The U18 Whalers hit the road for their first away tournament of the year playing in the Congressional Cup over the Thanksgiving weekend. The tournament included CBHL Rivals Piedmont Predators and Blue Ridge Ice Bears with the Philadelphia Blazers and Triade Storm to round out the U18A division.
The Whalers established themselves as the team to be reckon with as they open the tournament Friday night with a physical win verse the Philadelphia Blazers 4-2. Brandon Day open the scoring at 13 seconds into the game with a goal and the team never looked back. The game was a physical battle with both teams handing out big hits. Nick Phillips picked up the win in net and Patrick Manser scored a hat trick with Brandon Day picking up the other goal to go along with 2 assists.
Saturday the Whalers began to show how far they have come. They open the day with a sounding victory over the Triade Storm. The team came out flat and the Storm took advantage with the opening goal but then the Whalers woke up and began to dominate all 200 feet. Patrick Manser scored his second hat trick in as many games in the first period with Brandon Day and Taylor Kitchen combining for five assists. Chris Pascal picked up the victory for the Whalers. The night cap was against a CBHL rival Piedmont Predators. Nick Phillips manned the pipes for the Whalers and kept his team in the game with an outstanding effort. The Whalers lone goal was scored by Brandon Day on an assist from Anthony Fuscia. In the end the game kept you on the edge of your seat and ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Sunday slate saw the Whalers take on another CBHL rival the Ice Bears from Blue Ridge. As expected the game was another hard-fought battle. Both teams peppered the goalies and gave little room to the puck carriers. In the end a two on one game winning goal by Josh Martin from Cameron Nelson secured the 2-1 victory with Chris Pascal getting his second win and setting up the rematch with the Predators in the Championship game.
The Championship game brought the two undefeated teams together once more. The atmosphere was filled with excitement. The game was everything the fans would want with both teams battling all over the ice and the goalies standing on their heads keeping the pucks out of the net. The Whalers finally broke the scoring with a goal from Brett Winder from Derek Klein. The Predators then got on the board before Anthony Fuscia put the Whalers back up. The team hit a speed bump and the Predators scored two goals in less than one minute. With a Whaler goalie change the team picked it back up and Brandon Day tipped in a Vettle Oeen shot to tie the game. At the end of regulation, a winner could not be determined. Overtime brought the crowd to their feet and in the five-minute overtime each time could not capitalize and the score remained deadlocked at three. The game came down to the shootout. The Predators took the ice first and started the scoring. Vettle Oeen lead the charge and started the team off with a goal. Chris Pascal then shut the door on the Predators thus allowing Patrick Manser and Danny Gonzalez to secure the victory. The Championship game had everything you could want, both teams playing a hard fought back and forth game. The Whalers tournament championship brought about a bright spot in the season and showed how far the team has come. Well done to Coach Day, Coach Fulton and the U18 Whalers.