FIERCE COMPETITION AT 2HOT4ICE RICHMOND

2Hot4Ice Richmond Results May 8-10, 2009

Any coach will tell you that the more your team is challenged, the better
it will perform under tournament and playoff pressure.

With six games going into overtime at 2Hot4Ice’s regional qualifier May 8-10 in Richmond, Va. – two required double overtime to determine a winner – there are now 12 more potential 2009 Nationals entrants that have been battled tested.

None more than the Richmond Rattlers Black, who had to fight tooth and
nail in four of their five 16U division games at the Shooters Indoor
Sports Complex. In the 2Hot4Ice series, where competitiveness is front and center at every event, the 16U division was ultra-competitive. The
Rattlers Black didn’t manage to win until their third game, opening the
qualifier with a 2-2 tie with the Mission Blackout and a 3-3 deadlock with
the Carolina Tsunami Black.

The Rattlers Black’s third game was an exception for them in the Richmond
tournament. The Rattlers Black blasted the Renegade Rockets 7-0 behind
division points leader Terry DeBose and top dishman Nathan Talman.

The Richmond Rattlers Orange quickly brought their Rattlers Black peers
back to earth in a division semifinal game, forcing the Black into overtime before falling 1-0.

The division finale figured to be a doozy – a rematch pitting the Rattlers
Black against the Tsunami Black. It was everything 2Hot4Ice thought it
would be, stretching into not one but two overtimes before the Rattlers
Black prevailed 5-4 to give the Rattlers program its third division title
in Richmond.

En route to their 3-0-2 record in Richmond, the Rattlers Black’s Matt
Columbo earned distinction as the division’s unsung hero and took home the Deebs Young Award. And the Rattlers Orange’s Collin Catherman was judged the division’s top goalie.

8U division

On Saturday afternoon the DSC Dragons became the first of four undefeated division champions in Richmond. The Dragons, led by division points leader Jacob Meyers and top goalie Jessica Lehning, beat the Raleigh Speed twice, 7-2 and 6-2, to claim the title.

The other division individual honorees were the Richmond Rattlers’ Casey
Adams, top dishman, and the Speed’s Austin Reiss, selected for the Deebs
Young Award.

10U division

The DSD Blue rode the playmaking of Katherine Grinter and the stinginess
of goalie Jackson Foltz to four consecutive wins, capped by a 4-2 triumph
over sister squad DSD White in the division championship match.

Grinter and Foltz garnered individual honors as the top dishman and top
goalie, respectively, while the DSD White’s Jake Irvin was the points
leader and Jake Snyder the Deebs Young Award recipient.

12U Gold division

The hometown Richmond Rattlers Black won all four of their games to take
the division crown, but it was hardly smooth sailing.

The Rattlers Black struggled past the Carolina Fusion 2-1 in its opening
game. Following a couple of easy victories, including a 7-1 thrashing of
Team Carolina 96, the Rattlers Black took on Team Carolina again in the
division title game. Same outcome, but no rout this time. Behind the
division’s top goalie, Trevor Dyke, and its Deebs young honoree, Sean
O’Reilly, the Rattlers Black prevailed 3-2 for the program’s second
Richmond championship.

Nathan Smith of the Carolina Fusion was the division’s points leader and
Mike Bowen of Team Carolina 96 was the top dishman.

12U Silver division

The Richmond  Rattlers Grey snared the program’s third division title with
a 5-1 victory over the Speed in the championship game. The Rattlers Grey
won four of their five games, with the only blemish on their record coming
at the hands of the DSD Red, 4-0.

The Rattlers Grey’s Zach Stephens and Chris Caldwell were the division’s
points leader and Deebs Young Award recipient, respectively. Top dishman
and top goalie honors went to the Speed’s Brendan Umscheld and Chris
Bakolia, respectively.

14U division

With Ryan Chronowic taking home the Deebs Young Award, the Carolina
Tsunami Blue became the final undefeated division champion in Richmond.
The Blue opened with a 6-3 win over the Maryland Thrashers, then stopped the DSD Red twice, 3-0 and 4-1, before denying the Richmond Rattlers program another title by trimming the Rattlers Orange 4-2.

The Rattlers Orange’s Kevin McCollum was the division’s points leader,
Jaylend Powell its top dishman and Justin Keener its top goalie.

As is the case at each 2Hot4Ice regional, every team that competed in
Richmond is eligible to battle for a 2Hot4Ice national championship in
June. Inline roller hockey players and their teams have two more
opportunities to qualify for 2009 Nationals: May 22-24 in Lakewood, Colo.,
and June 5-7 in Pittsburgh.

Then it’s on to the Dreamsports Center in Raleigh, N.C., for Nationals,
June 24-28. See you there!