GVSU DII NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!! Tournament Recap
January 24, 2010

4/11//09

GAME 1
The opening game of the National Championship Tournament brought along both disappointment and some encouragement for the DII Laker team. Facing off against arguably the top team in the country, the defending national champions Neumann College, the Lakers had a lot to prove. After a slow start and a first period plagued by penalties, the Lakers found themselves down 4-0. It was looking like it would turn into a blowout before a mistake by the Neumann goalie gave junior Ryan Gendron (#16) an open net to slide the puck in while on the penalty kill. The Lakers added two more goals in the second from freshman Chris Schaefer (#7) and sophomore Kyle Chambers(#8) to bring the score to 3-5. Neumann came out quick in the third to bring their lead back to 3 goals but the Lakers responded with two power play goals to bring the score to 5-6 which is how the game would end as the Lakers could not tally the tying goal.

Although disappointed, the loss proved to the team that they were just as good if not better than any team at the tournament. The Lakers would use this game to fuel the rest of the weekend, as they knew they should have come out on top.

GAME 2
This game would start out very differently for the Lakers, as they were matched against the University of Tampa Spartans. Coming out strong, the Lakers tallied 5 goals in the first period to put themselves up 5-0. It was easy to see that Tampa was getting frustrated as they took a total of 8 penalties in the first two periods. In the second period, Kyle Chambers (#8) tallied his third goal of the day to complete his hat-trick. Tampa found themselves short-handed for most of the third period as they took 7 penalties, bringing their game total to 15 penalties. The Lakers added 3 more goals to add to their total and finished the game on top 12-3. Kyle Chambers finished the game with 4 goals, accompanied by senior captain Nick Boyle's (#10) 4 assists.

GAME 3 and GAME 4
The Lakers found themselves in a battle with the University of Southern California Trojans in the last game of pool play. After two periods, the Lakers could not pull ahead even after putting a total of 34 shots on goal. With the game tied at 4 goals apiece heading into the third, the Lakers again pelted the USC goalie with 17 shots, and were able to pull out a 7-5 victory behind a game winning goal from sophomore Kyle Gelow (#23).

Kyle Chambers and senior Tony Switkowski (#2) led the charge for the Lakers in the first game of the single game elimination playoffs against the University of Northern Colorado. After two periods the score was tied at three, but the Lakers broke out as Chambers added both of his goals in the third and Switkowski added his only goal of the contest to rally the team to an 8-3 victory. Freshman goalie Keith Chapman did not have any action as the Lakers' defense did not allow a single shot on goal in the third period in the process of keeping UNC off of the scoreboard.

QUARTERFINALS
This game could very well be described as the most exciting game of the tournament. The Lakers faced off against a very strong West Chester Golden Rams team which entered the game with a record of 26-2-3 over the course of the year. The Lakers fell behind only one minute into the game after a quick goal. However, only 32 seconds later junior Ryan Gendron (#16) tied the game with a shot that somehow found its way through a cluster of players in front of the net. The score remained even until 2 minutes remaining in the first period when David Trahan (#13) buried a rebound off of a shot by Gendron on the power play. For the remainder of the game, the Lakers did not relinquish the lead. Trahan added another goal and freshman Chris Schaefer (#7) tallied two including the eventual game winner to give the Lakers a total of 5 goals. The end of the game however brought along with it a little bit of drama... With 2:01 remaining in the game, freshman Mitch Sledz was called for a weak (at best) interference penalty in front of the West Chester goal. Leading 5-4, the Lakers would have to prevent the Rams from scoring in order to preserve the win, but they would have to do so shorthanded. With 5 seconds remaining in the game, after killing off most of the Mitch Sledz penalty, Nick Boyle took a tripping penalty putting the team short two men. The ensuing face off was won by the Rams and as the puck was passed in front of the net, Chris Schaefer attempted to deflect the puck and in doing so, let go of his stick. The puck went into the corner and with no time remaining on the clock, Ryan Gendron took a roughing penalty as he went into the corner hard with a West Chester player. After a lengthy discussion, the referees awarded West Chester a penalty shot for the thrown stick on the play. If West Chester was to score on the penalty shot, the game would go to overtime with the Lakers shorthanded two men. Tim Saraceni, West Chester's leading scorer came down on the penalty shot on the left side and after a quick deke, came across the net. With about a foot of open net to shoot at, he slid the puck towards the net however his momentum going towards the right side of the net caused the puck to hit the outside of the post and go wide. A huge celebration followed for the Lakers as the game ended with the Lakers on top 5-4.

