WCRHL Season Gets Underway at Silver Creek Sportsplex The 2011-12 campaign is expected to boast plenty of strong competition By Phillip Brents
T
he 2010-11 Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League (WCRHL) season ended in blockbuster fashion as the Long Beach State Forty-Niners defeated the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs to capture the Division I championship in an all- California finale at the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association national championships in Wisconsin. But WCRHL league director Brennan
Edwards said the 2011-12 season could rate as one of the strongest on record. “All teams are starting with a level slate, but the favorites have to be USC and UC Irvine in Division II, Arizona State and Saddleback in the B Division and Division I is truly a toss-up; every team is returning a large portion of their 2010-11 squads.”
Teams got a preview of the 2011-12 season during the league’s annual kickoff weekend on Oct. 15-16 at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose. All 29 teams, regardless of division, were in action during the 58-game two-day showcase tournament that’s been held every since 2004.
All teams will participate in the next
WCRHL event, which is slated for Nov. 5-6 at The Rinks-Huntington Beach Inline.
Division I
The University of Nevada-Las Vegas took an early 4-0 lead in the division standings ahead of Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara, both of which finished
3-1 at the San Jose kickoff event. In a rematch of last year’s celebrated Division I national championship game, Long Beach State downed Cal Poly SLO, 8-2. The Forty-Niners also topped last season’s regular-season champion, Arizona State, 7-3, in another high-profile encounter. UCSB’s Travis Noe led the division in scoring with 19 points in four games. He topped the division with 11 assists and tied for second with eight goals. Long Beach State’s Taylor
Abramson and Ryan Doyle tied for second with 12 points. Doyle led the division with nine goals while Cal Poly’s Kevin Middlekauff matched Noe with eight.
Tyler Barrier (UCSB) and Long Beach State’s Corey Jones both posted three victories between the pipes, while Cal Poly’s Erik Long collected a pair of wins.
“The five returning Division I teams are very strong and can all beat each other on any given day,” Edwards said. “Every game will be close, and one mistake will cost you the game.”
“The WCRHL kickoff event really sets the pace for the rest of the season,” UCSB defenseman Casey Wedge emphasized. “It’s a good way to figure out what each team will look like this year.”
Division II
Chico State (4-0), UC Irvine (3-1) and UC Santa Cruz (3-1) all bolted out to strong starts ahead of UC San Diego (2-2),
UC Davis (1-2- 1), USC (1-2-1), Claremont (1-2-1) and Cal State Northridge (0-3-1). Edwards
said Chico State’s perfect showing was no surprise. “They play a physical style that can either intimidate teams or land them in the penalty box,” he said.
Edwards
noted that USC had one of the most difficult schedules during the kickoff event.
Saddleback’s Anthony Squirek is pursued by Long Beach State’s Taylor Abramson during action at the WCRHL’s kickoff event, which was held Oct. 15-16 at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose. Photo/Tracy Robinson
“As the season shakes out and teams have played the same teams, we’ll see who’s on top.”
Topping the division in scoring were
Santa Cruz’s Richard Newens (14 points), Drew Eggleston (11) and Kyle Tankard (11). Paul Dresser (10) led UCI.
Chico’s Derek Fridley and UCI’s Justin Cayford posted identical 1.67 goals-against averages and .881 save percentages.
B Division Zach Collins (11 points), Jake Catena (nine) and Andrew Burman
(eight) led Cal Poly SLO Green to a 3-1 showing over Arizona State Maroon (4-0), ASU Gold (3-0) and Arizona (3-1). SLO Gold, UCSB Gold and Saddleback all finished 2-2. Cal Poly’s Matt Rogers was stellar between the pipes with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
JC Division
Saddleback defeated both Santa Barbara and West Valley for early bragging rights. Saddleback’s J.T. Banard and Santa Barbara’s Andrew Atieh tied for the division lead with 11 points.
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