Santa Clara Blackhawks
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NORCAL Playoffs
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Sharks Claim NORCAL Title in Shootout Barnburner
April 3, 2005The Santa Clara Blackhawks came out and played their best hockey of the year for the better part of two periods in the NORCAL Midget-A Championship game, building a 3-0 lead over the San Jose Jr. Sharks on goals by Kyle Nunn, Kevin O'Brien and Eric Fruen. The Blackhawks amassed twenty-two shots in the first period alone and were dominating play at both ends of the ice. But to the Jr. Sharks credit, they never gave up and never let the game get totally out of hand. While the 3-0 score certainly favored the Blackhawks, the game's momentum clearly changed when Santa Clara took five penalties in a span of just 4:34 in the latter half of the second period. The Jr. Sharks used the four power plays they earned in that span to cut the Blackhawks' lead to 3-1, giving them a glimmer of hope heading into the final period. More importantly, the penalties got Santa Clara out of their dominating rhythm. San Jose then narrowed the gap to a nail-biting single goal in the first minute of the third period, but Santa Clara's Patrick Castagna got that one back 3:31 later to give the Blackhawks a two-goal cushion once again. Still, the Jr. Sharks were not to be deterred. As they have shown all year against Santa Clara and others, there is no quit in this team and they demonstrated that when they scored a shorthanded goal at 8:27 to make it 3-2. With momentum and frenzied fans on their side, San Jose nailed the equalizer on a bang-bang power play slapshot at 5:23. Try as they might to regain the lead, the Blackhawks were not able to score down the stretch, nor in a 5:00 overtime. The game then went to a shootout where only one out of ten players could solve the opposition's goaltender. Sadly for Santa Clara, the lone shootout goal belonged to San Jose and now so does the NORCAL title. While the loss was certainly painful, several of these Blackhawks experienced an eerily similar shootout loss for the NORCAL Midget-B Championship last year, only to come back and claim a CAHA Championship, relegating the NORCAL title to a mere afterthought. That now becomes Santa Clara's single-minded focus - to capture the State Championship and wipe out the hurt of today.
The opening period of play was utterly dominated by Santa Clara. The shot count for the period was 22-5 and the Sharks were fortunate to be trailing by only 2-0. The Blackhawks' first goal came when Shaun Pienkos delivered a slapshot from the point that was stopped but not held by the San Jose goaltender. Phillip Wong was covered in front of the net, but he managed to pass the puck wide of the crease, where Kyle Nunn got to it and popped it into the back of the net. The goal came at 12:35 and it lit a spark under the already fired-up Blackhawks. They continued to apply great pressure and had the Jr. Sharks on their heels, causing them to take the first penalty of the game at 10:00. On an ensuing rush, Patrick Castagna skated into the San Jose zone and dropped a pass for Kyle Yedlicka at the right point. Yedlicka fed the puck across to defenseman Kevin O'Brien at the left point and O'Brien rifled a slapshot that caught a big piece of the goalie, but a bigger piece of the net to extend the Hawks' lead to 2-0. San Jose only registered five shots in the period, but most of those were good scoring chances. At 8:21, Santa Clara goaltender Willie Matthews made a great side-to-side stop at 7:35 off a no-look pass and quick one-timer. At 6:43, Phillip Wong fed Eric Fruen with a pass in front on a two-on-one break, but San Jose's goalie made the big save. Matthews then came up with a two more good stops of his own, the first off a two-on-one Sharks' rush at 4:13, and then once again at 3:00 on a good look from the slot. Both times, Matthews covered up to prevent any chance for a rebound. The period ended with Santa Clara up 2-0, and with San Jose fortunate to be that close.
The second period began just like the first, with the Blackhawks in control. They were skating on their second power play of the game, compliments of another Sharks' penalty at 0:03 of the opening period. With the puck in the San Jose zone, Derek Fredericks made a nice play to hold the zone and then pass the puck off the boards back in to Eric Fruen, who delivered a slapshot wide. The puck circled around the boards out to Kevin O'Brien, who dumped it back in to Kyle Nunn. Nunn skated out from behind the net and shot a quick pass across the slot that Eric Fruen pounced on and hammered home with a one-timer. The Blackhawks' second power play goal extended their lead to 3-0, and with momentum on their side and the all-important three-goal lead, the Santa Clara juggernaut roared on. Santa Clara perhaps had a chance to turn out the lights on the Sharks when San Jose took back-to-back penalties at 12:26 and 11:54, giving the Hawks a 1:28 five-on-three. But the lights continued to flicker when San Jose managed to kill the penalties. That may have foretold the story to come, because when the Jr. Sharks earned their first power play of the contest, at 7:56, the door cracked open and the Sharks swam in. While they were unable to score on their first power play, Sharks' skaters delivered open shots at 7:33 and 6:36 that required heads-up saves from Willie Matthews. The shifting momentum led to another Santa Clara penalty at 4:33, and this time San Jose cashed in on a redirected slapshot at 5:15. While the goal gave San Jose a new lease on life, Santa Clara was still playing well five-on-five. But the five-on-five ice time was short-lived when the Hawks took another minor penalty at 4:33. Though San Jose was unable to convert this time around, the man-advantage was enough to keep Santa Clara's potent offense on their heels. Nonetheless, Patrick Castagna nearly scored shorthanded at 3:37, but his short breakaway was rejected on a great save by the San Jose netminder. The Blackhawks were sent to the sin bin again at 3:22, giving San Jose forty-nine seconds of five-on-three time. San Jose held the zone for the entire two-man advantage and the heart-pounding sequence did not end until Willie Matthews covered up a save at 2:11. Matthews added two more solid stops at 1:15, just after the final power play of the period expired. After it was over, Santa Clara still held a 3-1 lead and a 37-19 shots-on-goal advantage headed into the final fifteen minutes of play.
