Chicago, Illinois:  The Protec Ducks packed their bags and headed to Chicago for the most anticipated tournaments in North America of the season. A field of 28 teams from across the United States at the 2007 AA and AAA level were the opponents.  The Ducks opened up pool play with teams from Illinois, Washington, and Florida.  In that group, they finished in second place and earned a bid to the Sweet 16.  Coach Alvin remarked, “ when traveling such a great distance it’s hard to gauge how your players are going to begin the tournament, but our guys got into the flow very quickly.“

In a round of 16, the Ducks played the Naperville Sabres (IL).  The team stormed out to a 3-0 lead with goals from Jeremy Wachnachter, Derek Jones, and Michael Tompkins. The Sabres would not go away easy as they pulled close after two goals in the second. Fortunately for the Ducks, Tyler Jones shot went short side past the goaltender just before the second period ended to give the Ducks a 4-2 cushion.  In the third, Tyler Jones would strike again and the Ducks flew to a 5-2 finish.

In the quarterfinals, the Ducks matched up against the Vegas Golden Knights. This time the story was a little bit different as they had to climb back from a 0-2 deficit. In the last period, The power-play was hot as Tyler Jones’ pass across a Jeremy Wachnachter cut the deficit to one. Shortly after, a face-off play yielded dividends as Wachnachter raced past a defenseman and backhanded the puck past the goalie to lock the game at 2-2. Two overtimes did not produce a winner, so to the shootout the Ducks went. Starting strong with goals from Matthew Spano and Wachnacher, the Ducks took an early shootout lead and held on with a game clinching shootout goal from Sean Fagan. James Friedman stood tall and only allowed one goal in the shootout.

The Protec Ducks earned a rematch against the Tampa Bulls In the semi-finals. After being on their heels for most of the first period, the Ducks found themselves down 2-0, just as they had been in the quarterfinals. Once again the Ducks would not go away with the first goal scored on a break by Tyler Jones.  After pulling their goalie and controlling play at the end of the game, the Ducks just could not find the back of the net in a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bulls.  Coach Alvin added, “to finish in the top fours of this elite tournament showed the hard work and effort boys have been putting in all season.  There is a lot to be proud of.”

Posted in Accomplishments