By Mark Wiley
Staff Writer

The Purdue Roller Hockey Club will compete today in the Collegiate Roller Hockey League national tournament, which runs through Sunday in Tampa, Fla.

After placing second in the Midwest region of the Collegiate Roller Hockey League with a record of 18-5-1, Purdue comes into nationals ranked fourth in the nation by College Roller Hockey News. The team lost in the Final Four last year to California Santa-Barbara, which lost to Michigan State in the title game.

"With the experience from last year's nationals, we feel more confident as to what is expected from us this year," player-coach Nick Kasprzyk said. "Last year we used intensity to win games, and we feel that this year should be no different."

In a round-robin tournament not unlike the NCAA tournament, a pool of 32 teams will play first-round games today and Saturday. Saturday and Sunday will consist of the later round games and championship. Michigan State is seeded No. 1.

With the loss of several key players, the Purdue team has benefited from the strong play of six tough freshmen, including defenseman Kurt Wampach. Leading the team in scoring is Matt Muncy, known to his teammates as "Spice," who is second in the Midwest in goals and total points. Boiler Mark Sherman is first in assists.

In other roller hockey news, Purdue's B team finished No. 1 overall as its season ended at a tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., which took place from March 24-26. In the tourney, Purdue defeated Michigan and Michigan State twice to win the title.

In the budding rivalry between the Roller Hockey Club and the Purdue Ice Hockey Club, the roller squad defeated the ice squad 5-4 on ice at Ellenberger Park in Indianapolis on March 4. The Ice Hockey Club was up 3-2, but the Roller Hockey Club scored two clutch goals for the win.

Roller hockey, one of the nation's fastest growing and most fun new sports, is greatly benefiting from the emergence of the college league. This is the second year for the College Roller Hockey League, and next year league games and tournaments will be televised on either ESPN or espn2.

• To follow the progress of the team or roller hockey in general, go to http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~prhc.