Nat'ls 2007

Tier I - 16U Midget Minor: Shattuck - 5, Alliance – 1: The Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA Bulldogs made it as far as only 2 other Bulldog teams had previously, but the ride ended abruptly against Shattuck St. Mary's in the Semi-Finals of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships. As a result, Alliance players will proudly take their Bronze Medals and head for home looking toward next year. Shattuck rode the strength of 2 power play goals to take a 3-1 lead after one period of play, added another man advantage tally in the 2nd for good measure, and topped it off with a even strength goal in the final frame for the win.

The 2006-2007 Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA team becomes the 3rd Bulldog team to win a Bronze Medal at Nationals, joining the 2003-2004 12U PeeWee and 14U Bantams, and are the first Alliance 16U team to do so. These Bulldogs end an impressive season in which they won 4 tournaments and registered an outstanding 46-9-4 season record. Congratulations to Head Coach Chris Kostopoulos and the boys on a great season!

Tier I - 16U Midget Minor: Alliance – 5, Little Caesars - 0: The Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA Bulldogs came to play early Saturday morning, and the #5 Ranked Detroit Little Caesars paid the price, as Alliance rolled to a 5-0 shutout win to advance to the Semi-Finals of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the contest, the Bulldogs opened it up with 3 more in the 2nd period to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the final frame. Alliance will now face Shattuck St. Mary's, a 2-1 winner over the LA Selects in their Quarter-Final match-up. Semi-Final game time is Saturday afternoon at 4:45pm EST.

Tier II - 18U Midget Major: Michigan - 6, Alliance – 2: After a deep and successful run late into the season, the 18U Midget Major Prep Bulldogs had it come to an end on Saturday afternoon, as they fell to the Michigan Jaguars in the Quarter-Finals of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships in Fraser, Michigan. The Jaguars went on the beat the Mid-Fairfield Blues in the Semis and the Phoenix Force in the Final to capture the National Championship.

The Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead in the 1st period, but were unable to hold back the Jaguars, who then raced out to a 4-1 lead in the 2nd period before Alliance would bring it to 4-2 in the 3rd. For many of the high school seniors on the team, it was their last youth hockey game as they head off to college in the fall, and Alliance will publish more information about those players early next week.

After 7 months of thousands of teams playing hockey all across the United States and North Texas, it’s the last weekend of the season, and there are still 4 Alliance Bulldog squads playing, each with a chance to bring home a title.

To see the times, locations, opponents, and results as they become available, you can go to the “Weekend Games” tab at the top of the Alliance web site, or click HERE…

Tier I - 16U Midget Minor: Starting off with 2 good wins in Games 1 & 2, the Bulldogs were reminded in Game 3 how good the competition is as they move into the playoffs at the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships. With a National Ranking of #6 by USHSHO, the Bulldogs still know that 4 of the 5 teams ranked above them are also playing in the Quarter-Finals, including Detroit Little Caesars, who they play at 10:00am on Saturday.

Tier II - 18U Midget Major: After a slow start on Wednesday and an outright bad day on Thursday, the 18U Midget Major Prep Bulldogs appear to be gathering their feet back underneath themselves for the stretch run of single elimination play at the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships. The games played prior to today now mean nothing, and as all teams are good at this point, it’s anybody’s guess as to who will move on into the Semi-Finals on Saturday night. Alliance will face another unfamiliar foe at 12:00 noon, when they square off against the Michigan Jaguars.

Tier I - 16U Midget Minor: LA Select - 2, Alliance – 1: The Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA Bulldogs played the LA Selects for the 4th time this year, and again it was a tight one, with the Selects coming out on top this time. With both teams already assured of a berth into the Quarter-Finals of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships, the only thing at stake was who would get the #1 Seed. The Bulldogs will go into Saturday's 10:00am game as the #3 Seed from the National Conference, and will play the #2 Seed from the American Conference, Detroit Little Caesars.

Alliance 16UAAA forward Dylan Rupar represented the Bulldogs in the Easton Skills Competition, and came away as the winner in the 16U Tier I Division in the Fastest Skater event with a time of 15.03 seconds. Congratulations Dylan!

Tier II - 18U Midget Major: Alliance – 3, San Jose - 1: The Alliance 18U Midget Major Prep Bulldogs put together a complete game for the first time this week, and the result was a nice 3-1 win over the San Jose Jr. Sharks and a berth into the Quarter-Finals of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships in Fraser, Michigan. The Bulldogs will go into Saturday's 12:00 noon game as the #4 Seed from the National Conference, and will play the #1 Seed Michigan Jaguars from the American Conference. Michigan won all 3 of their pool games by out-scoring their opponents 12 to 3.

Alliance 18U Prep forward Nick Lazorko represented the Bulldogs in the Easton Skills Competition, and came away as the winner in the 18U Tier II Division in both the Fastest Skater with a time of 15.9 seconds, and the Puck Relay event with a time of 18.3 seconds. Congratulations Nick!

