Santa Clara Blackhawks
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Hawks Soar to Back-to-Back Titles!
              April 10, 2005

Overshadowed by the Oakland Bears in the regular season, and by the San Jose Jr. Sharks in the NORCAL playoffs, the Santa Clara Blackhawks rose to the occasion in crunch time to go undefeated in the CAHA tournament and win the State championship in a tense, 3-2 battle with the Valencia Express.  Eric Fruen, Billy Kiernan, and Kyle Yedlicka were the goal-scoring heroes today, but this entire squad scaled the CAHA mountain as a Team, with everyone chipping in.  Ten different Hawks' players scored goals in the four CAHA games and fourteen players registered points.  Every line and both goalies played pivotal roles throughout the entire series, and never was that more important than in today's game, when Billy Kiernan put the Blackhawks ahead for good with his body-sacrificing one-timer late in the first period.  In all, Santa Clara registered nine points today, with each of those points coming from different players.  In addition to the three goals, assists were had by Kevin O'Brien, Phillip Wong, Nick Costa, Shane Baxley, Patrick Castagna, and Mitch Venosta.  Goaltender Willie Matthews was at the top of his game, making twenty-three saves, including five tough stops during a frenzied final 1:37.

The Express put up a good fight, playing much better hockey than they had in round robin play when the Blackhawks pummeled them, 8-2.  Though the ice was tilted decidedly in the Hawks' favor for most of this game, Valencia hung in there on the strength of solid goaltending and much better defense than they had shown on Friday.  Fortunately, Santa Clara expected nothing less from the Express and they were prepared for a much closer game.  The fired-up Blackhawks wanted another quick start and they got it when they scored at the 13:30 mark of the opening period. Kevin O'Brien started the play with a big hit behind his own net to jar loose the puck from an Express skater. Derek Fredericks then picked it up and slid it around the boards, where O'Brien helped it along.  A defenseman trying to hold the zone was met by Phillip Wong at the left point and Wong was able to punch the puck back through the neutral zone, where Eric Fruen chased it down behind the trailing defense.  Fruen moved in on the breakaway and lifted a backhand shot over the goalie's shoulder, drawing first blood for the Blackahwks.  With that, it looked like another rout might be in the making.  But Valencia did what they needed to do, responding quickly with a rebound goal on a 2-on-2 rush at 10:43 to knot the game at 1-1.  At 9:57, Valencia earned the first power play of the contest.  They were unable to generate much of a threat and the power play expired early when the Express were whistled for a two-minute minor at 8:49.  With the teams skating four-on-four, Willie Matthews came up with two big saves near the 8:20 mark, the second of which he was able to cover.  The Blackhawks regained their lead on a bang-bang goal from Billy Kiernan at 2:11. After skating into the Valencia zone, Shane Baxley was checked off the puck, but he worked hard to chase it down and poke it into the corner where Billy Kiernan battled for it with two defenders.  Baxley come over to help and in the process he pushed his shadowing defender into the crowd.  Three Express skaters collided and that allowed Kiernan to skate out of the pack with the puck. Kiernan shot it in behind the net and then broke for the crease.  Nick Costa ran down the puck and immediately sent a drop pass out front.  The goaltender was watching the play and he attempted the pokecheck, but the hustling Kiernan got there first, leaving his feet to ram home the one-timer.  At the end of one period of play, Santa Clara held a 2-1 lead and a 14-7 shots-on-goal advantage.

The second period was a scoreless affair, but it wasn't without its moments.  At 13:27, Eric Fruen rang a shot off the post.  Valencia earned their second opportunity to skate on the power play at 12:43.  The penalty-kill unit of Shane Baxley, Nick Costa, Derek Fredericks and Kevin O'Brien took the ice and did the job, gaining icing plays from Costa and Fredericks.  Back at even strength, Willie Matthews was tested at 10:30 on a shot that hit a body and changed directions.  But Matthews responded with cat-like reflexes to get a pad on the shot.  Eric Fruen had another breakaway chance at 9:19, but the Express netminder made a great glove save to rob #9.  Valencia had a golden scoring opportunity of their own denied by Willie Matthews at 7:35.  An Express skater found an open lane and he moved in on Matthews, delivering a series of head fakes.  But Matthews stayed square to the play and he rejected the scoring chance.  Next to be denied was Kyle Nunn.  Getting a step on the defense, Nunn came in on a breakaway, but these goaltenders were matching saves, save-for-save, and this time it was Valencia's turn to come up with the big-time denial.  The last good chance of the period belonged to the Express.  A Blackhawks' giveaway turned into a near breakaway for the Express at 1:50, but Chase Brevoort made a body-stretching dive to break up the play.  The clock wound down and the second period went into the books with the Blackhawks still clinging to a 2-1 lead.

