Jr. Ducks 16U, 18U teams win CAHA Tier I championships
By Chris Bayee
The Jr. Ducks' 16U and 18U AAA teams captured CAHA State Tier 1 championships on Sunday at Great Park Ice.
The 16s defeated the Jr. Ice Dogs, 5-1, in the final, while the 18s edged the Jr. Kings, 2-1, for the title. Both games were rematches of round-robin games, and both Jr. Ducks teams went undefeated at the State tournament.
The 16s and 18s advanced to the Pacific District tournament in San Jose on Feb. 23-26. Win there, and return trips to the USA Hockey Youth Nationals await.
The 16s outscored opponents by a cumulative 36-3 over the weekend. That was a continuation of a regular season in which they went 10-0 in CAHA and finished with a plus-68 goal differential.
The three goals allowed was a direct reflection of the 16s' commitment to playing team defense, coach Alex Kim said. That was even more necessary than usual because goaltender Kyle Pisarcik was injured. As a result, Jack Kavetsky got all four starts.
"He made the saves when he needed to," said Kim, who is also the Jr. Ducks' Director of Player Personnel. "We emphasized that we have to be better on defense, and our defense was really good.
"Not only did they block shots and block lanes, but they led us on offense, too."
Tanner Henricks, Tyler McGowan and Brendan Dunphy brought strong two-way play all season, and each has scored close to or more than 50 points. They're joined by Liam McGuern, Taygen Gilmer and Aidan Callahan.
"All six of our D are really good," Kim added. "We killed penalties with four D because they're such good all-around players."
The 18s had to overcome a series of setbacks in their championship victory. They had two early goals disallowed and were tied with the Jr. Kings at 1 entering the third period. Ameen Ghosheh scored with a little over six minutes left to seal the victory.
Owen Crudale got the victory in net. He and Micah Kawai each played two games over the weekend.
"Both goalies played great," coach August Aiken. "It was nice to see everyone contribute at some point, whether it happened in the championship game or the opening game.
"From making a good hit to create a turnover, to taking a hit to get a puck out, to blocking a shot, everyone contributed."
The 18s outscored foes by a 20-4 margin over the weekend. They also went 10-0 in CAHA, finishing with a plus-46 differential.
Three other Jr. Ducks teams participated in the tournament. The 12U team went 2-2, taking round-robin victories over the Tri-Valley Bulls and California Wave, before falling to the Jr. Kings and to the Bulls in a play-in for the championship game.
The 14U and 15U teams each went 0-3, with the 14s twice losing by a goal.
The Jr. Ducks' AAA teams will head to Blaine, Minn., on Feb. 17-20 for the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League playoffs one weekend before districts.
The triumphs give the Jr. Ducks 13 CAHA Tier I titles since 2015.