SEMIFINALS
The Lakers would face off against the Missouri State University Bears. The two teams met earlier in the season when the Lakers traveled to Missouri. This previous game with Missouri State ended in a 3-2 loss for the Lakers as they were not able to stay out of the penalty box... This semifinal game would be completely different as the Lakers would controll the play from the first drop of the puck. Two minutes into the first period, Ryan Gendron (#16) started the scoring with the first of his three goals of the game. In the next four minutes, the Lakers added three more goals, the last of which was Gendron's second of the game, scored on the power play off of a pass from Kyle Chambers. Missouri State finally got on the board one minute into the second period, only to be answered by goals from Chambers and Gendron respectively at the end of the second. The third period was uneventful as the Lakers added a quick goal from Chambers and coasted to a 7-2 victory.

FINALS!!!
As if it was destiny, the Lakers met their MCRHL rivals Central Michigan University in the national championship game. A rematch of the regional championship game, the Lakers looked to avenge their regional championship loss. Knowing that Central Michigan would play hard the entire game, the Lakers knew they would have to get ahead early and stay ahead for the whole game if they were to win. Coming into the Game, The Lakers record against CMU was 2-1-1 including a 5-2 win, 4-4 tie, 4-3 win, and a 5-7 loss (regional championship).

The pace of the game was very quick from the beginning. Central Michigan got out to a quick start with a goal in the first two minutes. The lakers responded halfway through the first with a goal by Nick Boyle, his first of three in the game. Central continued with pressure and scored 27 seconds later. Following the same theme, the Lakers added two quick goals to their total, the first by Kyle Chambers, 19 seconds after the CMU goal. Ryan Gendron followed suit by adding his only goal of the game 22 seconds after Chamber's goal. Chris Schaefer added the next two goals for the Lakers and the end of the first period came with the Lakers up 5-3.

The start of the second period again brought a quick Central goal, however the Lakers would respond with goals from Boyle, his second of the game, and Schaefer, his third of the game. Heading into the third period with a 7-4 lead, the championship was in their Lakers' sights.

The Lakers struck first in the third to extend their lead to 8-4 when Mitch Sledz scored his first goal of the game and second goal of the tournament on a deflection off of a shot from Nick Boyle. The game appeared to be in the Lakers' control as they were up 8-4, however, Central would mount a comeback, scoring three goals in 1:18 to bring the score to 8-7. In a way that couldn't be more fitting to end a career, senior captain Nick Boyle put the lakers up by two goals with his third goal of the game with only four minutes left to play. Central pulled their goalie but would be unable to mount any sufficient pressure and the game would end at 9-7 as the Grand Valley State University DII Roller Hockey Team would win their first National Championship in only the club's fourth year of existence and third participating at the DII level.


DII CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

National Championship Tournament Notes
January 24, 2010

4/11//09

Freshman goaltender Keith Chapman played an excellent tournament. Making saves that kept the momentum on the Lakers side every single game. As a freshman he really stood up to the challenge of playing at the national level.

In the tournament, the Lakers were lead by Kyle Chambers (11 Goals, 8 assists - 19pts), Ryan Gendron (11 goals, 7 assists - 18 pts), Nick Boyle (4 goals, 11 assists - 15 pts), and Chris Schaefer (12 goals, 1 assist - 13 pts).

National Championship Round Robin Pools Announced
January 24, 2010

3/20//09

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association has released the round robin pools for the National Championship Tournament which starts April 1st. The full schedule for the championships can be found by clicking either link at the end of this article.

Looking ahead to pool play, the DII team looks to upset the defending national champions, Neumann College. The Lakers will also face a strong team out of the University of Tampa and a University of Southern California team that barely scraped their way into nationals with a 7-7 record. This is the second consecutive year the Lakers' DII team has received a bid to the National Championships.

The B team enters the tournament undefeated with a record of 15-1*-1 (*result of forfeit) and will face teams from: University of California Santa Barbara, State University of New York at Buffalo, and Colorado State.

National Championship Tournament!
January 24, 2010

1/9/09

Selection day for the National Championship Tournament on March 2nd, brought along excitement for the Grand Valley Roller Hockey Club. Both the DII and B teams were among the teams selected to compete in the tournament being held in Feasterville, PA. Round robin/pool play will begin on April 2nd and playoffs will begin on April 4th with the championship games being held on April 5th. Look back for more information in the coming weeks. As soon as the schedule and any more information is made available to the teams, it will be posted on the web site. You can also find out more by going to the NCRHA web site by clicking the link below or the NCRHA link at the top right of the page..

Regional Playoff Action
January 24, 2010

2/27/09

Both teams opened regional play at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, MI with victories. The DII team started the playoffs with a 6-2 win over Cincinnati and the Laker B team had a hard fought battle with Ohio State's B team but was able to pull out a 5-4 win.