Santa Clara opened the final period with a fresh ice cut, and they used the frozen glass to their advantage just as they had to open the game, with a quick strike.  The sequence started with nice a forecheck by Mitch Venosta to chip out a puck that the Express had controlled behind their own net.  The turnover drifted out to Patrick Castagna, who collected it and moved into the corner before spotting Venosta with a pass behind the Express net.  Venosta attempted to bring the puck out front, but the goalie poke-checked it back towards the corner. Castagna retrieved it there and immediately sent a centering feed out to Venosta, who one-timed it just inside the post, but the Valencia goalie had the corner covered and he made the toe save, sending the puck back behind the net.  Venosta kept working, chasing the biscuit down along the side boards and passing back to Castagna who was camped at the side of the net.  Castagna delivered a centering feed that was blocked right back at him, so he took a shot at the net himself.  The shot was saved, but the loose change dropped to the ice and Kyle Yedlicka wasted no time making the deposit, slipping the rubber rebound into the safe deposit box.  That gave the Blackhawks a two-goal cushion at 14:10.  But the insurance goal was a short-term policy that expired 2:14 later when Valencia scored on the power play.  With his back to the net, a Valencia player in the slot took a centering feed from the side boards, and he shot as he spun around towards the net.  It was a hard-to-read delivery and it twisted the twine at 11:56.  Santa Clara's best chance to regain their two-goal advantage came at 7:05, but the Express netminder delivered a goal-denying kick save on Mitch Venosta.  The Blackhawks' defense had pretty much shut down the Express for most of the third period, but with the game on the line, Valencia began to get the puck in on Willie Matthews.  At 1:37, Matthews stopped a hard slapshot, but the rebound spun off to the open side of the net, where garbage collectors love to live.  It took a lightning-quick, side-to-side move by Matthews to deny the rebound shot, and that's exactly what he delivered.  Matthews then came up with two more huge saves at 1:14, after a blind centering pass from the side boards hit a Valencia skater on the tape for a point-blank one-timer.  Matthews delivered the first save and then he stuck with the short rebound and stuffed and held the follow-up effort.  But the Blackhawks were forced to take a penalty on the play and that gave the Express 1:11 of power play time in which to score.  A big face-off win by Patrick Castagna followed, and that allowed Shaun Pienkos to ice the puck.  The Hawks did a nice job to pester the power play unit, but they eventually got off a good-look slapshot at 0:25 that was held by Matthews.  That was the last shot that the Express would get as the final seconds ticked off the clock, securing the CAHA championship banner for the Santa Clara Blackhawks.

With the victory, Santa Clara claims its second straight Midget-A CAHA championship.  It was a collective effort from a talented and determined group of young men.  And while a number of Hawks players are aging out of the Midget Division, there is still a solid nucleus of talent left to carry the torch.  How about a three-peat, Hal?

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BLACKHAWKS - 3,  Valencia, 2

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BOX SCORE

TEAMS	1st	2nd	3rd	TOTAL
Valencia	1	0	1	2
Blackhawks	2	0	1	3

Scoring Summary

First Period
Scoring:  1, Blackhawks, Fruen 4 (Wong, O'Brien), 13:30.  2, Valencia, Dufresne (Barrett), 10:43.  3, Blackhawks, Kiernan 1 (Costa, Baxley), 2:11.  Penalties:  Pienkos, Santa Clara (interference), 9:57;  Hixon, Valencia (slashing), 8:49;  Rice, Valencia (tripping), 0:25.

Second Period
Scoring:  None.  Penalties:  Pienkos, Santa Clara (interference), 12:43;  Fredericks, Santa Clara (head contact), 8:06;  Wright, Valencia (roughing), 8:06;  Wong, Santa Clara (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:00;  Hixon, Valencia (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:00;  Wright, Valencia (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:00.  McCarty, Valencia (holding), 1:10;  Baxley, Santa Clara (roughing), 1:10.  ,

Third Period
Scoring:  4, Blackhawks, Yedlicka 3 (Castagna, Venosta), 14:10.  5, Valencia, Mersola (Barrett, Wright), 11:56 (pp). Penalties:  Castagna, Santa Clara (hooking), 13:31;  McCarty, Valencia (roughing), 5:12;  S. Barrett, Valencia (10:00 misconduct), 3:28;  Brevoort, Santa Clara (holding), 1:11;  McCarty, Valencia (double-minor, roughing & unsportsmanlike conduct and 10:00 misconduct), 0:15;  Castagna, Santa Clara (holding), 0:15.