The Jr. Sharks got the break they needed in the opening minute of the third period when they hammered home a rocket of a slapshot into the upper corner of the net at 14:10. That narrowed the gap to 3-2 and it whipped the Sharks fans into a chummed-up frenzy. But Santa Clara put a momentary chill on the frenzy when they upped their lead to 4-2 at 10:39. The play started with a face-off win by Patrick Castagna in his own end back to defenseman Derek Fredericks, who made a nice play to dish it ahead to Kyle Yedlicka. Yedlicka then raced into the San Jose zone along the left boards, all the way to the corner, where he was checked to the glass. The hard-charging Castagna came in and grabbed the puck away and then circled around the left face-off dot before firing a shot on goal that produced a pad save right back at him. Castagna stuck with it and poked the rebound into the back of the net. Lesser teams might have folded at this point (which is why they are home right now and not playing in the CAHA Championships), or perhaps they would have cashed it in after San Jose took a minor penalty at 9:47, but that would not be the case today. Skating shorthanded, a San Jose player made a nice forechecking play to battle for an iced puck behind the Santa Clara net, eventually gaining enough control to center the biscuit out front. An alert Willie Matthews made a good play to get his stick down and deflect the pass wide. But the intended recipient of the centering feed drifted over and quickly backhanded a shot into the net for the shorthanded score. Logitech Ice erupted in pandemonium with the sudden turn of events. At 7:02, Santa Clara was whistled for yet another penalty and the Sharks began to smell blood. Willie Matthews faced two quick shots off the ensuing drop of the puck and saved both. Defenseman Chase Brevoort followed that up with a nice clearing play and then a blocked shot. At 5:26, a San Jose skater managed to weave through the defense and deliver a solid shot from deep in the slot that Matthews smothered. But on the ensuing face-off, San Jose won it cleanly back to the point, and they struck lightning with another blistering slapshot to the same upper-corner of the net that they had found earlier. And with that, Santa Clara's 3-0 and 4-2 leads vaporized. Neither team was able to deliver on the game-winner in the final minutes of regulation, with Santa Clara's best chance coming off the stick of Mitch Venosta at 3:36. The game then went to a five-minute overtime, and while Santa Clara outshot the Jr. Sharks 3-1 in the OT, the extra period also failed to settle matters, setting the stage for a shootout.
While a shootout is always a fan-favorite, it is really an anti-climactic way to settle the battle on the ice. For Santa Clara, they really only delivered one good shot in five tries - that one coming from Kyle Nunn that required an excellent toe save by the Sharks' goalie. At the other end, Willie Matthews made two great saves, but a nifty move by the second Sharks' shooter opened up enough room to slip the puck into the net. That proved to be the only conversion that the Jr. Sharks needed to give them the overtime shootout win, 5-4.
While San Jose takes home a well-deserved banner, the game of hockey played to a tie, and these two teams will get a chance to settle matters once and for all at the CAHA State Championships next weekend, where the Hawks and the Jr. Sharks will be joined by the SCAHA Champion Valencia Express and the runners-up Bakersfield Dragons. These are four solid hockey teams and the State Title is up for grabs. Who wants it most remains to be seen.
San Jose, 5
BOX SCORE
TEAMS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO TOTAL San Jose 0 1 3 0 1 5 Blackhawks 2 1 1 0 0 4 Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: 1, Blackhawks, Nunn 2 (Wong, Pienkos), 12:35. 2, Blackhawks, O'Brien 1 (Yedlicka, Castagna), 8:21 (pp). Penalties: McKee, San Jose (crosscheck), 10:00; Hogan, San Jose (slashing), 0:03.Second Period
Scoring: 3, Blackhawks, Fruen 6 (Nunn, O'Brien), 13:24 (pp). 4, San Jose, Sanchez (Hogan, Sanders), 5:15 (pp). Penalties: Lynch, San Jose (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:26; Hogan, San Jose (high-sticking), 11:54; Gauthier, San Jose (high-sticking), 11:54; Kiernan, Santa Clara (high-sticking), 11:54; Costa, Santa Clara (slashing), 7:56; O'Brien, Santa Clara (crosscheck), 5:29; Wong, Santa Clara (tripping), 4:33; O'Brien, Santa Clara (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:18; Lynch, San Jose (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:18; Pienkos, Santa Clara (holding), 3:22; Richardson, San Jose (slashing), 1:15.Third Period
Scoring: 5, San Jose, Dickerson (Sanchez, Gauthier), 14:10. 6, Blackhawks, Castagna 3 (Yedlicka, Fredericks), 10:39. 7, San Jose, Dickerson (Sanchez), 8:27 (sh). 8, San Jose, Sanders (Dickerson), 5:23 (pp). Penalties: Hogan, San Jose (roughing), 9:47; Wong, Santa Clara (hooking), 7:02; Hogan, Santa Clara (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:26; Castagna, Santa Clara (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:26.Overtime (5:00)
Scoring: None. Penalties: None.Shootout
Scoring:
San Jose, Rhodes - did not score.
