Burnaby, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles (12-2-1) continued to soar in the Coquitlam pod on Thursday evening and raced out to a 5-2 victory over the Coquitlam Express (4-8-3). The win improved Surrey’s win streak to 8 games.
Another game for Surrey was competitive through 40 minutes, but Eagles head coach Cam Keith didn’t love the way his guys started the game. “We struggled with our structure and puck management in the first 40 minutes. The guys pressed the reset button in the 3rd period and played Eagles hockey.”
After Rocco La Cara opened the scoring 50 seconds in with a cheeky bank shot off Coquitlam started Dylan Kruss, the Express were able to tie it up late in the 1st period off a goal from forward Sam Marit. Then in the 2nd period, Ryan Tattle scored a powerplay goal to give the Express the lead, and the Eagles needed to come back. After serving a 2 minute minor for hooking, Luke Roberts came out of the box and promptly sniped one for his 2nd goal of the season.
With the game tied in the 2nd period, Christian Fitzgerald took over the hockey game. Fitzy scored 2 goals, one late in the 2nd and one in the 3rd to give the Eagles a 4-2 game and promptly put it out of reach. A returning player from last year, it’s no surprise to the coach that Fitzgerald was able to take over. “When Fitzy is using his legs to create space he is very hard to defend. His shot has progressed a lot this off-season allowing him to score from the outside.” Jacob Slipec scored his 9th goal of the season late in the 3rd to put the game out of reach. Hunter Tarves made 23 saves in the victory.
As the Eagles continue to win game after game in their 2021 pod season, Keith praised the overall way his team has performed and played despite momentary lapses. “Our success is attributed to a balanced offensive attack, utilizing the D off the rush and activation points in the offensive zone.” The Eagles have scored at least 4 goals in their past 8 games contributing to the win streak.
The Eagles will look for their 9th win in a row Saturday afternoon against the Powell River Kings. Puck drop is slated for 1:00 pm inside the Scotia Barn and you can catch all the action live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV) and mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
