The L.A. Stars captured the 2011 Swiss INS title on Saturday in convincing fashion, dominating the Slovak club HC Trnava in the finals 7-1. After the two teams competed the night before with the Stars coming out on top 3-1, and in doing so ensuring themselves top-seed in the finals, the Slovaks had to watch patiently while the Langnau Tigers battled with Thun. Has the Tigers beat the Thun, Switzerland club by more than five goals, the Tigers would have vaulted past the Trnava Gladiators into the finals. Fortunately for the Slovakian club, the Tigers could only win by a 7-5 score, thus giving the Gladiators a chance at redemption with the Stars.

The Stars' gameplan was simple: play physical and shoot. In the game before, the Stars only dished out 36 hits total, with the number decreasing each period. The score followed a similar trend, with the Stars scoring two in the first, one in the second, and none in the third. "We felt if we could keep taking the body and get more shots, we had a very good chance of winning today," recounted O'Leary.

The Stars opened  the scoring as Marco Richter split the Defense and tucked a backhand-to-forehand deke past the Slovak net minder to give the Stars the lead. Trnava responded, however, as they capitalized on a five-on-three power play to draw even with the Stars. Despite carrying most of the play, rewards were thin for the Stars, who were now boasting a lot of support from the Swiss fans. Sandro Aeschlimann was very solid when called upon, and after twenty minutes, the two teams were tied at one apiece.

The second saw the Stars explode with three unanswered goals, as Fritz Schröder buried on a great feed from Florian Baltram to give the Stars the lead. Sasha Karachun then one-timed a pass from Richter past the Slovak goaltender to extend the lead to 3-1. Houben drew the other assist on the play. Daniel Leisser then roofed a short-side wrister over the goaltender, as he blew past the defense on the outside before cutting to the net and catching the Slovak goalie cheating. At period's end, the Stars held a commanding 4-1 lead going into the room.

In the third, the Stars left nothing to chance, as they continued the onslaught, with Marco Richter scoring twice: once unassisted, and the other banging home a rebound off of the shot from Houben, and Sam Antonitsch added a seventh as he picked up a beautiful pass from Kläy, splitting the defense, and roofing a backhand upstairs, with Baltram picking up his second assist in the game off of the play.

With the win, the Stars made history, becoming the first ever Austrian club to take the title, and with it the Stars gave themselves some credit among hockey-minds west of the Central European country. "we really deserved this win," summed up O'Leary. "We battled hard, we played hard, and we showed p playing some very good hockey. I thought we deserved a better Rae against Langnau, but it happens sometimes. Th good thing was we didn't quit, and we really kept to the gameplan for the most part. We really wanted this, especially for our Swiss guys, who I am sure get a lot of questions about why they come here. Today we helped give some credibility to those decisions, and to our Program."

Next up for the Stars is a return to the U-20 league action next week. Stay tuned for more updates.

Prep Stars 7 - HC Trnava 1 (1:1; 3:0; 3:0)