Blackhawks, Baxley - did not score.
San Jose, Sanders scores.
Blackhawks, Yedlicka - did not score.
San Jose, Wagner - did not score.
Blackhawks, Nunn - did not score.
San Jose, Legge - did not score
Blackhawks, Wong - did not score
San Jose, Dickson - did not score
Blackhawks, Castagna - did not scoreSHOTS ON GOAL
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara - 2 of 6; San Jose - 2 of 5. Goalies: Santa Clara, Matthews (30 shots, 26 saves; and 5 shots, 4 saves in shootout). San Jose, McKee (51 shots, 47 saves; and 5 shots, 5 saves in shootout).
San Jose 6 13 10 1 --30 Santa Clara 22 15 11 3 --51 Plus/Minus: +1(Fruen); even(Castagna, Brevoort, Holt, Pienkos, Venosta, Yedlicka, Baxley, Costa, Draper, Kiernan, Nunn, O'Brien, Wong, Fredericks); -1(Venosta); DNP(Hernandez).
Hits: 4(O'Brien); 2(Brevoort); 1(Wong, Costa, Holt, Draper, Fredericks).
Three Stars Of the Game
Kevin O'Brien - Played another strong game from the blueline with one goal, one assist, two points, and four hits.
Patrick Castagna - Did all he could to get his Team the win, scoring once, assisting on another and controlling 24 of 37 face-offs.
Eric Fruen - Hawks MVP of the playoffs scored his sixth goal in four games on a sweet one-timer from the slot.
April 2, 2005Under most circumstances, two lead changes and a game-winning goal with eighteen seconds to play would be key ingredients for a thrilling hockey game. And in fact, coming away with a win of that variety left the Blackhawks feeling good about sweeping the preliminary round heading to tomorrow's NORCAL Championship game against these same San Jose Jr. Sharks. But make no mistake about it, tonight's game will mean nothing when the puck drops tomorrow. San Jose let a couple of soft goals get through and the open space that Santa Clara found on the ice in this contest is sure to tighten up when these teams play for keeps. The Blackhawks built a 2-0 lead in in this game, only to watch San Jose rally for three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead at 11:40 of the final period. But Santa Clara responded with goals from Mitch Venosta at 9:24, and then the game winner from Captain Patrick Castagna at 0:18, to escape with the victory. Eric Fruen and Phillip Wong also netted goals for the Hawks, with Wong having a second goal hijacked on a poor call from the officials. The Kyles - Nunn annd Yedlicka - each recorded two assists, with lone hellpers collected by Castagna and Chase Brevoort. Devon Luna earned his second win of the day between the pipes, making eighteen saves along the way.
Though the game had little meaning in the grand scheme of things, the Blackhawks set the tone early with two huge hits, one by Chase Brevoort right after the puck dropped, and then a second one just moments later delivered by Nick Costa. Offensively, Eric Fruen got loose on a short breakaway at 13:57, but the Sharks' backstop came up with a solid rejection. At 9:57, Fruen and Phillip Wong broke in on a two-on-one, with Fruen rifling a centering pass towards the net that Wong tipped home for an apparent score. But an arm-waiving official immediately took over the game and waived off the goal, ruling that Wong was in the crease. Video replay clearly shows that Wong was not in the crease until after the puck was there and after he delivered the tip. But it was great showmanship by the Stripes nonetheless. For Wong, who had been held without a goal in the first two playoff games, he would not have to wait much longer for another chance. At 9:22, Santa Clara was called for a double-minor penalty, giving San Jose a four-minute power play. But the Hawks were all over the Sharks, with particularly good penalty-kill work from Wong and Kyle Yedlicka. Goaltender Devon Luna did his part with a nice save and hold at 8:40. Phillip Wong then made a good play at center ice to take away the puck from a San Jose skater and push it over to Kyle Nunn. Nunn fed it ahead for Wong, who rushed in and grabbed it, skating to the middle. Wong then delivered a wrist shot from the center slot that snuck through the goalie, stick-side. The shorthanded goal was the third of the playoffs for the Blackhawks and it gave them the 1-0 lead at 6:07. At 4:43, Mitch Venosta followed up a shot by Patrick Castagna with a rebound shot that appeared to be destined for twine. But the Sharks' back-up backstop made the save of the day, snatching the shot out of the air with a glovehand snag. San Jose took penalties at 4:10 and 3:04, but the Blackhawks were unable to capitalize on the fifty-four second 5-on-3. For the day, Santa Clara was a disappointing 0-6 on the power play, which included a total of 1:30 of scoreless 5-on-3 time.
