93 Elites Fall Short(handed) in Tier-1 Regional Finals2009-11-09
Mid Fairfield too much for the banged-up Spartans in the finals.
Due to injuries, illness and family commitments, the Seacoast Spartans 93 Midget Minor team started the USA Hockey Tier-1 Regional tournament with 9 skaters. By Sunday morning's semi final match-up against a very strong Connecticut Clippers team, they were down to 8 skaters. Exhausted, beat-up, their season on the line, and with virtually everyone other than the Spartans faithful thinking they had no chance, all the 93 Elites did was shut out the Clippers 4-0 to advance to the Regional Finals. Unfortunately, their reward was a Regional Final game against a loaded and relatively rested Mid Fairfield team and the Spartans 93 magic ran out resulting in a 12-2 loss.
Simply making it to the finals was a feat. Playing three, 51-minute games in less than twenty-four hours against very strong competition with nine skaters and then finding a way to pull off the semi final win was amazing. The 93s lost their opening game on Friday night to Mid Fairfield 8-2, beat the Rhode Island Saints 6-3 Saturday morning and lost to the Clippers 5-3 Saturday late afternoon to complete the round robin portion of the tournament. They finished as the 3rd-place seed with the Clippers ranking #2. Mid Fairfield downed the Rhode Island Saints 4-0 in the other semi final game.
Chad Garland and Dylan Palmer played outstanding all weekend in goal for the Spartans. The nine skaters should also be commended for their relentless effort all weekend and include: Chad Cole, Jordan Haskell, Kyle Lajeunesse, Robert McCormick, Nick Miller, Ian Rodden, Michael St. Denis, Shane Sullivan, and Christian Wolter. Other members of the State Championship team that did not participate in the regional tournament are: David Horan (family passing), CJ Maksut (mono), Conor Merrill (hamstring surgery), and Nick Pandelena.
The Seacoast Spartans 94 Elite team also participated in the same Midget Minor Regional Tournament but found the older teams too much to handle. Having to play three of the top four teams in the round-robin the all first-year Spartans midget team battled but just were out matched. The 94 Elites lost to the Rhode Island Saints 5-1, Connecticut Clippers 8-2 and Mid Fairfield 7-0. The 94 Elite team had an outstanding season finishing in second place in the NH State League 93 (U-16) Division only behind our 93s. They advanced to the State Finals losing to the Spartans 93s but earned a bid to the New England Regionals as the NH #2 team.
The Spartans 91 Elite team was the third Spartans midget team advancing to the USA Hockey Tier-1 Regionals participating in the U-18 Division. The regional field was outstanding at the 91 (U-18) Divison and with only five 91s and fourteen 92s on the Spartans team, most teams were older and stronger but the Spartans Major team battled and were in every game but the result was an 0-3 record. The Majors lost to Mid Fairfield 8-4, Rhode Island Saints 4-3, and Connecticut Clippers 6-2.
This past weekend will be the last time that many long-time Spartans will play for the organization. The Spartans 91 and 92 teams won every State Tournament possible their major years Squirts through Midget Majors, countless invitational tournaments, and the 91s advanced to the USA Hockey National Championships three times.
Far more important than the number of titles, the players and parents have always represented the Spartans organization in a first-class manner. The Spartans want to thank the players and parents for making the major commitment to play for our organization for so many years, believing in the program and being a huge part in making it what it is today. Collecting the jerseys for the final time on Saturday night was extremely difficult and emotional. Good luck to all of you in the future. You are outstanding people and all these young men will be successful in life. Thank you for everything!
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