Jr. Kings’ 18s savor improbable run at nationals P


the most remarkable thing about the Los Angeles Jr. Kings 18U AAA squad’s run to the Tier I championship game at the USA Hockey National Tourna- ment earlier this month in Williamsville, N.Y., was that eight months earlier, no one was sure if the team would exist. “We had eight players signed for our


By Chris Bayee erhaps


first practice - they didn’t know if they’d have a team to play on,” coach Jack Bowkus said. “Those eight put their trust in me to find more players.” Find them he did. And over the course


of a season filled with valleys and peaks, the largely unheralded group of 20 accom- plished what no Jr. Kings 18U team (or 17U team as they were classified before 2003) ever had. “This was just an unbelievable team; I’ve never experienced anything like it,”


“That taste of, ‘We could do this,’ helped


this team come together,” Bowkus said. “Even then, it didn’t seem like we were out of it.” If the Jr. Kings beat the Buffalo Jr. Sabres


in regulation in the round-robin finale, they would advance. LA won, 2-0. “They were all over us at the start,”


Bowkus said, “but we got that first goal (by Austin Ho late in the second period).” The quarterfinals brought powerhouse


Detroit Little Caesars, a club Bowkus knew well - he played for it growing up. “It was an emotional game for me,” Bowkus said. “We came out on fire.” Down 1-0 just 3:55 in, the Jr. Kings scored


With limited expectations heading into the season, the LA Jr. Kings’ 18U AAA team came together to reach the championship game at this year’s national tournament. Photo/ActionPhotos.net


the veteran coach said. “We have sayings on the wall in our locker room, and this team epitomizes them. “You never knew who was going to get it done, which is what made this group so fun to coach.”


Never was that more true than at nationals, where every skater recorded at least a point, but none had more than four (Kurtis Klinger) in the Jr. Kings’ six games. They were backstopped by goaltender David Jacobson, whose save percentage


of .946 and goals-against average of 1.50 was best among 18U netminders who played more than three games at the tournament. “I’ve never seen a more dominant player at a nationals than David Jacobson,” said Jr. Kings 16U AAA coach Louis Pacella, whose club reached the semifinals. Jacobson stood tall ’til the end, stopping 31 shots in a 2-1 loss to Shattuck-St. Mary’s in the final. The improbable run got off to a slow start with a 5-1 loss to the Cape Cod Whalers,


who fell to Shattuck in the semis. Next was a 3-2 defeat to the DC Capitals that was decided in a 13-round shootout after the Jr. Kings rallied from a 0-2 deficit on goals by Bryan Hodges and Devin Linker.


the next five goals, including four on the pow- er play. Joe Cicoria, Jake Vitta, Joseph Kaszupski, Klinger and Matty O’Donnell lit the lamp. “Assistant coach Ralph Barahona runs our power play, and he did a great job getting


everyone on the same page,” Bowkus said.


Little Caesars scored twice late in the second period to make it 5-3, but the Jr. Kings buckled down.


“Caesars was just pounding us, but the boys stood their ground,” Bowkus said. “It was a fantastic display of how they came together.” The Jr. Kings then met the Pittsburgh Hornets, a fellow Tier I League foe, in the


semis.


Dean Rhymer scored seven minutes in and Jacobson did the rest, stopping all 30 Hornets shots. Adriano Mungioli’s empty-netter iced the 2-0 outcome. The final saw Shattuck take a 2-0 lead 11 minutes in, but Harout Sarkisian countered for the Jr. Kings with two minutes to play in the first. That was all the scoring.


“We were one shot away,” Bowkus said. “I’m really disappointed for the kids. I truly believe they had a great chance to win it all.”


See how the other California teams fared at this year’s Tier I nationals on Page 12. RubberHockey .com 7


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