana Hills 3-0-0 6 19-3

Santiago 2-1-0 4 14-7

Temecula Valley 1-2-0 2 9-11

Carpenteria 0-3-0 0 3-24

Temecula Valley 7, Carpenteria 2

Dana Hills 5, Santiago 2

Santiago 8, Carpenteria 0

Dana Hills 5, Temecula Valley 0

Dana Hills 9, Carpenteria 1

Santiago 4, Temecula Valley 2

Santiago (2) 3-0-0 6 18-6

Davis 2-1-0 4 14-9

Laguna Hills 1-2-0 2 6-16

Monte Vista 0-3-0 0 9-16

Davis 5, Monte Vista 4

Santiago (2) 8, Laguna Hills 0

Laguna Hills 6, Monte Vista 3

Santiago (2) 5, Davis 4

Davis 5, Laguna Hills 0

Santiago (2) 5, Monte Vista 2

Marina 3-0-0 6 15-7

Damian 1-1-1 3 10-10

South 1-2-0 2 12-9

Granite Hills 0-2-1 1 7-18

Marina 3, Damian 2

South 6, Granite Hills 1

Damian 4, South 3

Marina 8, Granite Hills 2

Damian 4, Granite Hills 4

Marina 4, South 3

(1) Dana Hills 6, (8) Damian 3

(7) Davis 4, (2) Capo Valley 3 (OT/shootout)

(6) Santiago 3, (3) Santiago (2) 2

(4) Marina 4, (5) Calvary Chapel 3

Dana Hills 3, Davis 2 (OT/shootout)

Marina 3, Santiago 1

Dana Hills 4, Marina 3