Hawks Soar to Back-to-Back Titles!
April 10, 2005

Overshadowed by the Oakland Bears in regular season play, 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 SCAHA-champion, Valencia Express.  Eric Fruen, Billy Kiernan, and Kyle Yedlicka were the goal-scoring heroes in the championship game, but the scoring was spread throughout the line-up, with Santa Clara’s nine points coming from nine 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 Blackhawks got an early jump on the Express when Eric Fruen scored on a top-shelf breakway at the 13:30 mark to draw first blood.  But Valencia responded quickly with a rebound goal on a 2-on-2 rush at 10:43 to knot the game at 1-1.  The Blackhawks regained their lead on a bang-bang goal from Billy Kiernan at 2:11. After three Express skaters collided in the corner, Kiernan shot the puck in behind the net and then broke for the crease.  Nick Costa ran down the loose puck and immediately sent a drop pass out front that Kiernan got to first by going airborne to ram home the one-timer. 

After a tense and scoreless second period, Santa Clara took advantage of a fresh ice cut just as they had to open the game, with a quick strike.  After a Mitch Venosta forecheck resulted in a turnover. Patrick Castagna eventually gained control at the side of the net.  Castagna’s centering feed 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 banged it home at 14:10 to extend the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-1.

The Blackhawks’ insurance goal was a short-term policy that expired 2:14 later when Valencia scored on the power play.  The Blackhawks' defense then tightened up and put the clamps on the Express for most of the rest 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, requiring a lightning-quick, side-to-side move to deny the rebound chance.  Matthews then came up with two more huge saves from point-blank range at 1:14.  But the Blackhawks were forced to take a penalty during that sequence, giving 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 then did a nice job to pester the power play unit and run out the clock to claim their second consecutive, CAHA Midget-A banner.

Santa Clara earned a spot in the championship game by sweeping their opponents in convincing fashion in round-robin play.  The Blackhawks opened the tournament by trouncing this same Valencia club, 8-2.  They followed that victory up by knocking off the Bakersfield Dragons, 4-1.  Santa Clara then avenged their NORCAL championship, overtime shootout loss to the San Jose Jr. Sharks, with a dominating, 8-1 performance.

BOX SCORE:

Note:  This box score has been modified from the “official scoresheet”.  The video was reviewed to confirm shot counts, goals, and assists.  So, these numbers differ from the official score sheet in that they have been corrected.

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

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).