Colorado Clubs Stand Tall at NARCh Finals Stallions, Kodiaks come up big at the highly regarded roller tourney in San Jose


By Adam Dunivan


or two weeks in July, the inline hockey world gathered in San Jose for the North American Roller Hockey Championships (NARCh). But don’t let the name of the tournament fool


F you. NARCh has traditionally carried an interna-


tional flair, and this year among the 312 teams competing were squads from Japan, Hong Kong and Colombia. Everyone gears up for


NARCh Finals, and 2012 was a special year for the Colorado Stallions, as well as the Alkali Kodiaks, who


overtime thriller. “We were down by a goal with seven seconds left


when Lance got the puck at about half-court and skated all the way through to score and tie it up, then right off the draw he just chipped it around another kid, angled through the team and scored like seven seconds into the overtime,” said Ingrum, who added Gavin Barr and Jackson Cornett as a pair of players who contributed heavily to the team’s run. “It was a very competitive, fun game.”


The Kodiaks sent three teams all together to


NARCh, winning the Platinum playoffs in the Mite bracket. The Mites outscored their opponents, 32-2, in


four pool-play games. They only allowed one more in their playoff contests, winning 6-0 in the semis and 5-1 in the title tilt against a squad from Alberta. With all the offense, it would come as no sur-


prise that a Kodiak player would lead the division in scoring; Lucas Sandoval had 11 goals and added 14 assists to cap an impressive run to the title.


Equally notable was


the performance of goal- tender Drew Hubbard, who compiled a .946 save percentage between the pipes. Dominic San- doval also played very well upfront, coach Dave Fromm said. “It’s awesome,” said


represented the state well with three gold medals and a silver between the two or- ganizations. The Stallions, coached


by Jon Ingrum, took to the floor with a bunch of kids who had some good experi- ence playing together at the Cub (6U) and Atom (8U) lev- els. They played like an experienced team through- out the competition, too, led by Lance Scott. The Cubs went 3-1 in round-robin play against


California teams, finishing as a No. 6 seed (the top three went to the Gold level playoffs). In their first playoff game in the Silver division, the Stallions cruised to a 6-0 win, then beat the Silicon Valley Quakes, 7-5, in the semifinals. The championship game pitted them against California’s Mission AKS 05, and it proved to be one of the better games of the entire event - a 6-5


The Alkali Kodiaks staked claim to the championship in the Mite Platinum division at this year’s NARCh Finals, which were contested in July in San Jose. Photo/NARCh


Scott led the Atom team with 18 goals and 20


points as that squad took a 2-0-2 record into the playoffs, had a bye as the No. 4 seed (the top three teams battled in the Platinum playoffs) and beat Anarchy (Calif.), 5-1. In addition to Scott, Ingrum said Austin Schil-


linger and Josh White were tough defensively for the Atoms. “The kids had a great time, pulled out a couple


gold medals and they had a great attitude,” In- grum added.


Fromm, whose other Mite team finished 2-4, making the quarterfinals. “I mean, you spend all year getting ready for this (tournament). To see that success, it’s cool and really rewarding as far as your long-term goals. “Our goaltending was


excellent, and Dominic and Lucas were both very good.”


The Midget division


was more diverse, geo- graphically, with teams from Colorado, Michigan,


New York, California and Nevada represented. For Fromm’s team, it was a tighter run to the


playoffs (it outscored opponents 16-7 on its way to a 4-0 record in pool play), where it pulled out wins of 5-2 against both Tour Excitement (Mich.) and Alkali Fusion (N.Y.) to put them in the champion- ship game, but Mission Black Ice (N.Y.) was able to secure a 5-3 victory in the title game. “It really emphasizes that we’re teaching the


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Mission puts up a fight at AAU Junior Olympic Games C


By Adam Dunivan


olorado Mission may not have got the results it wanted at the AAU Junior Olympic Games


in Huntington Beach, Calif., in early July, but for Austin Resseguie and Joey Dolce, being able to help coach the team was a worthwhile endeav- or.


“It was a great experience, and a lot of fun to be


able to go there and help,” Dolce said. “Our team was younger (than the competition), and I think they did really well for playing older teams.” The team played at the 14U AA/AAA level, and


was able to get a win in its second game, beating Alkali 98 (Calif.) by a 4-3 count. The team quali-


16


fied for the bronze-medal game, but the Sharp- shooters (La.) were too tough, winning the con- test, 7-2. Still, Jared Resseguie and Bradley Hug-


gins paced the team to a fourth-place finish, and Austin Resseguie said he’d love to coach the squad again next year. “Especially after losing that first game, it felt


really good to get a win,” he said. “I was hoping we’d keep on going. “I think we’re more prepared for what we’ll see


(in the future), and I’d love to try it again next year.” For more information on the AAU Junior Olympic Game, visit AAUHockey.com.


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