The late game at WABA featured the undefeated Whalers (5–0–0) rolling in like a buzzsaw and the Gamblers (2–1–0) trying to prove that vibes, chaos, and a goalie named Tucker are all you really need. By the time the shootout dust settled, the Gamblers had a 4–3 win, the Whalers had their first loss of the season, and the scorekeepers had carpal tunnel from typing “LaCroix” so much.
First Period – “Free Breakaway Night”
With 13:46 gone in the first, the Whalers experienced a full-system defensive meltdown on their very first shift. Sean Collins spotted Max Woods sneaking behind the Whaler defense like a kid trying to sneak one more cookie. Woods broke in 2-on-0 with Topo LaCroix and fed him cross-crease for the tap-in.
1–0 Gamblers. Whalers immediately opened an internal investigation into the concept of “backchecking.”
End of 1st: Gamblers 1 – Whalers 0 | Shots: Gamblers 10, Whalers 7
Second Period – “Muffins, Turnovers, and Regret”
The Whalers started the second on the power play after Woods took a trip to the box for tripping, because apparently scoring and killing penalties wasn’t enough cardio. Their man-advantage produced roughly zero danger and at least three collective sighs from the bench.
Not long after, they finally broke through. On a draw to the right of Tucker Garrity-Hanchett (TGH), Logan “Wolverine” Caffrey won the puck back to Cavan “Spider Legs” Benjamin. Benjamin weaved into the slot and chipped it to Ezra Mock. TGH made the first stop but ended up seated firmly on his backside, and Mock spun, found the rebound, and deposited it into the yawning cage.
1–1, Game On.
Moments later, the Gamblers nearly restored the lead when Matt “The Milkman” Marrazzo beat his man down the wall and hit Billy Rivellini in the slot on a 2-on-1. Jered Condon slid across and made a highlight-reel save, probably just to make sure the recap mentioned him by name.
At 7:17, karma swung the other way. Benjamin tried a cute play at the offensive blue line, turned it over, and the puck popped to Marrazzo. The Milkman lofted a perfect little flip pass to Woods, who had once again slipped behind the Whaler defense like it was his full-time job. Woods walked in alone and beat Condon low blocker.
2–1 Gamblers. Max Woods: part-time forward, full-time breakaway artist.
That lead lasted a whopping 35 seconds. At 6:42, Woods tried to center a pass at the top of the Whaler zone, missed everyone in green, and found Blaine Gour instead. Gour immediately moved it to Dan “The Man” Fenton, who split the defense with two Gamblers in hot pursuit. Feeling the pressure, Fenton unleashed a twisted wrister from the tops of the circles that beat TGH low blocker.
2–2. Probably one TGH would like back, along with the decision to trust forwards in the neutral zone.
Just 45 seconds after that, at 5:57, it was Topo “Thing 1 / Tomahawk” LaCroix time again. A pass from Ben Rouillard in the neutral zone got picked off by LaCroix, who chipped it past a defender, chased it to the corner, and then absolutely hammered a slapshot from a hideous angle that somehow snuck through Condon low blocker.
3–2 Gamblers. Condon would very much like this one deleted from the cloud.
TGH responded with a three-course save sequence: first a point shot from Brandon Chiasson, then a rebound stuff on Rouillard, then another denial on Gour. Shortly after, Collins pulled a spin-o-rama at the near boards and broke in alone, trying to go low blocker on Condon, who this time slammed the door and yelled “not again” (probably).
A late interference penalty on Marrazzo gave the Whalers a power play to close the period, but once again, their man-advantage produced more frustration than scoring chances.
End of 2nd: Gamblers 3 – Whalers 2 | Shots: Gamblers 21, Whalers 26
Third Period – “Tomahawks and 5-on-3 Stress Tests”
Marrazzo’s penalty carried over into the third, and the Whalers made it count. Rouillard played a quick give-and-go with Caffrey, curled to the tops of the circles and ripped a low shot through traffic that beat TGH low glove.
3–3. Game tied, blood pressure rising.
TGH then had to stare down Fenton twice in quick succession. The first was a clean look from the outside that TGH kicked away calmly. On the second attempt, as Fenton loaded up, LaCroix decided it was time for some lumberjack cosplay and dropped a full two-handed tomahawk on Fenton’s stick, shattering it into kindling. Not cool, Topo. You absolutely owe Fenton a new twig.
Sixteen seconds later, Ryan Bergeron got a bit too enthusiastic with his stick and clipped Dan VeNard in the face. VeNard went down, Bergeron looked suspiciously at the blade, and we all collectively wondered if he was checking for blood or just admiring his handiwork.
The result: nearly a full two minutes of 5-on-3 for the Whalers. The outcome: absolutely nothing. TGH and the Gamblers’ PK unit survived the siege, blocked everything, and cleared pucks like their post-game beers depended on it.
End of Regulation: Gamblers 3 – Whalers 3 | Shots: Gamblers 24, Whalers 37
Shootout – “Topo’s Jock Theft & Billy’s Reston Special”
Best-of-three shootout, Gamblers shooting first.
Shooter 1 – Gamblers: Topo LaCroix vs. Jered Condon LaCroix unleashed a filthy little shimmy-shake, deked Condon out of his jockstrap, and slid the puck in along the ice as Condon tried to dive back glove side.
Result: GOAL. Gamblers lead 1–0 in the shootout.
Shooter 1 – Whalers: Logan Caffrey vs. TGH The 18-year-old came in with a slow, snake-like pattern designed to hypnotize Tucker. TGH refused to be hypnotized. Caffrey went to the backhand; TGH stayed with him and made the save.
Result: NO GOAL.
Shooter 2 – Gamblers: Billy Rivellini vs. Condon. The salty old veteran, Rivellini, didn’t gamble on this one, he went back to his ball-hockey days playing in the tough streets of Reston, VA. Rivellini went forehand to backhand, opened Condon up like a piñata at a kid's birthday, then back to his forehand and stuffed it where the sun don’t shine…..5-holio and a 2-0 lead in the shootout.
Result: GOAL. Gamblers up 2–0 in the shootout.
Shot 2 – Whalers: (They technically only got to three attempts if needed, but at this point, things were dire.)
Do-or-die – Whalers: Cavan Benjamin vs. TGH Benjamin needed to score to keep the shootout alive. The tall, lanky winger skated straight down the middle, stared TGH down, pulled it to his forehand…and absolutely uncorked a wrister roughly two feet over the crossbar.
Result: NO GOAL. Game over. Gamblers win, Whalers lose.
Final tally: Gamblers take it 4–3 in the shootout, handing the Whalers their first loss and reminding the league that if you give Topo, Max Woods, Sean Collins, and TGH enough ice time, chaos tends to work out in their favor.
Three Stars
- Max Woods – Gamblers
1G, 1A, multiple jailbreaks. Lived behind the Whalers’ defense like it was his legal address. - Sean Collins – Gamblers
2A and a solo rush. Primary supplier of breakaways, chaos, and spin-o-rama content. - Cavan Benjamin – Whalers
2A and plenty of zone time. Ran a ton of offense all night… we’ll just pretend the shootout launch to the moon never happened.
Honorable mention to Tucker Garrity-Hanchett for slamming the door in the shootout and surviving a 37-shot regulation barrage, and to Topo LaCroix for doing literally everything from scoring, killing penalties, and, unfortunately, stick assassination.
