The Hampton Roads Whalers PeeWee AA Team upset the Reston Raiders in a thrilling fashion to win the Eastern Regional Silver Stick Final in Laurel Maryland on Sunday November 28th.
To get there the Whalers started out on Friday with a big win over the NJ Bandits 3-0. Brenden McQueeney got things going in the 2nd period with 2 goals for the Whale (assist from Cody Wilson & Hunter Smith). In the 3rd period Carter Long scored unassisted. The Whalers out shot the Bandits 19-16.
The second game on Friday matched the Whalers up against the Frederick Fury. The Whale took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period with a goal by Brandon Osmundson (assist Carter Long & Hunter Smith) Then Cody Wilson put the Whale up 2-0 in the second (assist John Hawley) The Fury got a goal to end the period 2-1 Whalers. The Whalers scored two more in the 3rd period from Brenden McQueeney
(assist Cater Long & Brandon Osmundson). Frederick could only match one goal and the Whalers won their second game 4-2. Britt League was in net and recorded his 1st shutout of the seasons .
The 3rd game for the Whalers came Saturday against the Reston Raiders. The 1st period was scoreless. In the 2nd period the Whale found themselves taking too many penalties. Reston scored 2 goals to end the period 2-0 Raiders. In the 3rd period, Reston scored 6 goals to give the Whalers their first loss of the tournament. Cody Wilson scored for the Whale with 48 seconds in the game (assist Brenden McQueeney & Adam Campbell) to end the game 8-1. Reston ended up 1st in pool play and the Whalers finished 2nd to set up a rematch on Sunday.
Sunday was a new day for the Whalers. Even though they had lost the last 5 games against this Reston Team , they came to the rink hungry and determined to get respect. In the 1st period the Raiders scored at the 9:02 mark to take a 1-0 lead. It was a fast pace period with both Teams having many scoring chances. The period would end 1-0 Raiders.
In the second period the Raiders struck again at the 6:16 mark giving them a 2-0 lead. At this point, I think everyone in the building thought this game was over except the 17 players and Coaching Staff on the Whale and their fans in the stands; who at this point were getting louder and louder with chants of LETS GO WHALERS!!!
The Whale answered the call at the 4:56 mark with a goal from Brandon Osmundson (assist Brenden McQueeney) to cut the lead to 2-1. Then with 14 seconds remaining in the second period Brenden McQueeney scored (assist Adam Campbell) to tie the game 2-2. The period ended 2-2 and at this point it was anyones hockey game.
The 3rd period was played by both Teams just trying not to make any mistakes. Until late in the 3rd, Reston made their own nightmare come true. Desperately trying to clear their zone the puck found itself into the high slot where Carter Long took a blast of a slap shot that found the back of the net, giving the Whalers a 3-2 lead with 1:17 left in the period. Reston would pull their Goalie and with 35 seconds on the clock Carter Long scored again on an empty net to give the Whalers a 4-2 win making them the Eastern Regional Silver Stick Champions.
Now the Hampton Roads Whalers will travel to Port Huron, Michigan January 27-30th 2011 to play in the International Silver Stick Finals. Congratulations to the Whalers PeeWee AA Team and Coaching Staff.
