Battles at the top of each division from Huntington Beach, CA

All teams once again competed - this time in Huntington Beach, CA on an abnormally rainy weekend in Southern California. The WCRHL's Facebook page was active with updates from various games, and for the most part statistics were up and available within a few hours of games finishing.  It was "only" the 2nd event of the season, yet many games were played with playoff desperation and 110% from all of the players.  Maybe it is because Long Beach State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo met in the Division I Championship Game in Madison, WI last April, creating a sense of "we can do this" from Day One of this season in all of the WCRHL's Division I teams.  Maybe it is simply the caliber of players currently playing in Division I.  And maybe it is the contrasting styles of each of these teams.

 

Division I

• UNLV started off 4-0 in San Jose.  They now sit in 4th place, as they went 0-2-2 on the weekend.  2 ties, a 1-goal loss to Cal Poly, and a 7-3 loss.  They were in every game, and played til the buzzer of each one.
• UC Santa Barbara went 3-1 in San Jose, and continued their winning ways in Huntington Beach.  They had arguably the toughest schedule in DI this weekend, facing Long Beach State, UNLV, Arizona and Arizona State.  The 8-7 win against Long Beach really showed that UCSB is the team with the guts to go all the way.  With the shortest bench in Division I due to injury, they played a smart, defensive, strategic game that paid off.
• Cal Poly SLO went 3-0-1 on the weekend, improving upon their record from San Jose.  The 3rd period against UNLV was outstanding. Cal Poly had a 1-goal lead, but UNLV was in the Cal Poly zone about 80% of the time.  Constant attack.  Cal Poly held them off, and a few big time saves from Erik Long were a big part of that.
• Arizona State, with a shorter roster again due to ice hockey conflicts, had a rough weekend.  But with 5 of 6 Division I teams qualifying for Regionals, you can bet that they will turn it on in the 2nd half in preparation for Regionals (and Nationals).
• Arizona, with 4 losses on the weekend, had a tougher time getting it going than in San Jose.  This team is ready, willing and able, and proved that with a full bench, and against a full Arizona State squad, that they are a competitor.  Arizona lost both home games against ASU on October 30th, but the first game was a 5-4 loss and the second game 3-1, with all 3 ASU goals on the power play.  Goaltending was key for U of A in those 2 games, and a good, defensive game helped them keep it close.
• Long Beach State only lost by 1 goal to UCSB, otherwise having a no-loss weekend.  Their games against UNLV and UCSB this weekend were great games.  Tons of energy, could have absolutely gone both ways.

• West Valley had a tough schedule, facing SBCC twice as well as Saddleback. With a short squad of committed players that made the trip down, they valiantly took on the other 2 JCs as well as Cal Poly SLO on Sunday morning.
  
• Saddleback continued their winning ways by defeating both Junior College opponents.  A tie to UNLV and a loss to Arizona State would round out the weekend.
• Santa Barbara City College went 3-1 on the weekend, only losing to Saddleback by a score of 4-2.  Goaltender Dustin Skipworth is always giving his all, a strong technical goaltender that doesn't know when to give up.  In just their 2nd full year of competition, this squad has organized themselves quite well, adding a B team this season as well.
  

More to come on Division II and B Division.