February 26, 2010
AHSHA Round Up: Blowouts in Mixed Varsity
It was an interesting weekend in the Mixed Varsity division.
Not from an upset standpoint – but from a blowout and shutout standpoint. There were seven games decided by five goals or more, five of which were shutouts.
The usual suspects continued to roll (see: Prescott 6, Corona del Sol 0; two 9-0 wins for Mesquite). It’s setting up an interesting picture for the playoffs, which begin March 19.
Scoreboard
Pure:Desert Mountain 5, O’Connor 5; Desert Vista 8, Boulder Creek 7; O’Connor 11, Mountain Ridge 3; Desert Mountain 2, Horizon 2; Horizon 2, Brophy 2; Desert Mountain 7, O’Connor 0; Boulder Creek 5, Pinnacle 5; Notre Dame 4, Desert Vista 3.
Mixed:Highland-Gilbert 9, Pinnacle 5; Mesquite 9, Desert Vista 0; Centennial 3, Sunrise Mountain 2; Highland-Gilbert 10, Tucson 1; Mesquite 9, Flagstaff 0; Prescott 6, Corona del Sol 0; Sunrise Mountain 4, Desert Vista 1; Hamilton 9, Pinnacle 0; North Canyon 5, Flagstaff 4; Centennial 5, Cactus Shadows-Saguaro 0.
Polls
Pure
|
Rank |
School |
Last Week |
Record |
|
1 |
Notre Dame |
1 |
13-2-1 |
|
2 |
Desert Vista |
2 |
12-6-1 |
|
3 |
Pinnacle |
3 |
12-3-3 |
|
4 |
Desert Mountain |
5 |
10-4-3 |
|
5 |
Brophy |
4 |
9-6-2 |
Dropped out: None
Mixed
|
Rank |
School |
Last Week |
Record |
|
1 |
Prescott |
1 |
19-0-0 |
|
2 |
Hamilton |
2 |
13-5-1 |
|
3 |
Mesquite |
3 |
16-5-0 |
|
4 |
Highland-Gilbert |
5 |
12-7-0 |
|
5 |
Centennial |
n/a |
11-7-1 |
Dropped out: Corona del Sol (4)
Games to Watch
[Mixed] Highland-Gilbert at Centennial, Friday, 8:55 p.m., Polar Ice Peoria
[Mixed] Prescott at Highland-Gilbert, Sunday, 6:35 p.m., Ice Den
[Pure] Desert Mountain at Pinnacle, Sunday, 8:35 p.m., Ice Den
Star of the Week
Highland-Gilbert’s Tyler Tritschler had seven goals and two assists in two games.
Off the ice with …
Prescott coach Jeff Andrews, whose storm sit at 19-0-0 on the season.
Arizona Rubber: Starting off the way you have, has it been difficult to keep the guys level-headed?
Jeff Andrews: I think so. And it gets more difficult every week. Certainly, it’s nice to start that way, but the downfall is that every team is gunning for you. A lot of the teams we play, they have nothing to lose, and when you have a perfect season, as we have, we have a heck of a lot more to lose. I think the nerves get the boys, depending on who our opponent is, a little bit more than others, but so far, they’re staying somewhat level. We’ve got a really disciplined team, and a pretty heavy set of rules that we abide by, and so far, that’s worked out well.
AZR: Did the early-season games with Mesquite [two wins] give you an idea of what your team was capable of?
JA: “I think so. We had a chance to play them twice. The first time we played them, that was the first game of the year, and we knew what they were all about from last year, and I still think they are the best team in the league. But the first time we played them, they were missing a few folks, and being the first game of the year, everybody has a few cobwebs. It was a good game, we ended up beating them 5-2. We out-shot them and had a really good showing against them, giving that they were missing a couple of players, though.
The second time we played them, they beat us severely as far as shots and time of possession and just about every category out there except the scoreboard. It was really an exciting win. I think they out-shot us probably two-to-one almost, and we had a great day from the goalie. Our goalie played better than theirs and we just came out on top. That was a tough game. By far, it was the toughest game we’ve had all year. It was a real confidence booster for everybody to come out and beat them two times.
AZR: Speaking of Eric (Brown, Prescott’s goalie). He’s played every game, does that worry you at all?
JA: It worries me tremendously. Having one goalie on the roster, it’s a frightening thought at times. There are a handful of other teams that do that as well, but it’s one injury or one illness away. When we played that Mesquite game, he had just gotten over the flu. He had missed school that entire week and I think we played them on a Saturday, so that was really his first day back, and he was still running a slight fever. That’s just a tough way to run a program with one goalie, but he’s been a strong horse for us this year. And he’s only a sophomore, which is fantastic.
He’s doesn’t take up that much space, but he’s really coordinated, good with his position and he’s just a real, mentally, a strong person. Really good player. He’s tough to rattle. He’s probably only had one or two bad games on the year, but, yeah, he’s been real solid. I think he’s got a goals-against average of only about two goals, so that’s outstanding for a sophomore, and then a sophomore of his size, because he just doesn’t take up that much size. He’s 5-5, 5-4. He’s pretty small. But you would never guess. He plays like somebody who’s 6-3.
