Chula Vista Golden Eagles Pee Wee and Bantam teams are headed for the NARCh Finals. Pictured above is the Pee Wee team. Pictured below is the Bantam team. Photos by Phillip Brents

First-year Chula Vista Golden Eagles soar in Tour Pacific Cup

By Phillip Brents

Posted June 14, 2002

The Chula Vista Golden Eagles Pee Wee and Bantam teams are making a history-making flight -- all the way to the NARCh Finals later this summer in Minnesota.

The Golden Eagles are not only taking wing to the national championships but expect to do well when competition in the world's largest and most competitive amateur roller hockey tournament rolls onto the courts at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

This year’s NARCh Finals are segmented into two tournaments. Gold Division teams will compete July 27 to August 1. Competition in the elite Platinum Division will take place August 1 -8. The Golden Eagles will be participating in the Gold Division (July 29 to Aug. 1).

While the jump to higher ground may be for future teams to tackle, the success that the first-year Golden Eagles have reaped thus far has been noteworthy for any team to ever skate out of San Diego County and unparalleled for a team built primarily of talent from the county's South Bay region that includes the suburban "bedroom" communities of National City, Chula Vista, Bonita, Eastlake and Imperial Beach.

The Golden Eagles Bantam team carried the top rating among 33 teams in the Tour Pacific Cup's AA Tier into the month of June while the Pee Wee team ranked fourth among 27 teams in the Pacific Cup's AA Tier.

The Chula Vista Hawks, who skate out of RollerSkateLand in Chula Vista, gained notoriety by winning the Pacific Cup's Pee Wee Club Select Tier title at last year's Finals at the Anaheim Hockey Club.

The Golden Eagles, who practice at Skate San Diego in National City, will be blazing new territory when they take the floor for this year’s Pacific Cup Finals at the Anaheim Hockey Club. AAA and Club tier teams will be showcased June 21-24 while AA and Rec tier teams will be spotlighted June 28 to July 1.

Both teams qualified for this year’s NARCh Finals by participating in a regional qualifier at Huntington Beach's Coast 2 Coast rink in March. Both teams played against Platinum Division teams at the qualifier. The Pee Wee team lost in the semifinals to place fourth while the Bantam team dropped a pair of one-goal games against AAA Tier teams.

The results remain encouraging for head coach Paul Newell, who won a NARCh Winternationals title this past January with the Division I Rinkside Rockets and knows what it takes to be successful at the top.

“I think the Pee Wees will have a very strong showing. In the Bantams, I think they can win the whole thing. Every time we take the floor, our objective is to win,” Newell said.

One might be tempted to temper Newell’s bold words for success, especially when dealing with first-year teams, but the former two-time Pacific Cup champion (with the Armadillos and Hosers) steadfastly thinks he has something special in the making in South County San Diego — a region not particularly known for recent success at the upper echelons of the sport. The teams’ success has certainly been amazing to those who have followed the Pacific Cup in recent years, particularly in regard to the ongoing dominance of teams from the greater Los Angeles and Inland Empire regions.

“From down south, it’s one of the most successful teams put together and from all San Diego County, for that matter,” Newell said with an obvious air of pride in his voice.

Tryouts for the new Golden Eagles teams came primarily via word of mouth. Both teams have played in an average of about one tournament each month -- all outside San Diego County. The two travel teams (in the literal sense) have made treks to Las Vegas, Upland, Irvine, Huntington Beach and Anaheim in search of competition this season.

“From the beginning, I stressed serious hockey players be at practice and work their butts for for 30 minutes of hockey or however long the game was,” said Newell, who now attends the University of California at San Diego. “I found a core roster of players who were committed to hockey and gave 100 percent of themselves. They’ve all got great skills. They all love hockey -- whether in a tournament or in a house league. They’re always willing to jump onto the rink to improve.”

The Pee Wee team’s roster includes forwards Jesse Parker, James Arakaki, Gaelan O’Brien and Tommy Shoup; defensemen Albert Esquivel, Zack McElroy, Adrian Rodriguez and Royce Leomo; and goaltenders Casey Peterson and Andrew Watson.

