With nationals in rearview mirror, WCRHL set to face off 2023-24 inline season

BY PHILLIP BRENTS

The Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League (WCRHL) continues to represent scholastic inline hockey at a high level of competition throughout its California and Arizona membership.

The WCRHL faced off its newest season with an Oct. 14 preseason event at Irvine Inline in Southern California. Seven teams participated, including Grand Canyon University in Division 1, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and University of Arizona in Division 2, Cal Poly Pomona in Division 3 and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona and University of Arizona in the development AA Division.

Grand Canyon University finished 3-0-1 in its four games against Division 2 and Division 3 competition while Arizona’s Division 2 team finished 2-1-1 in games against WCRHL inter-divisional teams. Pomona’s Division 3 team finished 2-2. Arizona’s AA Division team finished 3-0 against intra-divisional foes and 3-1 overall.

The alignment for the 2023-24 season includes Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University in Division 1, Cal Poly SLO, CSU Fullerton and Arizona in Division 2 and UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly Pomona, San Jose State and Northern Arizona University in Division 3. The AA Division is the largest, consisting of ASU, GCU, U-of-A, Cal Poly SLO and Pomona.

Plans are to field a Junior College Division following recruiting interest from Saddleback College and Orange Coast College.

“The upcoming season will be very similar to the last, except we are changing a couple of our event locations,” WCRHL director Brennan Edwards said. “Fall semester we will be doing the preseason event at Irvine, with regular season events in Corona, Tucson and San Jose. The Barney Family Sports Complex in Queen Creek, Ariz. is closing, so we are moving our spring semester Phoenix area event over to Peoria Sportsplex.

“Also in the spring we will have a Corona event, and we will be doing one more spring event at the Central Coast Sports Arena in Santa Maria. The Peoria event will be billed as an inter-conference event with the hopes to host three to four teams from outside of the WCRHL.

“Grand Canyon is adding a second team this season, which will compete against Arizona State, Arizona, CSU Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona in the AA division. All other teams/divisions remain the same.”

The upcoming puck drop on the 2023-24 season follows a very successful national championship tournament held April 19-24 in Irvine. California and Arizona collegiate inline teams seem to have impressed the rankings makers.

Arizona State tied Bethel University for second place among the nation’s Division 1 teams in the NCRHA preseason coaches poll while Arizona was ranked fifth, Fullerton seventh and Cal Poly SLO 13th among Division 2 teams. Santa

Barbara was ranked 10th in Division 3 while Arizona was tied with Lindenwood Black for third place among AA Division teams while ASU was fifth.

The WCRHL’s annual kick-off event is slated Nov. 4-5 at Corona Inline. Two regular season events are scheduled Nov. 18 – one each at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose and the Tucson Indoor Sports Center in Arizona.

Corona Inline will host an additional regular season event Jan. 20-21 while the Central Coast Sports Arena in Santa Maria will host a regular season event on Feb. 10. Arizona’s Peoria Sportsplex will host a WCRHL inter-conference event on Feb. 17.

The WCRHL conference championships are scheduled March 2-3 in Corona. The 2024 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships are scheduled April 17-21 at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn, Maine.

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA) was extended the unique invitation to enter a NCRHA All-American team of current collegiate roller hockey players to compete in South American Inline Hockey Invitational Nov. 15-19 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Besides the NCRHA All-American team, national and national-caliber teams from Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and Argentina will be participating in the event, which is being hosted by the Confederacao Brasileira de Hoquei e Patinacao (Brazilian Hockey and Skating Confederation).

The event will be held at the Centro Esportivo do Trabalhador (CET) in Amparo, Sao Paulo and features a 152-foot by 79-foot rink with a new Stilmat floor.

Team selection was handled through an application process. The lineup is peppered with six WCRHL players – or half the team. Forwards include GCU junior Dylan Guy, GCU senior Aydin Schwetz, Santa Barbara graduate student Brad Price and Cal Poly SLO’s Ethan Vernik. Defensemen include GCU sophomore McKenna Cooper and ASU senior Jacob Crayne.

Th 2023 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, the 23rd overall, featured 46 teams in five divisions – Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, AA Division and Junior College. Eleven WCRHL teams participated.

WCRHL teams scored their share of respect – and success.

Arizona State University (semifinals) and Grand Canyon University (quarterfinals) competed in the powerhouse Division 1 field while CSU Fullerton (Round of 16 playoffs), University of Arizona (quarterfinals) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Round of 16) participated in the highly competitive Division 2 field.

Cal Poly Pomona (Round of 16), San Jose State (Round of 16) and UC Santa Barbara (quarterfinals) took part in the Division 3 field, the largest in the tournament, while Arizona finished as the runner-up in the AA Division championship game while ASU and Fullerton both advanced to the quarterfinals in the division.