AZR: Roller hockey has had a big influence on the majority of your roster …
JA: Probably the most unique thing about our team is that we only have a couple of players that started playing ice hockey before the ninth grade. Our top three scorers – Joey [Jimenez], Levi [Wallace] and then Bradley Hovlid – not a single one of them started playing ice hockey before the ninth grade.
AZR: Traditionally, roller hockey players have an edge in terms of stick-handling and maybe even in terms of seeing the ice. Has that helped, you think?
JA: I think it does. Certainly, the one thing that roller hockey is, is it’s a goal-scorer’s game. Those guys flat-out know how to score goals. Ice hockey, obviously, is a different sport, but as far as hand-eye coordination, and the stick-handling and the shooting and just the pick control – roller hockey’s more of a control game – those guys can score goals, without a doubt.
Bradley, he’s an outstanding roller hockey player. His skills, they don’t transfer over to ice hockey as well as Levi’s or Joey’s. They will down the road, I think. But all three of those guys have played roller hockey at really high levels in the state, and even on teams outside the state. Bradley’s a sophomore. Him and Eric Brown, the goalie, they grew up playing roller hockey together. They’ve done pretty well for themselves, and they’re just starting to get into this ice thing. So far, so good.
AZR: Joey – I know he scored in bunches last year, but this year, 70 points through just 19 games – you were saying that he comes from a goal-scorers, game, but what do you see out of him on a nightly basis?
JA: Without a doubt, he sees the net well, and he’s a goal-scorer. The other thing he’s got going for him is that he weighs 205 pounds, so he’s a big kid. A lot of these guys, they grew up playing roller hockey, they’re doing it with their hands, and they’re good shooters, but they’re really easy to throw off the puck.
Joey’s able to control the puck a little better and give himself some more opportunities because of the size. He’s got an excellent shot and he sees the net well. Those are his strong point, really. He’s not lightning fast. If he really took the game seriously, and put some more time into it and worked on his speed a little it, he could play somewhere at the next level.”
Four-point performances
Boulder Creek’s Kegan Storjohann had four goals and an assist against Desert Vista. His teammate, Thomas Migliaccio had two goals and two assists in the same game.
Desert Vista’s Vinny Branciforte had a hat trick and two assists against Boulder Creek.
Highland-Gilbert’s Tyler Tritschler had four goals and an assist against Pinnacle. He also had a hat trick and an assist against Tucson.
Mesquite’s Bruce Ericsson (two goals, three assists), Cody Glazener (hat trick, two assists) and Ryan Meredith (two goals, two assists) against Desert Vista. Nico Scatino had two goals and three assists against Flagstaff.
Prescott’s Levi Wallace had four goals and an assist against Corona del Sol.
Hamilton’s Thomas Sanchez had two goals and three assists against Pinnacle.
Desert Mountain’s Randy Andrus (two goals, two assists) against O’Connor. In a rematch two days later, Sean Konchan and Ryan McNeely each had two goals and two assists.
North Canyon’s Broderek Anderssohn had two goals and two assists against Flagstaff.
Centennial’s Chace Jackson had a hat trick and an assist against Cactus Shadows-Saguaro.
Thirty-save nights/Shutouts
Desert Vista’s Nathan Cole made 58 saves against Mesquite. He also had 36 saves against Sunrise Mountain.
O’Connor’s Adam Geraghty made 42 saves against Desert Mountain.
Tucson’s Larry Bieneman had 36 saves against Highland-Gilbert.
Desert Mountain’s Hunter Lambert made 31 saves against O’Connor. Lambert also stopped all seven shots he faced in a rematch two days later.
Horizon’s Alec Hinrichs made 31 saves against Desert Mountain.
Boulder Creek’s Matthew Davis made 31 saves against Pinnacle.
Mesquite’s Teke Murphy stopped all 19 shots he faces against Flagstaff.
Prescott’s Eric Brown had 19 saves in a shutout of Corona del Sol.
Hamilton’s Nathan Chaon had 19 saves in shutting out Pinnacle.
Centennial’s Shawn Green stopped 15 shots in a shutout of Cactus Shadows-Saguaro.
Skaters at a glance
Boulder Creek’s Thomas Migliaccio leads the Pure division with 43 points and 25 assists. His teammate, Kegan Storjohann, has 42 points, and Desert Mountain’s Randy Andrus has 39. Pinnacle’s Brady Morgan has 27 goals to lead the division.
Prescott's Joey Jimenez leads the Mixed division in points (70) and goals (45). His teammate Levi Wallace is second in points (57), and leads the division in assists (31).
Goalies at a glance
Notre Dame's Taylor Quinn leads the Pure division with a 2.38 GAA, and also sports an .871 save percentage. Brophy's Nicholas Oleson is second with a 2.47 GAA, while Pinnacle’s Matt Hill leads with a 0.876 save percentage.
Mesquite Teke Murphy (1.60) leads the division in GAA and save percentage (.902) and shutouts (five). Prescott’s Eric Brown has a 1.94 GAA and a .852 save percentage.
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