Arakaki has earned two high scorer awards in tournament competition while O’Brien has earned one high scorer award. Both Peterson and Watson have combined to earn four top goaltender awards.

The Golden Eagles captured the title at the Crystal Palace qualifying tournament in Las Vegas on May 19 as Arakaki earned the high scorer award with seven goals and three assists while the netminding duo of Peterson and Watson shared the top goaltender award with a .900 save percentage. The Golden Eagles also won the team title at the March 24 qualifier at the Gretzky Center in Upland as O’Brien took home the high scorer award with seven goals and two assists and Peterson and Watson earned the top goaltender award with a combined .905 save percentage.

“We have a lot of good talent on our team. Some of the players I didn’t think would make it but they’ve performed,” said McElroy, a seventh-grader at Rancho del Rey Middle School in Chula Vista.

“We’ve done really well as far as a first-year team,” said Peterson, a freshman at Monte Vista High School. in nearby Spring Valley.

The Bantam roster features forwards Erick Morgan, Chad McElroy, Scott Powers, Spike Timmins and Mike Baunker; defensemen Carl Horten, Joey Galeno, Reuben Felizardo, Bryson Goon, Matt Nauman and Ryan Wiens; and goaltenders Tommy Prewitt, Alex Kanakaris and Jacob Kalmonson.

Horten has been the team’s terror on the court after winning six top scorer awards in tournament play this season, including the last four in succession. Newell said the running joke around the division is that the high scorer award is now called the “Carl Horten award.”

The team’s goaltending unit has shared one top goaltending award. Otherwise, it has been a team effort that has helped the team stay at the top of the standings. The team most recently captured the regional qualifying tournament held June 1 at the Coast 2 Coast facility in Huntington Beach. Horten was the tournament’s high scorer with seven goals and five assists. Kanakaris and Kalmonson shared the top goaltender award with an .872 save percentage.

“From the get-go, I knew they had the potential but I had no idea the chemistry of the team would be this good,” Newell said. “I knew they had the talent. It was just a matter of whether they could put it together.”

Newell paused before adding, “It’s been a L.A.-Orange County dominated scene for some time.”

For Morgan, a sophomore at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, he remains excited about the team’s success and the move up the Pacific Cup’s food chain. Prior to joining the Golden Eagles, he was a member of the Chula Vista Hawks Club Tier travel teams. “It’s cool. We’re the first team from Chula Vista to do this well,” said Morgan. “It’s a lot better. It’s more fun.”

Prewitt, junior at Monte Vista High School, has played roller hockey eight years. He has competed in three NARCh Varsity Cup tournaments, helping the Monarchs place second his freshman year when he shared the top goaltender award with then teammate Aaron McKenzie. Like Morgan, Prewitt is proud about the Golden Eagles’ success.

“We got a lot done in a short amount of time. We’ve only played together one season -- that’s coming quite far,” Prewitt said.

Newell judges Horten to be the most complete player he has coached thus far. “He moves the puck well. He’s a supreme leader. I consider myself lucky to coach a player with his ability. He can also learn a lot from me as a coach since I was in his shoes not long ago,” Newell said of Horten.

The Golden Eagles’ success has not gone unnoticed. With a large segment of the program’s Bantam team moving up to the Junior level next season, the Golden Eagles expect to field three teams for the 2002-2003 campaign — Pee Wee, Bantam and Junior. Competition for spots on those three teams expects to be fierce.

“We’re turning some heads in each respective division,” Newell said. “There will be a deeper pool of talent for tryouts next year now that we’ve had some success and the word’s gotten out.”

In the meantime, the team’s parents and sponsors hope the two teams’ inaugural season continues to be laced with success.

Tour Pacific Cup notepad

AAA Tier division leaders heading into the Finals include the Nexed OC Blades 93 (Atom); CPH Mission Velocity (Mite); Anaheim Mission Bulldogs (Squirt); Nexed OC Blades 87 (Pee Wee); Nexed OC Blades (Bantam); and Rollin Ice Patriots (Junior).

AA Tier division leaders include Team Excalibur (Atom); Rollin Ice Patriots (Mite); Tour Upland Edge (Squirt); LaVerne 86 (Pee Wee); Chula Vista Golden Eagles (Bantam); and Las Vegas Patriots (Junior).

