Page 64 April 2014 ARCADIA SPORTS By Nicholas Smith As the championship game wound down to under a minute left, the Arcadia Titans held a one goal lead on highly favored Boulder Creek. Out of options and running out of time, Boulder Creek pulled their goalie and threw an all out offensive assault at the Titans, desperate for the goal that would save their season. To say the parent section was nervous would be an understatement. “So many friends and family showed up for this game,” said Catherine Allison, whose son Elliot is the team goalie. “We all could barely watch in that last minute.” Tara Zermeno agreed. “We were all so Commitment to dream brings championship to Arcadia nervous in those final moments,” she said. But one person who was not nervous in those final moments was head coach Jim Rogers. “I used to get nervous but not anymore,” Rogers said when asked. “I was just focused in that moment, making sure we played our game for one more minute.” The story of Arcadia hockey’s journey to this moment actually began in 1980, when Arcadia sophomore Jim Rogers began working at the nearby ice rink. “I played all kinds of sports growing up,” Rogers said. “But I fell in love with hockey from working at the rink.” Although his high school had no hockey team, Rogers was determined to change that. He spoke to several people at Arcadia while still a student and was bluntly told that wasn’t going to happen. “Basically they just said they didn’t have the money,” he said. “I told everyone I was going to bring hockey to Arcadia High School and they told me good luck.” Thirty years later, Rogers’ dream is a reality. He coaches the Arcadia Titans, a team made up of students from Arcadia High School and some other surrounding schools. “Jim is exactly the kind of coach you want for your kids,” Tara Zermeno said. “He’s someone who loves the sport and genuinely cares about the players.” The team was put together three years ago. Although stacked with talented players the past two seasons, the team failed to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a Division 2 championship. “The team made it to the championship two years ago and lost to Boulder Creek,” said Catherine Allison. “Last year they lost earlier in the playoffs.” This year’s team may not have had the same individual talent that the past two teams had, but Rogers didn’t believe that would prevent them from accomplishing their goal. “We focused all year long on playing our game, staying out of the penalty box, and 2902 N. 68th St. 480-773-7706 giantscottsdale.com (NW corner of 68th st. and thomas) youth bikes lifestyle bikes mountain bikes road bikes accessories they say nothing is certain except death and taxes... we beg to differ. take the sting out of april 15th with our tax free sale 4/1/14 through 4/30/14 storewide! C C Continued on page 65 Part of the AHS Division 2 Championship Hockey Team: Coach Jim Rogers and the Zermeno siblings, Madyson, Zander and Niko.

Page 65 April 2014 ARCADIA SPORTS LOOK BETTER - FEEL BETTER The Pilates Body ARCADIA STUDIO 4422 E. Indian School ● 602-538-5686 CENTRAL PHOENIX STUDIO 742 E. Glendale Ave. ● 602-296-4649 www.thepilatesbodyaz.com Specializing in: ● Healthy lifestyle changes ● Corrective exercise “Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness” -Joseph Pilates WEEKLY SUMMER CAMPS! Full and half days starting June 3 Open jump, art, games, gymnastics and surprise visits by the Phoenix Suns’ Gorilla! 602-277-0067 1515 E. Bethany Home Road www.flipdunksports.com Commitment Continued from page 64 just playing as a unit,” he said. “We may have had more talent the last two years but this year we were better as a team.” The team was led by a solid group of seniors, including Brendan Burke, Charlie La Barr, Zander Zermeno, Forest Mohler, Matt Baniszewski, and Raymond Rowe. The team also had one girl, Madyson Zermeno. “She loved it,” said her mother Tara. “She loves Jim. She doesn’t want to play for anyone else.” She may have been the only girl, but Madyson was definitely tough enough to hang with the boys, according to her coach. “She’s a tough one and a really good player,” Rogers said. “Plus she has two brothers on the team, so anytime anyone touched her they were going to get it from them.” The team made it all the way to the championship game, where their old nemesis Boulder Creek was waiting. Boulder Creek was highly favored but the underdog status didn’t scare the Titans. “Anybody can be beaten on any given day,” Rogers said. “Years of coaching taught me that.” The defensive presence of Arcadia stunned Boulder Creek, who was held scoreless going into the third period. But then they began to mount a comeback, which Arcadia answered. Back and forth the teams battled, as the clock ticked down on the championship game. Making the difference for Arcadia would be goalie Elliot Allison, who saved an astounding 39 shots on 41 attempts. “There was one play where Boulder Creek had a two on none breakaway,” Tara Zermeno remembered. “And Elliot made the save anyway. He had an incredible game.” Down 3-2 with a minute to go, Boulder Creek cleared the net for a desperation attempt at a game-tying goal. But Arcadia took control of the puck and scored into the empty net, sealing their championship. The arena was complete jubilation after the game. Parents cried, players hugged each other and laughed. “I was in total shock,” said Catherine Allison. “The happiest people were those seniors, who had worked so hard to get there.” Bryce Kerr scored two goals for Arcadia, with Charlie LaBarr and Raymond Rowe each adding another. Allison noted that one factor that helped the Titans were the amount of Arcadia fans that came out to the rink. “There was an entire section of Arcadia students there to watch the team,” she said. A team, a championship, and a passionate group of fans. Thirty years after being told Arcadia would never have a hockey team, Jim Rogers seems to have proved his doubters wrong.