MRHA Players at the 2009 NARCh Finals

With the Finals being in our home rink this past year we saw a lot of MRHA players competing in different divisions.

The IHO Grizzlies had used the MRHA season as a tune up for the Finals as their entire team played together in the Mens Silver division. Thanks to a solid performance from the eventual Top Goaltender, Ben Kalisz, the Grizzlies would end the round robin with a 2-1-1 record and 7 goals against, enough for the number seven seed and a date with Team 4Play in the first round of the playoffs. A late overtime goal scored by Trevor Shannon would put the Grizz on top 2-1 and punch their ticket to the quarter finals. Unfortunately the Grizzlies would fall short and lose a tough game to Team Bergenfield 4-2.

The MRHA Hornets played in the Mens Gold division. The team was comprised of various MRHA players from different teams (mostly Hornets, Donkey Punchers and Phantoms) as well as a few players that did not play in our regular season. The team ended up 0-4 after the round robin, missing the playoffs but they were in every game they played and all four could have gone the other way. It was great to see some players getting their first taste of NARCh hockey, hopefully we’ll have another team or two step up next season and make the trip to San Jose to see where they stand in the world of roller hockey.

Despite a long trip to Italy only days before the tournament started a few of the NS Flames were seen at the Finals. Megan Aarts and Kathy Devereaux were both late additions to a strong Mission Syndicate squad based out of Southern California. Both players played vital roles on the team and logged some serious rink time. The team came together very well especially since some of the girls had never played together before, they made it to the Womens Platinum finals but fell short to an incredible Eschelon Reflexion team who beat the Syndicate 2-1. NS Flames team rep, Deandra Locicero, was also playing at the 2009 Finals. Deandra suited up for a young but promising Detroit Mission Stars team. Thanks to Deandra taking the Womens Gold High Scorer award the Stars managed to get the semi finals but fell short to a quick team from Mexico, 3-2.