The Inland Empire Tournament Series’ fourth and final event of the 2023-24 season, the IE Presidents Day Open, ran Feb. 16-19 with more than 80 teams competing at LA Kings Icetown Riverside and Ontario Center Ice.

A total of 15 teams brought home championship banners at the conclusion of the exciting weekend.

8U Bronze (pictured above)
Champion: Las Vegas Ice Warriors 1
Runner-up: Las Vegas Ice Warriors 2
MVP: Jackson Beltram
In a battle of two teams from the same program, the Vegas 1 team downed the Vegas 2 team by a 6-2 count to bring home the division title.

8U Silver
Champion: Mission AZ
Runner-up: Stockton Colts
MVP: Miles Regnier
The Mission AZ offense was on full display as the squad defeated the Stockton Colts 8-1 to bring home the championship banner.

8U Gold
Champion: Los Angeles Jr. Kings
Runner-up: Jr. Reign Riverside
MVP: Andrew Sharma
The Jr. Kings scored early and often, taking an 8-1 win over the Jr. Reign for the division championship.

10U Bronze
Champion: Mission AZ
Runner-up: San Jose Jr. Sharks
MVP: Avery Burton
Mission AZ took the title with a 4-1 win over the San Jose Jr. Sharks on the strength of two goals from Colin Moore and singles from Avery Burton and Ryder Smith. Ryder Wareham netted the lone goal for the Jr. Sharks.

10U Silver
Champion: Stockton Colts
Runner-up: Jr. Reign Riverside
MVP: Carter Sanders
Carter Sanders and Roman Voylov each scored twice to lead the Stockton Colts to a 5-4 win over the Jr. Reign. Nicholas Vanyushkin also scored in the win. For the Jr. Reign, Hunter Jackson netted a pair of goals and Parker Quisenberry and Brody Estes scored one each. Jaydon Ashton chipped in two assists.

10U Gold
Champion: Mission AZ Red
Runner-up: Goldrush A2
MVP: Colin Rituper
In a closely contested game, Mission AZ secured the title with a 5-3 win over the Goldrush A2 team.

12U Bronze
Champion: Mission AZ White
Runner-up: San Francisco Sabercats
MVP: Kason Stewart
This back-and-forth game saw the Mission AZ White team come out on top with a 5-4 win over the San Francisco Sabercats. Gianni Tumbarello and UD Elston IV each had a goal and an assist, while Beckham Brainard, Kason Stewart and Gunnar Frazee scored one each. Edgar Louis scored two goals for the Sabercats, Alexander Krepkiy had a goal and two assists, and Koa McGoldrick added a goal with an assist.

12U Silver
Champion: Stockton Colts
Runner-up: Goldrush
MVP: Johnny Longo
The Stockton Colts showed off their balanced offense and won the division title with a 5-1 win over the Goldrush.

12U Gold
Champion: Jr. Reign Riverside
Runner-up: California Heat
MVP: Hamilton Barrett
Gavin Ordaz collected a hat trick to lead the Jr. Reign to a championship banner with a 5-2 win over the California Heat. Enzo Buscaglia and Shane Scott also scored and Trevor Lester contributed three assists. Jayden Kehrier finished with 21 saves in goal. Connor Mitchell and Enzo Serrano scored for the Heat and Parker Slaten was sharp in goal.

14U Bronze
Champion: Las Vegas Ice Warriors
Runner-up: Jr. Reign Carlsbad
MVP: Cash Johnson
Paymon Shahrestani scored two goals and Cash Johnson pitched the shutout in goal to lead the Ice Warriors to a 5-0 win over the Jr. Reign to bring home the championship banner. Brayden Schuebel, Luca Stoppa and Kyle Diaz also scored.

14U Silver
Champion: Las Vegas Ice Warriors
Runner-up: SDIA Oilers
MVP: Liam Bartlett
The Las Vegas Ice Warriors brought home another banner after doubling up the SDIA Oilers 4-2 to win it all.

14U Gold
Champion: Littleton Hawks
Runner-up: Los Angeles Jr. Kings
MVP: Ben Purchase
Logan Chang scored twice and Lucas Jordan made 17 saves in goal to guide the Littleton Hawks to a 6-2 championship win over the Los Angeles Jr. Kings. Christian Romine added a goal and two assists, and Ben Purchase, Christian Caby and Jonah Frum each registered a goal with an assist. RJ Mitchell and Maksim Tkachenko scored for the Jr. Kings and Weston Brough and Hunter Nord combined to stop 30 shots between the pipes.

High School Bronze
Champion: Bishop Broncos
Runner-up: Las Vegas Ice Warriors
MVP: Birch Ray
Birch Ray stopped all 18 shots he faced in goal to lead the Bishop Broncos to a 4-0 title victory over the Las Vegas Ice Warriors. Kobe Carpenter scored two goals, Aiden Scott tacked on a goal and an assist, and Brayden Morley also scored. Lincoln Noahr stopped 16 shots in net for the Ice Warriors.

High School Silver
Champion: Las Vegas Ice Warriors
Runner-up: Santa Clarita Flyers
MVP: Jackson Burgess
The Ice Warriors used two goals and an assist from Dominic Messa and 24 saves in goal from Jackson Burgess to take the division crown with a 3-1 win over the Santa Clarita Flyers. Zachary Machado-Welch also scored for Vegas. Kolsen Miller scored for the Flyers and Jacob Lundohl finished with 27 saves between the pipes.

High School Gold
Champion: Jr. Reign 18U
Runner-up: Capistrano Coyotes
MVP: Carson McDonald
Troy Smith’s two goals helped lead the Jr. Reign to a 4-1 win over the Capistrano Coyotes to bring home the banner. Ethan Dang and Jeremy Loosemore each had a goal and an assist in the win, while Nicholai Rubio earned the win in net. For Capistrano, Caden Taylor played well in goal.

Registration is now open for Monarchy Hockey spring hockey events at www.monarchyicehockey.com/tournaments.

Photos/Jr. Reign Hockey Club

— Matt Mackinder

(March 5, 2024)