CHILLIWACK — Zane Schartz scored twice and Christian Short earned his first shutout of the year on Sunday as the Surrey Eagles shut-out the Chilliwack Chiefs 3-0.
The win was Surrey’s first on the road this season, and it couldn’t have come against a more unlikely opponent. Coming into Sunday’s action, the Chilliwack Chiefs were the hottest team in the BCHL: 8-1-1 in their previous ten games, and owners of the highest home-ice win percentage in the entire league.
Or perhaps not so unlikely. The Eagles had nearly skated away with a road win in Chilliwack on November 29th, but a late 3-1 lead evaporated in the final five minutes and the Chiefs stormed back to take the game 5-3.
It’s safe to say the sting of that loss had not yet faded in the Eagles memories, as Surrey successfully secured on Sunday what had eluded them in their previous visit: a big road win at Prospera Centre.
Where they had previously shrank like a turtle into its shell in the third period back in November, this time Surrey stood tall. Coming into the final period with a lead, they didn’t take the win for granted. The Eagles continued to press in the attacking zone, and put in a tremendous effort in their own end through a combination of blocked shots and lifted stick to help their goalie close out the shutout.
The Eagles mustered just six shots in the first period, but many of them were prime scoring chances off odd-man rushes that Chiefs goalie Aiden Pelino had to be sharp to hold out. Short meanwhile had to be even sharper, stopping all 14 shots he faced in the first, including several dangerous chances on a Chilliwack powerplay in the final minutes of the period.
Defenseman Zane Schartz would break the scoreless tie for the Eagles in the second period. Mere moments after Latrell Charleson stepped out of the box following another successful Surrey penalty kill, Schartz took a pass from out of the Surrey zone from Spencer Unger, carried all the way down the ice himself and sniped it top corner bar-down above the glove of Pelino. The goal, which came at 3:25 of the middle frame, would hold up to be the game-winner.
But Schartz wasn’t done there. Less than ten minutes later at 11:11, the product of Plano, Texas punctuated a strong shift by the Eagles spent almost entirely in the offensive zone by cutting into the slot of the right-wing boards and rifling the puck past Pelino in the exact same spot he put it earlier in the period.
The insurance goal for Surrey came midway through the third, when John Wesley lobbed the puck into the neutral ice from out of his own zone, springing Sam Chatterley on a breakaway. Pelino made the save off a Chatterley deke, but the rebound bounced right into the skates of Chilliwack defenseman Vincent Deshairnas, who unwittingly kicked the puck past Pelino into his own net at 10:15.
While that goal ultimately secured the victory, Short had to stand tall to hang on to the shutout, as the Chiefs pulled Pelino for an extra attacker with just under four minutes remaining. Chilliwack threw everything they had at the Surrey net to try and storm back in the game, ultimately firing 34 shots on Short, including 12 in the third period. But the Eagles goalie made save after save after save, many of the remarkable variety.
It was a performance that earned the RIT-bound goalie first star honours, and an honourable mention in the BCHL’s Player of the Week awards. Schartz’s second star performance was also acknowledged in the league’s Player of the Week runner-ups.
These two teams meet again Tuesday night as the home-and-home series comes back to the South Surrey Arena. Will the Eagles be able to take two in a row against the Mainland Division’s top team? How long will Christian Short’s shutout streak last? Come on out to the game and find out! For tickets, call 604-531-GOAL.
