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2007 State Championship news & highlights

 

Team Excalibur takes 2nd top program trophy

Even though Team Excalibur almost completely dominated the "A" divisions at all AIHA qualifiers, their teams which really pulled them up over the top to grab the honor of top inline program of the year, was their "B" division teams. The 12B1 Excalibur 95's, 12B2 Excalibur Squirt Bronze and 14A1 Excalibur Pee Wee Bronze put up some incredible victories at the '07 AIHA state inline hockey championships and won state titles to assure themselves the top program trophy for the year. Yuma, which had an outstanding year, wound up in 2nd place out of 11 inline programs.

Team of the State Finals overcomes underdog role

Save for Excalibur Pee Wee Bronze's only first place of the season at the Casey's qualifier, the team couldn't seem to find itself for most of the qualifier season in the 14uB1 division. Struggling to get an edge over their own program's rival, the Excalibur 93's, it seemed to be too much of a losing uphill battle...that was until the State Championships came along. Coaches Gilbert Hernandez and Steve Leska kept everything in perspective for the kids, while the team simply went undefeated AND beat the heavily favored Excalibur 93's in the state championship game. Jordan Cline scored early while goalie Matt Davis recorded a shutout, as his brother, Mike Davis, scored an insurance goal with less that a minute left to seal their 2-0 championship victory.


Casey's Trifecta - 8uA, 10uA & 12uA state champions

In what is probably a first in AIHA history, the prestigious and historic Casey's Crushers hockey program scored the first open lower youth division trifecta by beating their opponents at the state championships in the 8uA, 10uA and 12uA open division finals. Last season, the 10u Casey's team lost in the championship game in a heartbreaker to the Crazy 8's in sudden death overtime. For the '07 season the Crushers were led by season scoring leaders Bobby Curley (8uA), Alex MacDonald (10uA) and Ryan Finley (12uA).

Big scoring threats reveal potent youth divisions
Usually when an AIHA season reaches an end at the state championships, there is typically a youngster whose scoring prowess from the regular season seems to redefine the term "prolific scorer". What has made the ending of the 2007 AIHA season unique is that not one but two lower youth division players combined for a staggering total of 194 points. Bobby Curley, who played for the Casey's Crushers 8uA and 10uA teams scored a whopping 78 goals and 27 assists between them and was vital in the Crushers quest to win championships in both age divisions. Josh Burkeen also played double duty on both Prescott Storm 10u and 12u teams. Josh scored an eye popping 61 goals and 28 assists between both teams and whose offensive power was a definite help in lifting his team to the 10uB state championship title.

In what will have to go down as one very impressive comeback in AIHA state championship history is the victory of the Arizona Heartbreakers in the state finals over the Rollerplex Panthers in the 18u dvision. The Panthers team, which boasted several AAA level players on their roster, pretty much had their way with the Heartbreakers and just about any team that came their way during the regular season. After getting mercied in their first meeting with the Panthers in round robin play, the Heartbreakers went on a 3 game tear by beating the Panthers in the 18u championship finale 6-2. Heartbreakers goalie, Eric Hernandez was outstanding after their first loss of the championships and went on to take outstanding goalie honors. But coach of the team, Javier Zuniga, awarded the entire team the OUSTANDING DEFENDER award for the tournament, pointing to the fact that the team and not any one individual was responsible for their impressive comeback.

Team and player
State Champions

8A – Casey’s Crushers

    MVP – Bobby Curley

    Top Offense – Joey Strada

    Top Defense – Alexis Ruth

    Top Goalie – Wyatt Entzminger

 

8B – Mission AZ Stars

   MVP – Jonathan Dube

    Top Offense – Hayden Maxwell

    Top Defense – Brett Charron

    Top Goalie – Kyle Zimmerli

 

10A – Casey's Crushers

   MVP – Alex MacDonald

    Top Offense – Anthony Hamilton

    Top Defense – Bobby Curley

    Top Goalie – Cody Krusniak

 

10B – Prescott Storm

   MVP – John Gallo

    Top Offense – Josh Burkeen

    Top Defense – Mike Shank

    Top Goalie – Aaron Gittings

 

12A – Casey's Crushers

   MVP – Mike Dilger

    Top Offense – Jayme Haveman

    Top Defense – Ty Dunn

    Top Goalie – Jimmy Curley

 

12B1 – Exclalibur 95's

   MVP – Nick Mancuso

    Top Offense – Kevin Hunt

    Top Defense – Bodhi Bilandzija

    Top Goalie – Alex Deckey

 

12B2 – Excal Squirt Brnz

   MVP – Jacob Hernandez

    Top Offense – Derek Tschilar

    Top Defense – Brandon Eastman

    Top Goalie – Jon Bragdon

 

14A – Excalibur 92's

   MVPTommy Migliaccio

    Top Offense – Alex Karic

    Top DefenseMark De La Fuente

    Top Goalie – Aaron LaCavera

 

14A1 – Excal PW Bronze

   MVP – Mike Davis

    Top Offense – Austin Hale

    Top Defense – Bian Leska

    Top Goalie – Matt Davis

 

14B1 – Plex Panthers B

   MVP – Jimmy Doyle

    Top Offense – Robert Wieser

    Top Defense – Makale'a Chun

    Top Goalie – Jordan Priebe

 

14B2 – AZ Phantoms

   MVP – Nick Bazso

    Top Offense – Brian Cantrell

    Top Defense – Jordn Ehgoetz

    Top Goalie – Jimmy Curley

 

16A – Excalibur 91's

   MVP – KC Barter

    Top Offense – Alex Zuniga

    Top Defense – Joey Gillis

    Top Goalie – Jimmy Tibbetts

 

16B1 – Yuma Blaze

   MVP – Kyle Letendre

    Top Offense – Billy Lason

    Top Defense – Scott Stover

    Top Goalie – Adam Nichols

 

16B2 – AZ Heartbreakers

   MVP – Dane Miller

    Top Offense – Josh Silverstein

    Top Defense – JT Tapia

    Top Goalie – Chris Vickery