2008 High School Nationals News
AAU National High School Inline Hockey Championships

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2008 TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
DESCRIPTION:
2008 High School and Junior Varsity National Championships

LOCATION:  
SGAA Dual Deck Arena: 2115 McGee Road Snellville , GA 30078  

DATES OF COMPETITION:
Competition Begins: Friday, May 23 rd at 6:00pm. Times and dates for each game  will be posted on AAU Hockey web-site at www.aauhockey.org and should be posted by May 13 th , 2008. The medal games will be Monday concluding by early afternoon.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK ON THIS LINK.

IHF HIGH SCHOOL ROLLER HOCKEY EVENTS 2007
AAU High School National Championships 2007
May 26-28, 2007 at Anaheim Hockey Club

TOURNAMENT REPORT: CONGRATULATIONS!
2007 AAU Varsity Champions, Santiago HS Sharks, CA

Overall , the AAU High School tournament results ( click here ) demonstrate a strong showing for Southern California roller hockey teams.

• VARSITY . Out of 16 high school teams competing in three tiers, Varsity Tier 1 (Division 1/Elite) was dominated by IHF affiliated teams: 1st place Santiago HS; 2nd place Marina HS; 3rd place Villa Park HS; and 4th place Esperanza HS of the six teams in this tier. Varsity Tier 2 winner was Los Alamitos HS - the only IHF team in this tier.
  
• JUNIOR VARSITY . Out of 8 high school teams in this division, Los Alamitos HS placed 3rd with strong showings from both Villa Park HS and Loara HS.
  
• MIDDLE SCHOOL . Out of 4 middles schools competing in this division, Sowers MS of Huntington Beach placed 1st and Yorba Linda MS placed 4th.

ANAHEIM HOCKEY CLUB HOSTS HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS
Top schools from across the country compete in AAU High School Nationals

Champion interscholastic roller hockey teams from across the country gathered over the Memorial Day weekend at the Anaheim Hockey Club in Anaheim , CA to compete for national recognition in the prestigious Amateur Athletic Union ( AAU ) High School Nationals. Following rigorous tournament play to qualify within their respective states, sixteen teams in the Varsity division, eight Junior Varsity, and four Middle Schools paid their way to play for the trophy against the toughest teams in the country and proudly, although in many cases unofficially, represent their schools.

Chaparrel HS Takes 2nd Place in Nationals

They came. They saw. Would they Conquer ?
Representative state champions and top-ranked teams competing for coveted varsity trophies included: Arizona's Gilbert HS, Prescott HS and Sunrise Mountain HS; California by defending high school champ Marina HS and IHF runner up Santiago along with top-ranked teams from Esperanza HS, Los Alamitos HS, Pioneer HS, and Villa Park HS; Colorado's Douglas County HS (Varsity 5A), Arvada West HS (Varsity 4A) and teams from Highlands Ranch and Broomfield; Florida champions Monarch HS and Columbus HS; Michigan champion Howell HS, and Pennsylvania State champions Baldwin Highlanders.

As expected, the varsity division took the spotlight as teams vied for championship bragging rights and even scholarship monies as some seniors look forward to their next school year playing collegiate roller or ice hockey. Defending 2006 AAU Varsity champs, Marina High School of Huntington Beach, hot off of their three-time wins in Southern California 's IHF high school championship earlier in the month were the favorites coming in. But there were the grueling round-robin games ahead for seeding order and tier placements and the competition would be stiff.

The varsity division was set up with 4 pools of 4 teams each to begin round-robin games. Once pool play was over, teams would be seeded into tiers (brackets). Winners from pool play and the top two teams would make up Tier 1. Similarly, second place finishers and the top two remaining teams Tier 2 and Tier 3 of the 4 teams that finish 3rd in pool games.

At the top of their A game, Marina HS cruised thru their pool scoring 26 goals and allowing only one to finish undefeated and secure the number one seed. Monarch HS of Palm Beach, FL scored 24 goals and allowed only three as they breezed to the second seed and chasing close behind was Santiago HS scoring 19 goals and allowing five to also finish undefeated in securing the third seed. Rounding out Tier 1 would be California 's Villa Park HS and Esperanza HS as fourth and firth respectively, and Douglas County HS from Colorado in the sixth slot.