Santa Clara was continuing to generate the bulk of the scoring opportunities, but San Jose continued to keep the game close into the second period. At 11:22, a San Jose skater collected the puck deep in the slot and fired off a good shot that Devon Luna ate up with a quick close of the five-hole. The Blackhawks then extended their lead to 2-0 at 7:35 on a breakaway goal by Eric Fruen. Phillip Wong started the play with a neutral zone pass to Kyle Nunn. Nunn was battling a Shark for control when Chase Brevoort came in and grabbed it away. Brevoort then threaded a blueline-to-blueline pass to Eric Fruen and Fruen took off with the defense at his heels. Moving in deep, Fruen lifted a shot over the goalie's glovehand for the score. Things were beginning to look good for the Blackhawks, but the game was far from over. The Hawks wasted an opportunity to extend their lead when they came away empty-handed on a 0:46 5-on-3 that began at 5:27. San Jose then cut the lead in half on a shorthanded goal of their own at 1:10. The goal came on an undefended slapshot through traffic from the just inside the blueline. The second period ended with Santa Clara still leading, 2-1.
San Jose opened the final period on the power play and they had one chance denied by Devon Luna on a nice save and hold from point blank range at 13:51. But they came back to convert on a one-timer in front at 13:22 to tie it up. Santa Clara had a chance to regain the lead on a breakaway by Eric Fruen at 12:41, but Gunner shot this one too high and it sailed over the net. San Jose then took the lead at 11:40 on a breakaway that began with an intercepted pass in the Sharks' defensive end. Two San Jose skaters took off with two Blackhawks in close pursuit. Eric Fruen looked to have an angle on the play, but a nice pick (can you say "interference"?) by the trailing Shark took Fruen out of the play and the Sharks cashed in on the breakaway to take a 3-2 lead. The Blackhawks then got the game back to square just 2:16 later. Mitch Venosta, who was having a great game, firing eight shots on goal at this point, was finally rewarded for his strong play. Chase Brevoort started the sequence by taking posession in the neutral zone and passing over to Shaun Pienkos, who fed the biscuit ahead to Kyle Yedlicka. Yedlicka passed into the zone to Patrick Castagna and Castagna spotted on open Mitch Venosta rushing through the right slot. Venosta took the pass, walked in and shot it past the goalkeep, blocker side, netting the equalizer. The game remained tied for most of the balance of the period, and it was beginning to look like a fitting ending to a game that didn't mean much anyway. But the Blackhawks apparently didn't want the blemish on their playoff record and Captain Patrick Castagna took it upon himself to chalk up the "W" for the Hawks. With just over twenty seconds remaining, Castagna wrestled away the puck along the side boards in the San Jose zone, sending a no-look pass behind him to Kyle Yedlicka. Yedlicka sent the biscuit right back to Castagna who snapped one off from the right slot that sliced under the arm of the Sharks goalie and into the back of the net giving Santa Clara the 4-3 victory.
Each of these teams still has another week to play, having secured berths in the CAHA Midget-A State Championships next weekend. But first on the agenda is a NORCAL Championship banner and that will be decided tomorrow, when these two teams meet again for keeps, in a 2:00 PM (Daylight Savings Time) tip-off.
San Jose, 3
BOX SCORE
TEAMS 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL San Jose 0 1 2 3 Blackhawks 1 1 2 4 Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: 1, Blackhawks, Wong 1 (Nunn), 6:06 (sh). Penalties: Fruen, Santa Clara (double minor, holding and roughing), 9:22; Sanders, San Jose (slashing), 4:10; Moring, San Jose (crosscheck), 3:04; Venosta, Santa Clara (interference), 0:29; Lynch, San Jose (slashing), 0:15.Second Period
Scoring: 2, Blackhawks, Fruen 5 (Brevoort, Nunn), 7:35. 3, San Jose, Hogan (Wagner), 1:10 (sh). Penalties: Yedlicka, Santa Clara (tripping), 14:34; Lynch, San Jose (interference), 6:41; Legge, San Jose (holding), 5:27; Moring, San Jose (interference), 1:28.Third Period
Scoring: 4, San Jose, Hogan (Rhodes, Sanders), 13:22 (pp). 5, San Jose, Sanders (Rhodes), 11:40. 6, Blackhawks, Venosta 1 (Castagna, Yedlicka), 9:24. 7, Blackhawks, Castagna 2 (Yedlicka), 0:18. Penalties: Costa, Santa Clara (tripping), 15:00; O'Brien, Santa Clara (slashing), 7:46; Brevoort, Santa Clara (interference), 4:56; Rhodes, San Jose (roughing), 4:56; Sanchez, San Jose (roughing), 3:42; Wagner, San Jose (interference), 0:04; Venosta, Santa Clara (slashing), 0:04.SHOTS ON GOAL
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara - 0 of 7; San Jose - 1 of 6. Goalies: Santa Clara, Luna (21 shots, 18 saves; record 2-0-0). San Jose, Vina (35 shots, 31 saves).
San Jose 6 5 10 --21 Santa Clara 11 13 11 --35 Plus/Minus: +2(Brevoort, Holt Pienkos, Venosta, Yedlicka); +1(Castagna); even(Baxley, Costa, Draper, Kiernan, Nunn, O'Brien, Wong); -1(Fredericks, Fruen); DNP(Hernandez).
Hits: 2(Wong, Castagna. O'Brien); 1(Brevoort, Costa, Holt, Nunn).
Mitch Venosta - Frustrated early, #13 led the team with ten shots, and finally connected on game-tying goal.