Club Tier division leaders include LaVerne Empire (Mite); Double Trouble (Squirt); Scorpions ProJoy (Pee Wee); and Calypso Black (Bantam). Leaders in the new Rec Tier include Stars & Sticks (Mite) and Yuma Blaze (Squirt).

Trailing the CPH Mission Velocity in the Mite AAA Tier is the Nexed OC Blades Black team while the Squirt AAA Blades Black squad is pushing hard on the division-leading Bulldogs. The Pee Wee AAA Tier is dominated by three teams with the Hyper Empire 87 and Nexed OC Blades 88 giving highly competitive chase to the leading Blades 87 unit. The Bantam AAA Tier is even more competitive with five teams clearly forming a gap above the other four teams in the standings. Immediately below the OC Blades are the Mavericks Hockey Club 86, Arizona Stars, CCM Red Army and Anaheim Mission Bulldogs. The Junior AAA Tier contains the most teams at 13. Giving closest chase to the leading Rollin Ice Patriots are the Mavericks Hockey Club, The Rebels, North Bay Bandits, Tour Predators and Pama Cyclones.

Raw Steel 93 was the only team to surpass the 50-point plateau in the Mite AA Tier standings heading into the final weeks of the season while the 15-team Mite AA Tier was stacked with a near log jam at the top with eight teams (with a minimum of five tournaments played) having scored double digits in at least one tournament. Just one-half standing point separated the leading Rollin Ice Patriots from the runner-up CPH Quest and three-quarters of a point separated the Quest from the third place Team Excalibur Black. The next three teams all found themselves with one-and-one-half points of one another: Tour Corona Edge Black, Brea Oilers and Nexed OC Blades Red. The Nike Rinkside Rockets and Las Vegas Tour Rebels Red rounded out the high rollers in the division.

The top 13 teams in the 24-team Squirt AA Tier defined the word "competitive" to an even fuller degree. Again the division lead was just one-half point with the Las Vegas Tour Rebels skating right on the heels of the leading Edge and the Silicon Valley Quakes and Team Excalibur Black the other of the four squads in the vision to reach 50 or more points. The nine teams comprising the solid middle pack include the VC Vipers, Brea Oilers, CPH Mayhem, Extreme 90s, HB Skatezone Sundevils, Nexed OC Blades Red, CCM Hosers, Sacramento Saxons, LaVerne Empire and Mavericks Hockey Club.

Nine teams find themselves within 10 points of one another in the 27-team Pee Wee AA Tier standings. Teams joining leaders LaVerne 88 that have eclipsed the 50-point barrier include the Castle Stars and Rollin Ice Patriots while the Chula Vista Golden Eagles, CPH Cyclones and Northern California Extreme are all just shy of joining that exclusive club. The ProJoy Mission Gulls Orange, CCSA Rage and Irvine Raiders 87 are all within one-half point of one another in places seven through nine.

The Bantam AA Tier is the largest in the Tour Pacific Cup with 33 teams. As with most of the divisions, competition is the key operating word rather than something hope for on a wish list. A total of 13 teams in the standings have topped 40 points and six have topped 45 points. Challenging the first-year Chula Vista Golden Eagles for supremacy at the top are the Rollin Ice Mission Patriots, ProJoy Mission Gulls Blue, CCSA Rage, Tour Corona Edge and LaVerne 86. The top five Junior AA Tier teams are separated by six standing points. Giving the Las Vegas Patriots spirited chase are the CPH Rangers, ProJoy Mission Gulls Blue, Castle Stars and CPH Black.

The 22-team Mite Club Tier is something else with the top three teams within one point on one another in the standings and seven teams within five points of one another. The Scorpions ProJoy and Young Guns sit just one point back from the leading LaVerne Empire while Team Madness, Team Excalibur Silver, Tour Corona Edge Blue and Casey’s Crushers have all shown the ability to contend. Four more teams appear deserving of playoff berths: the Chula Vista Hawks, CPH Phantoms, Northern California Extreme and Las Vegas Titans.