Tier I - 16U Midget Minor: Alliance – 5, S. Conn. Stars - 2: The Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period, extended it to 3-0 before the Southern Connecticut Stars closed the gap to 3-2 after 2 periods, and then put the game away with 2 more goals in the final frame for a 5-2 win in Game 2 of pool play today at the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships in Fraser, Michigan.

It looked like Alliance might just cruise to their 2nd straight win, but the Stars battled back in the 2nd period to keep it a game. Both teams battled close in the 3rd period, before the Bulldogs would put the game away with 2 goals 12 seconds apart late in the final period to go to 2 regulation wins, no losses, and 6 points in the National Conference Liberty Division standings.

The Bulldogs play Game 3 tomorrow at 12:30pm against the LA Selects, the Pacific District Champions. The 2 teams have played 3 times this year, resulting in a 1-1-1 record for both teams.

Tier II - 18U Midget Major: Mid-Fairfield - 5, Alliance – 0: The Alliance 18U Midget Major Prep visited the penalty box early and often, and the results were ugly, as the Mid-Fairfield Blues used their skill on the man advantage to jump out to a 1st period 2-0 lead and cruised to a shutout win in Game 2 of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships in Fraser, Michigan early Thursday. morning.

Alliance is still in contention for a Quarter-Final berth, but will have to get into the win column on Friday morning at 8:00am, when they play Game 3 against the San Jose Jr. Sharks, Pacific District Champions. The Bulldogs have faced the Sharks at Nationals before, when at the 2004 National Championships, San Jose eliminated Alliance in the Semi-Finals of the Tier II 14U Division. There are 3 players from Alliance and 2 players from San Jose playing on Friday that played in that 2004 game.

Tier I - 16U Midget Minor: Alliance – 6, Team Wisconsin - 4: After a tight opening frame that ended tied 2-2, the Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA Bulldogs opened it up on Team Wisconsin and then held off a late rally to come away with the win in Game 1 of pool play today at the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships in Fraser, Michigan.

Alliance dominated the second period, out-shooting the Central District Champions 14 to 2, and took a 4-2 lead into the final period. After Wisconsin closed a 5-3 Bulldog lead to within 1 with just over 3 minutes left, Alliance would add an empty-netter in the final minute for the 6-4 final score.

The Bulldogs play Game 2 tomorrow at 10:15am against the Southern Connecticut Stars, the New England District Champions.

Tier II - 18U Midget Major: Phoenix Force - 3, Alliance – 2 (OT): The Alliance 18U Midget Major Prep started slow and were outplayed in the 1st period by the Phoenix Force, but came back to even things up in the second, and it was anybody's game until the Force tallied the game-winner with just under 2 minutes left in overtime in Game 1 of the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships in Fraser, Michigan.

One positive of the overtime loss is that the Bulldogs will get 1 point in the standings for extending the game past regulation, which could come in handy when the playoff spots are determined on Friday. Alliance will try to get into the win column on Thursday morning at 8:00am, when they play Game 2 against the Mid-Fairfield Blues, the New England District Champions.

The Major Preps will start off at 12:30pm with the Phoenix Force from Milwaukee, Wisconsin - also Central District Champions. The Force is a program that offers players committed to their Wisconsin high school teams a competitive AAA fall schedule prior to the HS season. Force players come from 15 different high school teams in southeast Wisconsin.

Results from Alliance games this week and weekend will be posted to the Alliance "Weekend Games" page (see tab at top of page). Box scores, standings, and results will be posted continuously at the USA Hockey National Championships web site.

The Alliance 16U Midget Minor AAA and 18U Midget Major Prep teams are headed to Fraser, Michigan today, to compete in the 2007 USA Hockey National Championships which begin tomorrow March 28th. Alliance returns to the National Championships after a 1 year absence, making this the 3rd Nationals appearance for the Alliance organization in the last 4 years, including a total of seven (7) Bulldog teams.

This year, the format will be a "Super" National, as all midgets 16U & 18U, both Tier I and II, will all be playing at the same venue. This will allow for all the junior, college, and professional scouts & coaches to see all the prospective players in one location.

In addition to some really good hockey teams playing some great competition, there are also other activities happening during the Championships, including Opening Ceremonies, Host Hospitality Events, and the popular Easton Skills Competition. The 2007 Championships are presented by Easton Sports, will feature a range of competition to test the skill of players from teams participating in this year's tournaments. Individual skaters and goaltenders will compete in four events at various times throughout the tournament. For information about the events, click HERE...

Tell your friends and family at home who couldn’t make the trip to LISTEN LIVE ONLINE. Select games of the 2007 Nationals will be streamed live on usahockey.com.

All the selected game action from the Great Lakes Sports City facility in Fraser, Michigan will be brought to you live by USA Hockey announcer Dave Collins.

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