The Eagles Bantam A team headed to nearby Charlotte, NC to play in the Hemby Cup over the long Martin Luther King holiday weekend.   Five games in three days, and a 7am report time each day, made for a full weekend of hockey.

In their first game the Eagles went down early to the Jaguars from Mt. Laurel, NJ but fought back to a 2-1 win.  The ice seemed tilted toward the Jaguars end as the Eagles maintained control on that end of the ice for much of the game.  The Jags goalie worked hard but the Eagles got two by him.

Sunday morning the Eagles took on the home team: the Charlotte Checkers.   The Eagles worked for a 4-0 victory and helped goal tender Zach Walker notch a shutout.  In the second game Sunday, the Eagles played Raleigh’s own Polar Select team and  cruised to a 7-1 victory.

Monday brought two games against the other undefeated team in the bracket: the South Florida Golden Wolves.  These two hadn't met since a tournament in Ft. Myers, FL in October.  Playing through injuries, illness and a disqualification, the Eagles dropped the first contest 4-3 and the second  5-3.  The Eagles came home with silver medals and a giant black and silver “Finalist” plaque to match their jersey colors.

Head coach Lincoln Flagg said, “This weekend I watched a group of players start to become a real team together.  They played for each other, worked hard, supported each other and got better.  In the end it came down to attrition.  I want to give kudos to guys like Henry Shriver and Josh Burgess who played through Illness, and guys who played banged up with injury like Bobby Gram.”  Flagg continued, “It showed me that guys did not want to let down their teammates.   I could not be more proud of a group of young men.  They left everything they had on that ice and played as hard as they physically could. “