The Surrey Eagles found themselves down by five goals in the second period against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in their final game at the 2016 BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack. However, they’d once again fall short after an attempted comeback.
Daniel Davidson was pulled after allowing four goals in 13 shots, while Michael Botiz was pulled after allowing a power-play goal in the latter half of the final frame.
An early penalty by Darius Davidson was taken advantage by the S-Backs scoring 78 seconds in. The period then turned quiet until Davidson scored on the short-hand, making up for the earlier infraction, but the celebration was short-lived as Salmon Arm netted a goal with two-tenths of a second left in the first period.
The second period turned ugly for the designated away team as goaltender Daniel Davidson allowed two goals in 27 seconds within the opening 49 seconds. He was then replaced by Marc Audet who stopped a game total 15 of 18 shots. Tyler Paterson and Nick Minerva would help spark the comeback, each scoring their first BCHL goals; Minerva’s came in the final 35 seconds of the frame, leaving the score at 7-3 for the Silverbacks after 40 minutes.
The Eagles would get to within two goals courtesy of Darius Davidson’s powerful wrister and a tip in front of the net by Captain Paul McAvoy. An unfortunate penalty taken by Nick Fea allowed Salmon Arm’s Ryley Booth to score a floater from the blue line through traffic. Surrey’s Desi Burgart would score to make sure the Eagles wouldn’t lose their first game by three goals or more this season; final was 8-6.
The Eagles record continues to drop, now at 0-6-0-0, however four have been lost by a one-goal decision and the others by two. Salmon Arm earns their second win of the season, improving to 2-4-0-0; both wins coming from the BCHL Showcase.
Darius Davidson’s three-point afternoon of two goals and one assist was rewarded with the game’s third star, while Salmon Arm’s Connor Sundquist and Elijiah Barriga were named first and second stars respectively.
Tyler Cooper stood his ground on the back end and blocked multiple shots on goal, receiving the honour of the Fortis BC Energy Player of the Game.
The Surrey Eagles will now return home after a 20-day stint of road games to battle with Mainland Division-rival Chilliwack Chiefs. Puck-drop is 6:30PM on Thursday, September 29th and ticket buyers will receive a hot-dog and drink as part of the South Surrey Arena experience.
