Starting four minutes into the game, the Polar Bears blasted goals into the net over and over, making their last home game of the season unforgettable for boisterous SRJC fans in attendence.
After putting up 16 points in their previous game against the San Jose State University Spartans D3 squad, the Polar Bears showed the full extent of the team’s dominance with another lopsided victory of 15-1
Even with a few hiccups to start, the Polar Bears played a fantastic game: knowing the right amount of pressure to put on the Spartan’s defense and grinding out incredible stops at the team’s end of the ice.
Forward Cam Davis led off the offensive frenzy with a shot past the Spartan goalie to bring his point streak up to 10 games.
“The point streak is not something I go out there for,” Davis said. “Every game I try as hard as I can and the points just happen to come up. I put in the effort on and off the ice. I go out there and play smart and it’s been working for me.”
Along with Davis, 16 other Polar Bear players put up points for the night. Alexi Kulikowskiy earned himself a hat trick: two of those goals impressively shot within seconds of each other. Other players who contributed goals included Kurt Jones (2 goals, 2 assists), David Rosefield (1 goal, 2 assists), John Keshishian (1 goal, 1 assist) and Bryan Vrba, whose goal in the second period gained a extra roar of excitement when he raised his glove to the spectators pounding the glass.
While the offense piled up the points, the Polar Bear defense hit their mark on almost every play. Halfway through the first period, the Spartans offense nearly found a hole in the Bears game, but goalie Jacob Fitzpatrick made a fantastic stop to end a San Jose rush.
Only one blemish kept the Polar Bears from perfection. With less than four minutes left in the third period, Spartans forward Ron Gonterman’s shot squeezed past Fitzpatrick to put the Spartans score at one.
“He took a shot on it, and I dropped to my knees, which is a routine play for a goalie, and then the rebound came out and everyone crashed in and the puck ended up in the net,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s one of those goals that you’d like to have back.”
The game against the Spartans’ D3 squad ended as a great confidence booster and workout for the Polar Bears as they get ready for the final game of the regular season. Facing the hard-hitting D2 team of San Jose State Feb. 4, the Polar Bears look to improve the weak spots in their game that have kept them from victory over the D2 team.
This game is also the Polar Bears’ chance to put final touches on their game plan before heading to the American Collegiate Hockey Association Pacific Regional playoffs Feb. 17-18 in Nebraska.
“[This game] it’s gonna be the kind of competition we’ll see when we go to Nebraska. The teams are going to be of the same caliber as the D2 team,” Fitzpatrick said. “So it will be a good test and wake up call, because the last few games weren’t too much of a challenge for us.”
Currently ranked seventh in their division, SRJC will compete with seven other teams for two spots to the National Championship tournament held mid-March in New Jersey. The Pacific Regional is a single-elimination tournament and the Polar Bears hope to come out on top.
Heading to the ACHA tournament is a huge feat for the team, with an equally huge price tag. The team estimates the cost of travel to be around $12,000, which the team is solely responsible for.
The Polar Bears are considered an SRJC club sport, receiving no financial support from the college. For an average out of pocket bill of $40,000 on top of player dues, it’s safe to say the bill for being a winning team is a steep burden.
Fortunately, the Polar Bears’ generous sponsors and the team’s extremely loyal fan base help the club out tremendously.
“We feed off of the local community’s help,” Vrba said. “Without them there would not be a hockey club.”
The team hopes the community will once again pull through at several upcoming fundraising events to help with their playoff expenses.
The Polar Bears will host an all-day dine and donate event from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 30 at Sam’s For Play Cafe located at 2630 Cleveland Ave. in Santa Rosa. The Cafe will donate 15 percent of each diner’s bill to the team’s operations and travel expenses.
In addition to the dine and donate night, the team will host a skate night Feb. 4 at Snoopy’s Home Ice: a public skate will take place from 8:15-10 p.m. followed by a broom ball game from 10-11:30 p.m. The event is open to all ages with the cost running $20 for the public skate and $10 to play broom ball. This event is great for the team to not only raise money but is also a chance to meet and thank the Polar Bear fans.
“I like meeting everyone that comes to our games because they make it awesome,” Vrba said. “I’m absolutely stoked for it [the event].”
The atmosphere Jan. 21 at Snoopy’s Home Ice was positively electric and the team seemed to feed off the intensity in every play. Fans left the rink relishing in their team’s victory and desperately awaiting the return of their beloved Polar Bears next season. And who knows, maybe fans will get to welcome the team back as Pacific Regional Champions, or better yet, National Champions.
To learn more about the Hockey team please visit www.santarosahockey.com
