The Surrey Eagles fell to the Wenatchee Wild for the sixth time this season, but their loss Friday night was admirable as they cut it close near the end tonight.
Eagles’ goaltender Justin Laforest stopped 23 of 26 total attempts from the visiting team, while Wentachee netminder and Detroit Red Wings prospect Chase Perry halted 17 of 20 shots.
The Eagles started the first period on the penalty kill as a player had left the warm-up skate later than the allotted time. They would kill off the penalty and stayed with the fast pace of the BCHL’s newest franchise. That is until Wenatchee’s Matt Baker would net his ninth of the year past Laforest, recording the only tally of the first frame. Surrey had an opportunity on a power-play of their own, but couldn’t capitalize and the score stood at 1-0.
Jeffrey Stewart was coming off an impressive performance at the 2016 CJHL Prospects Game. The 18-year-old Surrey native deflected a shot off of a rocket from defenseman Nick Azar and passing Perry to tie the game up at 1-1. Special teams were the key factor in the second half of the second frame for the Eagles, keeping this game within reach and tied after 40 minutes.
Jaxon Joseph gave the Eagles their first lead ever against the Wild 13 seconds into the final period for his third of the year. Wenatchee’s August Von Ungern scored two goals in 20 seconds to regain the Wild’s one goal led and despite pulling their goaltender, Surrey gave up an empty-netter on a six-on-four advantage with 68 seconds left, that is before Joseph scored on the back hand with 33 seconds remaining on the clock. It got the Eagles to within one, but the Wild pulled through for the 4-3 victory.
Surrey record goes down to 6-37-0-2, while Wenatchee improved to 25-15-2-3.
Nick Azar recorded assists on the Eagle’s first two goals and was enough to earn the game’s third star. Jaxon Joseph’s two-goal night was memorable for the rookie, giving him the second star, and the Wild’s August Von Ungern was named the night’s first star honours.
Austin Anselmo played aggressively around the back end and dominated puck play in the offensive blue line. He was named the Fortis BC Energy Player of the Game.
The Eagles will vacate the nest for a short excursion on the weekend! They’ll travel east to the Prospera Centre to take on the Mainland Division-leading Chilliwack Chiefs on Saturday night at 7PM. Surrey will then face-off with the Langley Rivermen at the Langley Events Centre Sunday afternoon at 3PM.