Phillip Wong - Bad call took one away from him, but he came back three minutes later to get the Hawks on the board.
Chase Brevoort - Defense has been consistent throughout playoffs, and he stepped up today with a sweet assist and a plus/minus of +2.
April 2, 2005Overcoming a slow start, the Santa Clara Blackhawks Midget-A team scored four times in the final period to skate past the Tri-Valley Blue Devils, 6-2 on Saturday. A few minutes after the game was complete, the San Jose Jr. Sharks eliminated the regular-season champion Oakland Bears from the playoffs with a 4-2 win, thus setting the stage for tomorrow's NORCAL Championship game between the Sharks and the Blackhawks. The teams will first meet later tonight in a game that will determine nothing other than the color of jerseys the teams will wear tomorrow. The Hawks earned their spot in the finals thanks to some heroics from Eric Fruen, who notched a natural hat trick against the Blue Devils. Santa Clara also got goals from Shane Baxley, Patrick Castagna and Kyle Nunn, with Nunn also adding an assist. Phillip Wong and Kevin O'Brien each recorded two assists, with lone helpers going to Billy Kiernan, Shaun Pienkos, Dustin Holt, and Kyle Yedlicka. Devon Luna picked up the win in net, stopping seventeen of nineteen shots along the way.
It took awhile for Santa Clara's offense to get untracked today. But fortunately, their defense was stingy, particularly in the opening period when they limited Tri-Valley to just three shots. The defensive unit was led by yeoman's work from Dustin Holt and Kevin O'Brien. When the first goal finally came, it came from the Crimson & Black at 4:58 on a precision shot off the stick of Shane Baxley. The play started with a dump-in pass from Shaun Pienkos that Billy Kiernan battled for in the corner. The puck then squirted out to Baxley, who moved to the right face-off dot before zipping a shot that banked off the far post and then settled into the net. The Hawks added another goal on their very next shot. A lazy pass by a Tri-Valley skater was intercepted in the neutral zone by Kyle Yedlicka. Yedlicka broke into the zone with Eric Fruen on a two-on-one. Moving in deep, Yedlicka passed across to Fruen who one-timed it just inside the post, blocker-side. That made it 2-0 at 3:18. Tri-Valley's best chance of the period came at 1:53, but Hawks' goalie Devon Luna snagged the slapper and held on for the whistle.
After registering fourteen shots in the opening period, Santa Clara rang up fourteen more in the second. But solid Blue Devils' goaltending prevented the Blackhawks from adding to their lead. At 11:13, Shane Baxley picked the Devils' pocket and he raced in on a breakaway, only to be denied by the netminder. Tri-Valley then cut the Hawks lead in half at 10:23 on a wrister that Devon Luna was partially screened on. Tri-Valley followed up with another strong sequence near the nine-minute mark, but Devon Luna was ready, making one solid save at 8:58 and then another right off the ensuing face-off at 8:54. The period ended with Santa Clara dominating the shot count, but only leading on the scoreboard by a single goal.
Earlier this season, Tri-Valley managed a 2-2 tie in a game against the Hawks that looked much like this one did after two periods. But this time Santa Clara responded with four nails in the coffin. The first one came at 10:59 from Eric Fruen. Phillip Wong started the play with a strong check behind the Devils' net that caused the puck to squirt loose. Kyle Nunn managed to grab the loose change and he circled to the corner before spotting a perfect pass to the middle that Eric Fruen hammered into the back of the net with a one-timer slapshot. Fruen earned his natural hat trick the next time he took the ice, during Santa Clara's only power play of the game. Once again, this sequence was started by a good check from Phillip Wong. Wong was able to gain control in the Tri-Valley zone and he fed the biscuit outside to Kevin O'Brien, who then passed up to Eric Fruen, who was in the right corner. Fruen was open, but he was at an improbable angle, almost parallel to the net. But he unloaded anyway, and the puck smoked its way past the goalie to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead at 9:01. The power play goal was a result of the only penalty that had been called during the entire game. While it was a clean contest, there were a few questionable non-calls, one of which led the Blackhawks to take a 5:00 retaliation penalty at 4:37. Trailing 4-1, Tri-Valley had a glimmer of hope. But the glimmer was put on simmer when the Blackhawks scored twice shorthanded. The first of those came off a great individual-effort steal by Patrick Castagna in the Tri-Valley slot. After wresting the puck away from two Blue Devils, Castagna spun to the net and then slipped a shot past the naked netminder. Each of Santa Clara' goals today were perfectly-placed, but perhaps none was more perfect than their last goal, a shorthanded roof-raiser from Kyle Nunn. Taking a pinpoint headman pass from Kevin O'Brien, Nunn moved to the right boards and then sliced towards the middle before delivering an elevation-sensation that zipped over the goalie's outstretched glove and into the top corner of the net. O'Brien and Dustin Holt tallied the assists on Nunn's goal, which came at 1:59. After being outscored 2-0 on the five-minute major, Tri-Valley earned partial redemption when they finally converted on the power play at the 1:00 mark. But they had to work for it. Devon Luna made an initial save on a shot from right in front, and with Luna down, a second shot bounced off the post. But the third time proved to be the charm for the Devils, as they lifted their next rebound shot into the twine for the final goal of the contest.
