The Kettler Captials Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia welcomed 18 of the top U19 teams from across North America, while the Rockville Ice Arena served as the home for 10 teams within the U16 division. Each team was faced with 3 games during preliminary play, teams either advanced to the next round of quarter finals or headed to consolation play. We are proud to announce the West Coast Avalanche as the U16 Division Champions while the Burlington Barracudas went 5-1 to win the U19 Division. 

U19 Divison Champions:

The Burlington Barracudas advanced to quarter finals for the A division after defeating the Colorado Selects and Boston Shamrocks, losing only to top competitor Balmoral Hall 2-1. In quarter finals, the Barracudas faced off against the North American Hockey Academy, skating past them to semi-finals with a tough 2-1 win. The semi’s proved to be no breeze either, as they played Detroit based team, Honeybaked, skating with them for three periods and one 3 on 3 sudden death over time only to remain tied at 1-1. Tournament protocol called for a 3 man shootout and the Barracudas put the puck home past Honeybaked goaltender, Shannon Rompp, to send them to the final game against the Chicago Young Americans (CYA) on Monday. The second period hosted all the offensive action as CYA’s Kristin Cheever but the Baracudas answered by with two goals from Andrea Benac and Maggie Spratt-Mallick. Kyra O’Brien stood tall in net, making 50 saves to crown the Burlington Barracudas the 2015 U19 Challenge Cup Champions! 

U16 Divison Champions:

The West Coast Avalanche, based out of British Columbia, Canada, opened up preliminary play against the North American Hockey Academy, playing tough and skating past NAHA with a 2-0 win. The next game proved to be battle as they faced off against the Winnipeg Avros from Manitoba, ending the day of competition with a 7-3 loss. Despite the tough defeat on Saturday night, the Avs stepped up to the plate defeating the Colorado Select team 3-1 and continued to build their team confidence as they blew past the Anaheim Lady Duck 6-1 before advancing to the championship game. The rematch was set and the puck was dropped between the West Coast Avs and the Winnipeg Avros once again. This time, the Avs were not going down without a true fight. It was a battle of goal tenders and WCA’s goalie, Ghinni Sy, was a brick wall as she faced 69 shots, stopping all but one from Avros forward Jordyn Reimer. It was Sophia Christopherson and Shannon Morris-Reade who fired the puck past Avros tender, Nicole Whitesell, redeeming their loss and winning the 2015 U16 Challenge Cup in over time, 2-1.

Congrats to a wonderful weekend full of great competition by all teams! Thank you most of all to our wonderful Washington Pride parent and player volunteers who were fantastic hosts and the roots of the overall tournament success! See you all next year!