The 19 teams in the Squirt Club Tier include eight that have surpassed 40 points, including the ProJoy Mission Gulls Silver team that sits just one point arrears of the leading Double Trouble. The Eclipse, Team Excalibur Silver, Wolfpack, Rollin Ice Labeda Patriots, Las Vegas Tour Rebels White and Chula Vista Hawks have all reached the 40-point club. Seven of the 23 teams in the Pee Wee Club Tier have passed the 40-point mark though none have yet joined the Scorpions ProJoy at 50 points. Forty-point teams in the division include the Dynamo Red, Las Vegas Tour Rebels, Tour Corona Edge 88, CPH Chaos 88, Team Madness and the Las Vegas Titans.

The ProJoy Mission Gulls Silver squad is right on the heels of the Bantam Club Tier leading Calypso Black.

Bantam AAA Tier: The Outcasts captured the June 9 Irvine Gretzky Center qualifying tournament behind High Scorer Shayne Carroll (2 goals, 5 assists) and Top Goaltender Justin Lemerond (.881 save percentage). Lemerond also earned Top Goaltender honors at the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club qualifying tournament with a scintillating .942 save percentage as the Outcasts once again finished on top of the field . . . Will Munson helped lead the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs to the top rung of the June 1 Coast 2 Coast qualifying tournament by earning High Scorer honors with three goals and eight assists. Matt Endom of the Nexed OCBlades was the tournament’s Top Goaltender with a .910 save percentage . . . Charlie Middleton of CCM Red Army was the High Scorer at the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club tournament with a goal and four assists.

Squirt AAA: Spencer Heichman helped the Nexed OCBlades Black win the June 8 Irvine Gretzky Center qualifying tournament as High Scorer with six goals and one assist. Mike Mosher of the runner-up CPHMayhem snared Top Goaltender honors with an .860 save percentage . . . Cole Eby of the CPHWild took home the High Scorer award with two goals and three assists and Tommy Thompson of the Anaheim Mission Bulldogs 89 earned the Top Goaltender award with a .902 save percentage in dual action June 8 also at the Irvine Gretzky Center. Thompson also received recognition as the Top Goaltender at the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club qualifying tournament with a .912 save percentage . . . Danny Cruz of Team Excalibur scored four goals and three assists to earn High Scorer honors at the May 19 qualifying tournament at Crystal Palace in Las Vegas. Drew Smithers of the CPH Wild won the tournament’s Top Goaltender award with a .900 save percentage.

Mite AAA: The LaVerne Empire 91 claimed 3-0-0 challenge finish at the June 9 Irvine Gretzky Center tournament behind High Scorer Jon Parker (11 goals, 1 assist) and Top Goaltender Jason Torf (.900 SPCT) . . . D.J. Ryan of the Nexed OC Blades Black took the High Scorer award at the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club tournament with two goals and six assists while Billy Faust of the runner-up Anaheim Mission Bulldogs was the tournament’s Top Goaltender with an .848 save percentage.

Junior AA: Remy Bickoff of the ProJoy Mission Gulls Orange captured High Scorer honors at the June 8 Irvine Gretzky Center qualifying tournament with five goals and one assist while Sean Szilagi and Anthony Gagliano shared the Top Goaltender award with an .854 save percentage . . . The ProJoy Roadrunners claimed a top finish in the June 8 Coast 2 Coast qualifying tournament in Huntington Beach behind High Scorer Frank Padrilla (4 goals, 3 assists) and Top Goaltenders Will Fortenberry and Lee Reno (.903 SPCT).

Bantam AA: Carl Horten of the Chula Vista Golden Eagles had five goals and six assists to win his seventh High Scorer award of the season at the June 8 Coast 2 Coast tournament. Greg Reed led the Irvine Raiders to the top place finish in the five-team field as the tournament’s Top Goaltender with a .916 save percentage . . . Team Excalibur took a runner-up finish at the June 8 Irvine Gretzky Center tournament behind High Scorer Chad Chapman (6 goals, 3 assists) and Top Goaltender Alex Bridgnell (.891 SPCT).