With the win, Santa Clara improves to 2-0-0 in the NORCAL playoffs. San Jose also improved to 2-0-0 with their victory over Oakland. So, the Jr. Sharks and the Blackhawks will play "for fun" tonight, before returning to Logitech Ice tomorrow to play again for the NORCAL Championship. Both teams will then return one week later, joined by the Valencia Express and the Bakersfield Dragons, to play for the CAHA State Midget-A Championship.
Tri-Valley, 2
BOX SCORE
TEAMS 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL Tri-Valley 0 1 1 2 Blackhawks 2 0 4 6 Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: 1, Blackhawks, Baxley 2 (Kiernan, Pienkos), 4:58. 2, Blackhawks, Fruen 2 (Yedlicka), 3:18. Penalties: None.Second Period
Scoring: 3, Tri-Valley, Forster (unassisted), 10:23. Penalties: None.Third Period
Scoring: 4, Blackhawks, Fruen 3 (Nunn, Wong), 10:59. 5, Blackhawks, Fruen 4 (Wong, O'Brien), 9:01 (pp). 6, Blackhawks, Castagna 1 (unassisted), 3:03 (sh). 7, Blackhawks, Nunn 1 (O'Brien, Holt), 1:59 (sh). 8, Tri-Valley, Carey (Wong, Block), 1:00 (pp). Penalties: Peterson, Tri-Valley (boarding), 10:40; Baxley, Santa Clara (major, slashing), 4:37.SHOTS ON GOAL
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara - 1 of 1; Tri-Valley - 1 of 2. Goalies: Santa Clara, Luna (19 shots, 17 saves; record 1-0-0). Tri-Valley, Cabot (33 shots, 29 saves) and Aimonnetti at 9:01 of period 3 (7 shots, 5 saves).
Tri-Valley 3 7 9 --19 Santa Clara 14 14 12 --40 Plus/Minus: +3(Holt); +2(Costa, Fruen, Nunn, O'Brien, Pienkos, Wong); +1(Baxley, Brevoort, Castagna, Kiernan, Yedlicka); even(Fredericks); -1(Venosta, Draper); DNP(Hernandez).
Hits: 2(Wong); 1(Castagna, Fredericks, O'Brien, Pienkos, Yedlicka).
Eric Fruen - Natural trick in a span of less than ten minutes put this game in the bag for the Blackhawks.
Shane Baxley - In a tight first period, he got the team untracked with a nifty score off the post, his second goal of the tourney.
Kyle Nunn - Top-shelf sniper had been missing high of late, but today's goal was in the upper-corner sweet spot.
April 1, 2005Santa Clara put a relatively healthy and rested full squad on the ice for one of the few times this season, and it paid off with a 5-2 win over the regular-season champion Oakland Bears to open the NORCAL playoffs. Four of the Blackhawks' five goals were scored by skaters who missed ten or more games this year. Showing that he has fully recovered from a mid-season injury, Kyle Yedlicka continued his dominant play of late, scoring the game's first two goals. Eric Fruen and Shane Baxley, both of whom were out for extended periods of time this season, also notched goals for the Blackhawks. The fifth goal was scored by defenseman Shaun Pienkos. There were contributions up and down the line-up today, with ten Blackhawks registering points. Goaltender Willie Matthews was unflappable in net, surviving Oakland's assault and stopping twenty-four of twenty-six shots in the process. Oakland's only goals were on the power play during a five-minute major penalty in the second period. It was an exciting and physical contest with the Bears getting particularly chippy in the third period after Santa Clara put the game out of reach. Oakland may have been the more aggressive and physical team today, but their style of play came back to bite them, as the Hawks scored twice on the power play and had other opportunities that resulted from Oakland's in-your-face style of play.
Oakland got the jump on Santa Clara early, generating a three-shot sequence during an early flurry around the net. The Bears followed that up with a two-on-one off a giveaway at 10:25 that required a big save from Willie Matthews. The Blackhawks best early chance came at 8:17 when Kyle Yedlicka spotted an open Shane Baxley with a pass in front of the net. But Oakland's goalie made the quick side-to-side move for the pad save. The officials were letting the players decide the game on the ice, with no-calls going for and against both teams in the first half of the period. Finally, the zebra police whistled their first minor penalty at 6:05 and it went against the Bears. The call proved to be a big one, as it gave the Blackhawks an opportunity to get the critical, first goal of the contest. With Oakland in posession on the penalty kill, Mitch Venosta blocked a pass with his skate at his own end and Patrick Castagna grabbed it an raced the other way. Moving through the neutral zone, Castagna passed wide to Kyle Yedlicka, who carried the puck into the corner. Yedlicka and Castagna traded passes before Yedlicka finally moved out from behind the net with the puck, and then circled around the left face-off dot before firing a shot that glanced off the goalie and into the net. Santa Clara nearly extended its lead to 2-0 on a breakaway by Eric Fruen at 3:24, but Fruen's top-shelf effort rang off the post. Back the other way at 1:47, Oakland had a redirected shot slide off the post themselves. With the final seconds of the period winding down, Patrick Castagna got behind the defense on a partial breakaway, but a pestering defenseman caused Castagna to have to rush his shot and his backhand effort was rejected at the buzzer.
