INDIAN TRAIL, NC – The Charlotte Metro Hockey Association’s Charlotte Jr. Checkers 12 & Under “AA” team fell short in their bid for the 2011 USA Hockey Tier II National Championship today, losing the title game in overtime to the Oklahoma Oil Kings in San Jose, CA.
The Jr. Checkers went undefeated in the preliminary round with four wins (7-3, 6-3, 3-1 and a 7-6 shootout) and beat the Delaware Ducks 3-1 in the semi-finals to earn their spot in the finals. In the Championship game, Oklahoma City struck first with a power play goal in the first period, but the Jr. Checker’s Jeremy Reiser tied the score with 1:13 left in the period. The second period was scoreless until the final 7 seconds when the Jr. Checker’s Kyle Moore bounced a puck off the Oklahoma City’s goaltender to put Charlotte in the lead. Oklahoma City evened the game at the 7:55 mark of the third period and the two teams headed to a sudden-death overtime period. Oklahoma City scored the game-winning goal 2 minutes and 54 seconds into the overtime period.
This Jr. Checkers team, under the direction of Head Coach Steve Mckirdy, is the first from Charlotte to ever win its league and advance to a USA Hockey championship tournament. The Jr. Checkers team claimed the Carolinas Hockey League championship by defeating the Raleigh Jr. Hurricanes on March 5th in the final game of the season at the Extreme Ice Center.
The Charlotte Metro Hockey Association is proud of the team’s accomplishments and congratulates all of the players, coaches, parents and siblings who’ve made this a successful season.
