Where are they after 1 weekend of play?

In Division I action, Long Beach State proved to be the leader-of-the-pack this weekend. Long Beach finished with a 4-0 record, outscoring opponents 28-9. Long Beach’s toughest match was against Arizona State. Long Beach scored first with a goal from Ken Yamamoto, about halfway through the 1st period. 2 minutes later, Arizona State evened up the score with a goal from Derek Bolls. The 2nd period saw Arizona State take the lead, with a power play goal from Tyler Koressel at 00:48 of the period. The rest of the period was played very tight, with shots favoring Arizona State 10-7 in the 2nd. The 3rd period really opened up, with 2 straight goals from Long Beach State to take a 3-2 lead. 11 seconds later Derek Bolls evened up the score at 3-3, picking up an errant pass and putting it past the Long Beach goaltender. With 37 seconds left in the game, Ryan Burrows scored the game-winning goal on a nice pass from Paul Anderson, for the 4-3 win.

Long Beach was followed by a pack of teams, all within 2 points of each other. Arizona State and UC Santa Barbara only lost to Long Beach and won their other 2 games, finishing with a 2-1 record on the weekend. Cal Poly SLO finished 2-2, and UNLV, UC Irvine and CSU Northridge finished with 1-3 records. This marks CSU Northridge’s first win in their first 2 seasons in the WCRHL. CSUN defeated JC Division newcomer West Valley JC by a score of 8-6.

Division II has a new front-runner this season. USC was the only team to go 4-0 in the opening weekend, due to a stellar defense, allowing only 8 goals against. USC is followed closely by University of California Berkeley, who went 3-0-1 this weekend. These two teams have marked differences in style and gameplan, with Berkeley’s run-and-gun offsense that scored 31 goals, and USC’s great defense and structured gameplan. Coaches Brian Winterton (USC) and Charles Banh (Cal) are both recent alumni of their respective teams.

The next group of teams all sit in the middle of the pack, and next event we will see this open up and show who belongs in the top 4 of Division II. Cal Poly Pomona, UC Davis, University of San Diego all finished 2-2, while Chico State and UC Santa Cruz finished 1-3. UC San Diego earned only a tie this weekend and Sonoma State was winless. Sonoma had one of the most difficult schedules this weekend, playing University of San Diego, Cal Poly Pomona, USC and JC Division National Champion Saddleback College.

An exciting Division II game was the game between UC San Diego and UC Davis. UC Davis took the lead near the end of the 1st period, and built a 3-0 lead halfway into the 2nd. UC San Diego scored 2 goals to come within one. Mike Saksen’s short-handed goal at 2:37 of the 3rd period gave UC Davis a 4-2 lead. UC San Diego was able to tie up the game with 2 more 3rd period goals. With less than 2 minutes left in the game, Gabe John of UC Davis scored an unassisted goal to seal the win for UC Davis.

And the game between UC San Diego and UC Berkeley was also very exciting. This Sunday morning special never saw more than a 1-goal differential between the teams. The lead changed 3 times throughout the game, with both teams pouring on the pressure. Cal outshot UCSD 27-16 in the game, and UCSD scored 3 power play goals. The game ended in a 5-5 tie.

The Junior College Division has grown to 4 teams this season, up from 2 teams in 08-09. After the first weekend, National Champion Saddleback College and newcomer Orange Coast College both sit with perfect 4-0 records. These two teams will face each other for the 1st time at their next event, November 7-8 in Irvine, CA. Newcomer Citrus College went 2-2 on the weekend and West Valley JC went 0-4. West Valley scored 26 goals in their 4 games, which is more than Orange Coast College as well as Citrus College.

Orange Coast College defeated UNLV and Chico State by narrow margins, as well as UC Davis and West valley JC. Saddleback defeated UC San Diego by a score of 10-9, as well as West Valley JC, Citrus College and Sonoma State.

Claremont College is the lone Division III school in the WCRHL. Claremont will be playing in 3-4 events this season, against B Division teams. Claremont had their most successful weekend in their 3-year existence, going 3-1, defeating Chico State B, UC Davis B, Sonoma State B and dropping their final game to Arizona State B.

Claremont will next face other B Division teams at the November 7-8 event at Irvine, CA. They will likely face B Division Regional Champion UC Santa Barbara B Gold, one of the two Cal Poly SLO B teams, and other southern CA B teams.

Who’s hot in the B Division? Not surprisingly, UC Santa Barbara B Gold, Arizona State B and Saddleback College B. These were the top 3 B Division teams of 2008-2009 as well. UCSB B Gold finished 4-0, Arizona State 3-0, and Saddleback 3-1. 8 other B Division teams picked up at least 1 win in the event, with the only team going winless being UC Irvine B. Look for them to come out strong in the next event at their home rink, as they are sure to have a deeper bench.