After misfiring on some late opportunities in the first period, Santa Clara wasted no time cashing in to open the second. Moving into the Oakland zone, Patrick Castagna made a great play in traffic to fight off two defenders and get off a good shot. The goalie got a piece of it and the puck slid behind the net where an Oakland skater gained control and then flipped a short pass ahead that was too high to control and it deflected off the body of the intended recipient. Castagna grabbed the loose puck in the slot and skated toward the blueline before dropping a pass along the left side boards for Kyle Yedlicka. Yedlicka the outmuscled his defender all the way around the end boards and to the other side of the ice, whereupon he turned back to the inside and moved out in front of the net. Spotting a narrow opening, Yedlicka than delivered a backhand beauty over the goalie's shoulder, twisting the roof rope at 14:17 to make it 2-0. Oakland came right back with some good work around the net, but an open rebound chance at 13:10 sailed high. Kyle Yedlicka then clanked one off the crossbar on a nifty snapshot at 11:25, missing out on back-to-back natural hat trick games by a matter of inches. The Blackhawks then extended their lead to 3-0 on a goal by Eric Fruen at 10:10. The sequence started when the officials waved off an apparent icing call against the Bears. Instead of gaining a stoppage of play, Dustin Holt grabbed the puck and sent a sweet pass off the side boards that deflected perfectly to Phillip Wong, who was camped at the Oakland blueline. Wong took the puck into the zone on a two-on-one with Eric Fruen. Moving in towards the right face-off dot, Wong, passed across to Fruen who had a defenseman bearing down on him. Fruen managed to stop the pass and then he snapped a shot past the goalie for the score. With a three-goal lead, Santa Clara now looked in control. But the whistle-toting official had finally dug his tweeter out of his pocket and he was staring to make calls that he wasn't making in the first period. The one that hurt the Hawks the most was a five-minute major at 5:39 that questionably might not have even been a minor penalty. Santa Clara worked hard to kill the ensuing penalty, but Oakland would strike for two power play goals, at 3:48 and 3:04. It might have been worse if it were not for some great goaltending from Willie Matthews, who faced twelve shots in the period. Dustin Holt also made a save of sorts, when one of Matthews' stops started to slide behind him. Holt managed to keep the puck from crossing the line, saving a goal in the process. At 2:03, Oakland took a penalty that cut short their five-minute power play by 1:24. During the ensuing four-on-four, Phillip Wong got loose on a breakaway. Wong's shot was denied, but the Bears took another penalty in the process. The period ended with a flurry of penalties, but no further scoring.
Santa Clara was unable to take advantage of power play time in early third-period action, In fact, Oakland had one of the better scoring chances, but the Bears' skater whiffed on a breakaway shot at 13:55. At 12:35, the teams finally returned to full strength and Santa Clara got back to work and once again began to generate the majority of the ensuing scoring chances. They regained their two-goal lead on a huge score by Shane Baxley. Taking a face-off win in his own zone, Kevin O'Brien one-timed a cross ice pass ahead to Eric Fruen. Fruen chased it down just past center ice and he moved into the Bears' den, drawing a Cub in the process. Fruen then slid a pass ahead to Shane Baxley, who walked in through the slot and wristed a shot glove-side that the goaltender got a piece of, but not enough to prevent it from trickling over the line for the score. Fruen and O'Brien each recorded well-deserved assists on the play. Oakland's game deteriorated at that point, and it looked like they were trying to send a message to the Blackhawks in the form of big hits and trash talk. To Santa Clara's credit, they didn't take the bait beyond drawing coincidental penalties and the result was two more power plays for the Blackhawks, one of which they managed to convert on. Kyle Nunn started the sequence with a clean face-off win in the Oakland zone, back to Eric Fruen. Fruen immediately sent a cross-ice pass to the right point, where Shaun Pienkos corralled it and then walked in a few steps before letting loose a laser-guided slapshot that sizzled blocker-side high, and past the goalie. The goal came at 7:35 and it gave Santa Clara a 5-2 lead that they would hold the rest of the way.
With the win, Santa Clara has an inside track to the championship game. But the competition is tough this year and a lot of work will be required tomorrow in order for that to happen. Standing in their way first will be the Tri-Valley Blue Devils. Even if they manage to defeat the Devils, there is a good chance that the championship contestants will not be decided until Santa Clara squares off against San Jose on Saturday night. A letdown simply cannot happen if the Blackhawks want to keep their season from ending on Saturday.
