08/12/2026
Another great year of Broomfest flew by last weekend. Sabrina and I had such a blast hosting you all and appreciate everyone who came out to make the tournament happen!
First and foremost, a HUGE shout-out is due to our staff for the day. We had another great team of refs (Rob, Tyler, Avery, Conner, and Ben) and scorekeepers (Brian and Jess) who held it down at Goggin from start to finish on Saturday. Thank you all for keeping the tournament safe and running smoothly for everyone who made the trip.
Next, another big thank you to all our participants and especially the team captains! 12 teams and nearly 170 players came together in Oxford for another awesome turnout. We hope you all had a blast on and off the ice and sincerely appreciate you spending your time/energy/money to join us.
Finally, congratulations again to all of our Broomfest 2026 champions! It was another tightly contested event this year and the top spots were well earned. Recaps and photos below for all winners!
Hardest Shots: Nathan Haase and Steph Taylor out-muscled the hardest shot competitors in their respective divisions and escaped the empty net curse that plagued several of our finalists. Nathan was the only shooter to break into the 70s during the qualifying round and the only man to hit the net with his final swing, he had a top speed of 72mph on the day. (Unfortunately, he was so excited to show off his new hardware that he left the ice before we could get him in the group photo with our winners!) Steph survived a crowded opening round with several ladies hitting the high-40s and low-50s at least once, but she was the only one to stay on the money with her last shot, securing another skills contest title for her with a top speed of 53mph.
Sharpshooters: The men's division came down to a duel to find a winner, after Bob Brill and Travis Helm both posted 10s in their initial runs. Bob ran it back with another 10 in the bonus round which was enough to narrowly claim the 2026 trophy and some redemption after a 2025 runner-up finish! On the women's side there was another 1-point margin of victory as Emily Roth prevented Steph from double-dipping on skills contest wins. After going scoreless on her first three shots and needing 8 more points to win, Emily went big and picked a top corner twice in crunch time to snag the victory!
B-Bracket: For the first time in several years, this trophy was claimed by a group who started the day in our Recreational Pool! Broom for One More was the right crew to pull off the upsets as they displayed nerves of steel throughout the day, needing at least one OT period to finish 3 of their 5 games. After claiming the #2 seed in the Recreational Pool, they knocked both of the "In-Between" teams from the bracket in the semis and finals. They capped their title run with an excellent championship performance against the Ice Mambas. They withstood a last-minute game tying goal to force OT and then struck first in the golden period with a fast counter attack on the empty net. Jim Heckler assisted Steve Bower for the GWG and the 2-1 championship victory!
A-Bracket: It was another good day for this year's Turbulence variant, CIN✈️DAY, who benefitted from their usual deep bench of local players taking the ice. They survived an OT battle with Roadrunners by the skin of their teeth to start the day, but things took off from there. They secured one of the A-bracket byes into the semis before winning their Roadrunners rematch and a battle of Ohio against Ice Storm in the finals, both by 3-1 scores. A hot offense was the key to victory for them this year as they averaged nearly 4 goals/game on their way to their second A trophy picture in three years!
Congratulations to everyone on a hard-fought and extremely fun tournament. We can't wait to be back with you in 2027!