Pee Wee AA: The LaVerne Empire 88 won the June 8 Irvine Gretzky Center qualifying tournament with the help of High Scorer Jose Cadiz Jr. (3 goals, 6 assists) and Top Goaltender Nevein Iwatsuru (.912 SPCT) . . . Justin Woo of the Irvine Thunder had a goal and three assists to capture the High Scorer award at the June 8 Coast 2 Coast tournament while Michael Abarca and Sean Willis of the Brea Oilers shared the Top Goaltender award with a .918 save percentage . . . Eric Alfaro and Trever Wada helped the Irvine Thunder to first place In the June 1 Coast 2 Coast tournament by earning the Top Goaltender award with an .883 save percentage. James Arakaki of the Chula Vista Golden Eagles was the tournament's High Scorer with four goals and three assists.

Squirt AA: High Scorer Danny Cruz (5 goals, 6 assists) helped Team Excalibur Black to a second-place finish behind the Las Vegas Tour Rebels at the June 9 Irvine Gretzky Center tournament. Jimmy Caldwell and Trevor Wada of the Brea Oilers shared the Top Goaltender award with an .844 save percentage. Cruz also won the High Scorer award at the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club tournament with seven goals and four assists . . . The Silicon Valley Quakes finished 4-0-0 at the June 1 Rollin Ice tournament in San Jose behind Top Goaltenders Daniel Herb and William Lamping who were credited with an amazing .968 save percentage. Cory Bressler of the Sacramento Saxons won the High Scorer award with three goals and four assists . . . Top Goaltenders Ryan Wyatt and Trevor Manus helped the Tour Upland Edge win the June 1 Upland Gretzky Center tournament by recording an .890 save percentage. Nick Nunez of the runner-up Extreme 90s was the tournament’s High Scorer with five goals and seven assists . . . The Las Vegas Tour Rebels Red won the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club tournament thanks partly to the effort of Top Goaltender Matt Williams (.872 SPCT).

Mite AA: The CPH Quest won the June 9 Irvine Gretzky Center tournament behind High Scorer Leland Wilson (4 goals, 2 assists) while the second-place Brea Oilers were buttressed by Top Goaltenders Peter Megariotis and Tanner Hauser (combined .731 SPCT) . . . The Young Guns captured the June 1 Upland Gretzky Center tournament as Dave Marabella earned the High Scorer award with seven goals and two assists. Laura Chamberlain was the tournament’s Top Goaltender with a .762 save percentage. Chamberlain previously won Top Goaltender honors at the May 26 Corona Inline Sports Center tournament . . . The Rollin Ice Patriots claimed the top finish at the June 1 Rollin Ice tournament in San Jose behind High Scorer Jacob Hickey (6 goals, 2 assists) and Top Goaltenders Alan Asby and Zach Clawson (combined .875 SPCT) . . . The Tour Corona Edge Black finished atop the five-team field at the May 26 Corona Inline Sports Center tournament as Jon Parker earned High Scorer status with seven goals and five assists.

Bantam Club: The South Bay Red Wings won the June 1 Coast 2 Coast qualifying tournament as Javier Gonzales took home the High Scorer award with a pair of goals and assists and Grant Banker received recognition as the Top Goaltender with a .941 save percentage. The Red Wings outscored their three opponents 10-1.

Pee Wee Club: R.J. Etchebarren of Casey’s Crushers won the High Scorer award at the June 8 Irvine Gretzky Center tournament with five goals and one assist while John Walter of the ProJoy Mission Gulls Silver earned recognition as the Top Goaltender with an .877 save percentage . . . Top Goaltenders Gabe Korney and Brandon Rial led the Las Vegas Tour Rebels to a first-place finish at the May 25 Anaheim Hockey Club tournament with a .929 save percentage. Robbie Robinson of the runner-up Dynamo Red was the tournament’s High Scorer.

Squirt Club: Double Trouble won the June 8 Irvine Gretzky Center tournament behind High Scorer Jeff Sannebeck (5 goals, 4 assists) and Top Goaltender Eric Chiccone (.947 SPCT) . . . Michael Hodge and Darrell Newsome helped the Edge finish atop the four-team field at the May 26 Corona Inline Sports Center tournament by earning the Top Goaltender award with a combined .909 save percentage. Weston Cydell of the San Diego Rebels was the tournament’s High Scorer with five goals and one assist.