Oakland, 2
BOX SCORE
TEAMS 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL Blackhawks 1 2 2 5 Oakland 0 2 0 2 Scoring Summary
First Period
Scoring: 1, Blackhawks, Yedlicka 1 (Castagna, Venosta), 5:14 (pp). Penalties: Raimondi, Oakland (crosscheck), 6:05; Baxley, Santa Clara (hooking), 4:34; Vicencio, Oakland (slashing), 4:02; Bordeaux, Oakland (tripping), 3:02; Holt, Santa Clara (roughing), 3:02.Second Period
Scoring: 2, Blackhawks, Yedlicka 2 (Castagna), 14:17. 3, Blackhawks, Fruen 1 (Wong, Holt), 10:10. 4, Oakland, Vicencio (Bonnett), 3:48 (pp). 5, Oakland, Vicencio (Rodden, Bonnett), 3:04 (pp). Penalties: Baxley, Santa Clara (tripping), 7:18; Yedlicka, Santa Clara (major, hooking), 5:39. Schmidt, Oakland (high-sticking), 2:03; Mercier, Oakland (roughing), 1:35; Raimondi, Oakland (slashing), 0:10; Romero, Oakland (unsportsmanlike conduct), 0:10; Castagna, Santa Clara (high-sticking), 0:07.Third Period
Scoring: 6, Blackhawks, Baxley 1 (Fruen, O'Brien), 10:05. 7, Blackhawks, Pienkos 1 (Fruen, Nunn), 7:35 (pp). Penalties: Gregg, Oakland (interference), 9:52; Tan, Oakland (interference), 7:56; Walker, Oakland (roughing), 7:56; Venosta, Santa Clara (roughing), 7:56; Bonnett, Oakland (minor, holding and 10:00 misconduct); 7:17; Holt, Santa Clara (holding), 7:17; Costa, Santa Clara (roughing), 2:59; O'Brien, Santa Clara (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:59; Rodden, Oakland (roughing), 2:59; Walker, Oakland (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:59.SHOTS ON GOAL
Power-play Conversions: Santa Clara - 2 of 8; Oakland - 2 of 6. Goalies: Santa Clara, Matthews (26 shots, 24 saves; record 1-0-0). Oakland, Mefford (27 shots, 22 saves).
Santa Clara 8 5 14 --27 Oakland 9 12 5 --26 Plus/Minus: +2(Fredericks, Fruen, Holt, Nunn); +1(Baxley, Castagna, O'Brien, Pienkos, Venosta, Yedlicka, Wong); even(Brevoort, Costa, Draper, Kiernan); DNP(Hernandez).
Hits: 2(Wong); 1(Brevoort, Kiernan, Venosta, Castagna).
Kyle Yedlicka - Winger is on fire, having scored five goals in his last two games, including the first two today.
Eric Fruen - His presence paid off in spades today, with the game-winning goal, two assists, and a plus/minus of +2.
Shaun Pienkos - Defense held their ground against the quick & strong Bears and were rewarded with a slapshot goal from #12.
NORCAL Playoffs GP W L T PTS GF GA GFA GAA 4 3 1 0 6 19 12 4.75 3.00
SANTA CLARA BLACKHAWKS SAN JOSE
JR. SHARKSTRI-VALLEY
BLUE DEVILSOAKLAND
BEARS
Date Day Time Location Opponent Result 1-Apr-05 Friday 6:00 PM Logitech Ice @ Oakland Bears W, 5-2 2-Apr-05 Saturday 1:00 PM Logitech Ice Tri-Valley Blue Devils W, 6-2 2-Apr-05 Saturday 9:45 PM Logitech Ice San Jose Jr. Sharks W, 4-3 3-Apr-05 Sunday 2:00 PM Logitech Ice San Jose Jr. Sharks L, 4-5
(OT/SO)Click on Team Logo or Team Name to visit that Team's Web Page
Tournament Stats - Skaters
Player # Games Goals Assists Points Hits +/- PIM Shane Baxley 4/97 4 2 0 2 0 +2 9 Chase Brevoort 56 4 0 1 1 4 +3 2 Patrick Castagna 17 4 3 4 7 4 +3 4 Nick Costa 3 4 0 0 0 2 +2 6 Jacob Draper 27 4 0 0 0 1 -1 0 Derek Fredericks 61 4 0 1 1 2 +1 0 Eric Fruen 9 4 6 2 8 0 +4 4 Aaron Hernandez 5 0 0 0 0 0 even 0 Dustin Holt 23 4 0 2 2 2 +7 4 Billy Kiernan 15 4 0 1 1 1 +1 2 Kyle Nunn 10 4 2 5 7 1 +4 0 Kevin O'Brien 93 4 1 4 5 7 +3 8 Shaun Pienkos 12 4 1 2 3 1 +5 2 Mitch Venosta 13 4 1 1 2 1 +1 6 Phillip Wong 89 4 1 4 5 7 +3 4 Kyle Yedlicka 6 4 2 5 7 1 +4 7 Goalies & Bench - 4 0 0 0 - - 0 Team Totals - 4 19 32 51 34 +42 58 Click on Player's Name for Individual bio
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96 | 11 | 85 | 88.5% | 2.75 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
NORCAL Playoffs - Records Teams Record Points Place San Jose Jr. Sharks 3-1-0 6 1st Santa Clara Blackhawks 3-1-0 6 2nd Oakland Bears 1-2-0 2 3rd Tri-Valley Blue Devils 0-3-0 0 4th
NORCAL Playoffs
Schedule And Game Results
April 1, 2005
Santa Clara - 5
Oakland - 2San Jose - 4
Tri-Valley - 1April 2, 2005
San Jose - 4
Oakland - 2Santa Clara - 6
Tri-Valley - 2Oakland - 10
Tri-Valley - 3Santa Clara - 5
San Jose - 4
NORCAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME CHAMPIONSHIP GAME April 3, 2005 - 2:00 PM - Logitech Ice
San Jose Jr. Sharks - 5
Santa CLara Blackhawks - 4
(Scoreless Overtime - decided in Shootout)