 SHOTS ON GOAL

Valencia	7	8	10	--25
Santa Clara	14	12	12	--38

Power-play Conversions:  Santa Clara -0 of 4;  Valencia - 1 of 4.  Goalies:  Santa Clara, Matthews (23 shots, 21 saves; record 3-0-0).  Valencia, Tartaglia  (38 shots, 35 saves).

Plus/Minus:  +2(Fredericks); +1(Baxley, Brevoort, Costa, Kiernan, Nunn, Pienkos, Venosta, Wong); even(Castagna, Draper, Fruen, Holt, O'Brien, Yedlicka);  DNP(Hernandez).

Hits:  3(O'Brien); 2(Wong); 1(Baxley, Castagna, Fruen).

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     Three Stars Of the Game

Billy Kiernan - Works his tail off every second and it paid off in spades when he scored the biggest goal in the biggest game.

Kyle Yedlicka - At both ends of the ice, he has been a star in the playoffs and today he bagged the third-period, game winner.

Willie Matthews - Played huge when it mattered most, making five spectacular stops in the final 1:37 to save it for the Hawks.

CAHA Playoffs

SANTA CLARA BLACKHAWKS

SAN JOSE JR. SHARKS

BAKERSFIELD DRAGONS

VALENCIA EXPRESS

SANTA CLARA BLACKHAWKS

SAN JOSE JR. SHARKS

OAKLAND BEARS

TRI-VALLEY BLUE DEVILS

FINAL REGULAR SEASON RECORD

GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GFA	GAA
18	13	4	1	27	81	45	4.50	2.50

PRESEASON & EXHIBITION RECORD

GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GFA	GAA
8	5	3	0	12	30	20	3.75	2.50

2004-2005 TOURNAMENTS

GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GFA	GAA
19	16	2	1	33	78	30	4.11	1.58

Presidents' Day Invitational

Date	Time	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result
18-Feb-05	10:50 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		New Mexico	W, 5-2
19-Feb-05	12:35 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		@ Houston	W, 2-0
20-Feb-05	11:10 AM	Polar Bears  Invitational		@ Utah	T, 1-1
20-Feb-05	7:10 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		Chandler	W, 6-2
21-Feb-05	12:50 PM	Polar Bears  Invitational		Chandler	L, 3-5

Silver Stick Invitational

5th Annual  THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

SANTA CLARA BLACKHAWKS

INLAND VALLEY WILD

SAN DIEGO GULLS

GRAND FORKS BC TITANS

Date	Time	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result
26-Nov-04	9:00 PM	Thanksgiving Celebration		Grand Forks	W, 8-2
27-Nov-04	9:15 AM	Thanksgiving Celebration		Inland Valley	W, 1-0
27-Nov-04	3:15 PM	Thanksgiving Celebration		@ San Diego	W, 6-0
28-Nov-04	1:30 PM	Thanksgiving Celebration		Inland Valley	W, 4-2

End of Summer Hockey Fest

Click score under "Result" column for a write-up of each game

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BLACKHAWKS MIDGET-A INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Click on Players' Name for his Bio

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        Goaltenders 

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BLACKHAWKS MIDGET-A TEAM STATISTICS

2004-05 Final Regular Season Standings

NORCAL Midget-A	Record	Points
Oakland Bears	16-2-0	32
BLACKHAWKS A1	13-4-1	27
San Jose Jr. Sharks	11-6-1	23
Tri-Valley Blue Devils	7-9-2	16
California Cougars	7-10-1	14
Fresno Jr. Falcons	6-12-0	12
Santa Clara A2	0-17-1	1

This Link will take you to a full list NORCAL scores to date

NORCAL Playoff Schedule/Results from 4/1-4/3	CAHA Playoff Schedule/Results from 4/8-4/10

Upcoming Action.... The NORCAL Midget-A  Champion Santa Clara Blackhawks are looking forward to SUMMER VACATION!!

Coaches and Team Support

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Coaches:

Head Coach - Hal Nunn  -   hcoachn@aol.com

Assistant Coach - Bill Fruen  -  fruen@lsil.com

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UPCOMING PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Day/Date	Day	Time	Type	Place
-	-	NONE SCHEDULED	-	-

Practice times are scheduled but are always subject to change - check back often!

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Hockey, Hockey, Hockey, Hockey, Hockey all the Time

Blackhawks Page	NORCAL Jr. Hockey	SCAHA Hockey	ESPN Zone	CAHA	USA Hockey	SJ Sharks

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Updated April 10, 2005

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