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The first weekend is over...
By Alex Dodt
| 5 champions are crowned in PeeWee divisions: Tour Outcasts win the first AAA championship ever by an Arizona team; Devil Dogs and Mulisha 93 win in overtime; Water City Serpents and Tour OC Blades 93 also take home a championship cup.
The first weekend of the 2007 Pacific Cup Finals has just ended and it was amazing to say the least. 3 of the 5 PeeWee Finals went into overtime, and one semifinal went into double OT. Let's get right to it, here's what happened in the playoffs for each division...
PeeWee A Select:
AKS Mission 93 won their semifinal easily but it wouldn't be such a cake walk for the Revision Devil Dogs. The Devil Dogs were pushed to the brink by the Western Capitals, as the game went into Double Overtime before Revision put one in to win the longest game of the Finals so far. In the Final against AKS, the Devil Dogs came back from a late deficit to tie the game in the final minutes. Then, their good fortune in overtime continued a few minutes into the extra period when a Devil Dog wrapped it around the net and in to win the A Select title.
PeeWee A Elite:
This championship game would be a rematch between the Water City Serpents and San Diego Selects 93. The Selects won the 2 teams' round robin matchup 3-2, but the championship game would be much different. The Serpents came ready to play and ran the Selects all over for most of the game. The Selects settled down and made a game of it, but it was too late and the Serpents won it 8-5 to win this year's first Pacific Cup title for NorCal.
PeeWee AA Select:
The semifinals matched up RBK Bulldogs Black against Force and San Diego Selects against Mission Mulisha 93, with Bulldogs and Mulisha pulling out wins to set up the championship game. The game was tied for a long time and for a while it looked like we might see another Double Overtime game, but with about 5 minutes left in the first OT period, Mulisha sniped one from the slot to set off the celebration and bring home the cup.
PeeWee AA Elite:
The semifinals in this division were nothing like the round robin games. Tour OC Blades 93 beat Mission Arizona Stars 8-2 when they played in round robin, but in the semifinal the Stars kept it close and OC 93 took it by a 3-1 score. NorCal Extreme and NorCal Patriots Red matched up in the other semifinal. The Extreme beat Patriots 4-3 in round robin, but in the semifinals the Patriots edged the Extreme 4-3. That set up a Patriots-OC Blades Final. Those 2 teams tied in round robin, but OC Blades were more dominant in the Final, controlling the play and winning AA Elite by a 5-3 score. After winning AA Elite as a first-year team, OC 93 should be a top PeeWee AAA team in Pacific Cup in 2008.
PeeWee AAA:
This division was absolutely crazy. 3 teams competed for the first AAA title of the weekend: AKS Mission 92, Tour Outcasts 92, and Mission Mulisha 92. First, I'll say I am a bit biased because I help coach the Outcasts, but I also have much respect for both AKS and Mulisha and this was an incredible division. AKS rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Mulisha in the first game, scoring 7 straight goals to win 7-3. Mulisha rebounded with a 5-3 win over Outcasts. In the final round robin game, AKS tied Outcasts 3-3 on a goal with 0.5 seconds left. This set up the #2 vs. #3 playoff game: Mulisha vs. Outcasts. Mulisha took a 5-2 lead on Outcasts with under 5 minutes left and the game seemed pretty much over. But the boys decided we would not lose that game and started the most incredible comeback I've ever been involved in. Ryan Davis scored 3 goals in a row, tying the game with 1 minute left. Mulisha did not give up though and they killed off a penalty for the last minute of regulation and the first minute of overtime. But after the penalty ended, the game returned to 4 on 4 hockey and on a loose puck in front of the Mulisha net, Nick Baszo knocked in the game winner. The ridiculousness was not over yet though and the championship game against AKS 92 was a classic. We took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Alex Oliver about miday through the 2nd period. AKS battled back though and did not give up. On an odd man rush, they capitalized on a beautiful back door goal, tying the game at 1 with exactly 1 minute left. The next minute was a blur and the game stayed tied, heading into OT. 33 seconds into overtime, Mike Rivera made an incredible move on the AKS defenseman, leaping over the player's stick, waiting out the goalie and tucking the puck in far side to win it. This was history for Arizona roller hockey, as this was the first team to ever win a Pacific Cup AAA title, and it couldn't have been done in a crazier way. BOth AKS and Mulisha are great teams, so hopefully all of us represent the west coast well at NARCh Finals in a few weeks.
Well, that's it. Weekend #1 is over, 10 champions have been crowned and there's many more next weekend. Check back then for daily updates on the Squirt, Bantam, and Junior divisions.
Alex
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