Arvada West HS Colorado Varsity 4A Champions

As top seeds Marina and Monarch received first round byes, the pack took to the rinks for playoff berths. Santiago faced Douglas County in a rough game with Santiago coming out on top in a come from behind victory while Villa Park faced Esperanza. Esperanza had Villa Park down by one at the end of their match until a near full-rink slap shot with only 4 seconds left deflected into Esperanza's net to tie the game. Villa Park went on to win in a shoot out and would join Santiago with the top seeds entering into the semifinal round.

The semifinals matched Marina with Villa Park only to see the top seed handily win this match. While skating in the other match up were Monarch and Santiago . Monarch, the bigger, stronger and faster met their match with the talented Santiago . Skating without their prime goalie Darrell Newsome, stand-in goalkeeper, Ryan Meyer, held off the Monarch attack as Santiago 's high power offense jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

The consolation game matched up Villa Park with Monarch. Each team put their best to the rink in a hard fought battle for third place with California 's Villa Park eventually taking the trip to the podium.

The Final - A Classic Rematch
Having met only two weeks before in the IHF high school championships, these two teams came to the rink ready to play and ready to pay the price to take home the trophy in their re-match. Marina, the defending AAU national champions, had given up only one goal coming into this match while Santiago was still flying high from their win over Monarch. And now was the opportunity to mix it up again with Marina .

Douglas County HS Colorado Varsity 5a Champions

Absent from earlier games, goalie Darrell Newsome made his way back to join his Santiago teammates just minutes before the drop of the puck. With the re-match on, Santiago's Joey Doran successfully tested Marina keeper, Matt Case, and opened the scoring early in the first period only to see Marina's Kenny Gibo come back late in the period to tie the game.

A fast-paced, back and forth second period saw Marina take the lead at the half way mark with a goal by Jonathan Gibo . A go-ahead goal by Sam Robinson was called back as officials ruled that a Marina player was in the crease. But Santiago kept pumping shots at Marina 's Case, and with only minutes remaining, Santiago 's Michael Logan found the back of the net to tie the game in regulation at 2 goals each.

While a shoot-out was in order for the tie-breaker, officials opted for an 18 minute overtime period to decide the outcome. From the drop of the puck, a back and forth, see-saw game ensued as both teams rushed and battled up and down the rink. It was nearly half-way through overtime when Santiago 's Taylor Kane drew a roughing penalty giving Marina the one man advantage. While on the power play, Marina turned over the puck to Santiago 's fast-breaking Joey Doran who skated the open rink to shoot and score short-handed giving Santiago the upset victory over Marina and a much-deserved trip to the podium.

Following three days of grinding roller hockey competition and, in some cases traversing thousands of miles, 26 teams and over 200 student athletes from eight states traveled to Anaheim to play their best against the best. With pride in their accomplishments over a grueling climb to the pinnacle of championship level play, every individual player and each team returns home just as they arrived - a champion.

Report authored and submitted by Jay Piz. Acknowledgment to contributors including Ben Frank and Ben Barrett of Anaheim

Broomfield HS Colorado Junior Varsity 4A Champs

Hockey Club, Bill Schaible representing Santiago HS, Mike Robinson representing Marina HS, Lisa Scheuermann representing Villa Park HS, the web authors from the Colorado High School Inline Hockey League ( CHSIHL), Palm Beach Hockey Organization ( PBHO ) and Pennsylvania Inline Roller Hockey League ( PIRHL ) and Paul Morrison representing Los Alamitos HS.

Disclaimer: Event results and content were compiled by the IHF from both official and unofficial sources and makes no warranty to the accuracy of the information nor intends to be the official source of information for this event or its results. For official details, please contact the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) or view their website at www.aauhockey.org . Use of the AAU High School Nationals logo by permission granted from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).

Copyright © 2007. Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF). All Rights Reserved.

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