The DII team matched up against their division rival Central Michigan for their second game of the weekend. The Lakers started out with a surge of energy but found themselves in a scoreless tie with the Chippewas at the end of the first period. A quick second period goal by sophomore Kyle Gelow put the Lakers up 1-0, however, this lead was short lived as CMU answered quickly with a goal of their own. Midway through the second period freshman Chris Schaefer put in the first of his two goals and added his second soon after, giving the Lakers a 3-1 lead entering the third and final period. The Lakers worked hard to keep the lead but found themselves plagued by penalty troubles that allowed the Chippewas to fight back and tie the game at 3 goals apiece. A penalty taken by CMU with 1:21 left in the period put the Lakers on the power play and 29 seconds later, junior Ryan Gendron took a pass from senior Nick Boyle and shot the puck past the CMU goalie for the game winning goal.

The B team also found themselves matched against their division rival Michigan State University for their second game of their regional play. Senior James Trahan opened the games scoring one minute into the game and added the only other goal of the first period with less than one minute remaining in the period. The Lakers added a goal in the second period but was unable to hold MSU off the board as they scored three goals to tie the game at 3 heading into the third. In the final period, Jay Arnold took a pass from Trahan to put the Lakers up 4-3. They didn't look back and added two more goals, the last of which was scored by Trahan to complete his hat trick and giving the Lakers a 6-3 victory.

With their second game wins, both teams found themselves in the regional championships for their respective divisions. The DII team was once again matched against Central Michigan University and the B team was once again matched with Michigan State University in the championship games as both CMU and MSU won their respective division's loser bracket games.

B Championship
Entering this game with a record of 2-0-1 against the Spartans, and fresh of a convincing victory, the lakers felt confident and were ready to play. This rematch however, would be much different than the semi-final game during which the Lakers controlled much of the play. MSU jumped out to a first period lead and were able to hold the lead even after taking two late period penalties. The Lakers responded early in the second with a power play goal from Sophomore Bryan Flinker to even the game at one. The game remained tied until just under three minutes left in the second when Dan Zbozien beat the MSU goalie for the lead. MSU responded less than a minute later to re-tie the game at two goals a-piece. Tied at two goals a-piece, both team fought hard throughout the third period. With 3:24 left, MSU got too aggressive and took a tripping penalty to put the Lakers on a power play. 40 seconds later, Jay Arnold found the back of the net for the game winning goal and the Laker B team took home the regional championship and along with it a paid automatic bid to the national championship tournament.

DII Championship
With a record of 2-0-1 against the CMU Chippewas, the Lakers looked to win the regional championship and continue their unbeaten streak against CMU. The game did not start how any of the Lakers imagined, as off the opening face off, defensemen Ryan Gendron and Nick Boyle had a miscommunication that led to a turnover and a CMU shot that was deflected into the top corner of the GVSU net. Although disappointed at the way the game started, the Lakers struck quickly only a minute later as freshman Chris Schaefer put in the first of his two goals. The Lakers found themselves in penalty trouble, taking 5 penalties in the first period. The Chippewas added a late power play goal but the Lakers responded with only 13 seconds remaining to tie the game at two. As a result of late first period penalties, the Lakers started the second down two skaters. CMU used the two-man advantage and put in a power play goal only 55 seconds into the period. From there, CMU scored three more unanswered goals and the period ended with the Lakers down 6-2. Knowing they needed to start scoring early in the period to have a chance at a comeback, the Lakers became offensive minded. Three unanswered goals in the third by the Lakers brought the score to 6-5 with 2:45 left to play. After a timeout with just over two minutes remaining the Lakers came within inches of tying the game as the puck rolled behind the CMU goalie, only to be swept away by a defender. With just over a minute left to play, the Lakers pulled goalie Keith Chapman for an extra skater. A Laker turnover caused by a bouncing puck lead to a 2 on 1 break for CMU and they did not miss the opportunity to close out the game by putting in an empty net goal. Despite a strong effort the Lakers fell short of a comeback as the game ended with the score 7-5.

Accident Disrupts Team's Unblemished Record
January 24, 2010

2/19//09

Driving to the Skate Zone in Rochester, MI on February 14th, freshman goaltender Greg Kortman was caught in an accident that prevented him from arriving at the arena on time. According to the NCRHA rules, a team has 15 minutes from the time that warm ups end to get a goalie and 4 skaters on the rink or the game is considered a forfeit. Greg arrived at the arena with only a few minutes remaining in the 15 minute time limit and got dressed as quickly as possible only to get out on the rink 15 SECONDS late. The team was charged with a forfeit with the win* going to Central Michigan's B team.

The Lakers responded to the unfortunate loss with a 9-4 win over Shawnee State and a 5-3 win over Central Michigan. Leading the Lakers in the two games this weekend were freshmen Alex Cooney with 5 goals, 3 assists and David May with 3 goals, 3 assists.