Chilliwack, B.C. – The Surrey Eagles (2-4-0) looked to end their 2021 BCHL Showcase weekend with a bang on Saturday morning, and they were able to deliver. Surrey raced out to a 4-0 lead and held on to beat the Trail Smoke Eaters (2-3-1) by a score of 6-3 during an early Saturday morning affair which saw Surrey bounce back following an ugly loss on Thursday.
Grayden Slipec led the Eagles offense with 3 assists on the day. Jake Bongo had 2 goals, while Jacob Slipec, Holden Cardinal, Jacob Bonkowski and Jimmy Darby rounded out the scoring for the Eagles. Eli Pulver made his 2nd start of the season, and was terrific again in the win stopping 35 of 38 shots against.
However, things nearly unraveled for Surrey during the game. After racing to their 4-0 lead, Surrey gave up 3 goals, including a short-handed tally to Quinn Disher which made things interesting. Cardinal’s goal to make it 5-3 helped reset the Eagles, and they were able to hold Trail at bay through the rest of the game. Corey Cunningham and Zach Michaelis had the other goals for Trail, while Evan Fradette gave up 4 goals on just 15 shots in the loss. Fradette was replaced by Bailey Monteith to close the game, and he gave up 2 goals on 8 shots against.
It was another up and down game for Surrey in the eyes of their head coach, but he was happy to see his team bounce back and pick up the result. “Another rollercoaster of emotions for this young group, but it was a great job by our older guys to reel us back in. Jimmy Darby had a huge game, and Eli Pulver kept Trail at bay when they were pressing. Another learning experience for us, especially in the 2nd period but we’ll take all the positives from the game.”
Keith knows this team will need to gain more experience in order to help manage their 2nd periods better. The Eagles struggled again in the middle frame, giving up 20 shots and surrendering 2 goals. “[It’s a] Lack of experience. We’re focused through the first 20 minutes, and then it’s tough for our group to press the reset button after the 20 minute intermissions. Being able to get back into game mode the 2nd after the break comes with experience. We were alright to start the 2nd, but once things started to get tough our fight or flight response kicked in and we started to fly away from our issues. When we’re good, we’re good so we just need to continue to grow and put it all together.”
The biggest story for the Eagles today was their ability to not deflate after giving up an early goal in the 3rd period. Surrey could’ve relented and gave away the game, but they kept in there and bounced right back. That resiliency is the biggest takeaway of the game in the eyes of their head coach. “That’s the biggest positive from today. They bounced back and pressed against us. We were able to dig ourselves out of that hole which is extremely hard, and Cardinal scored a really well timed goal. We were able to reset and play the 3rd the right way the rest of the game.”
Surrey’s next game will be their Retro Night game on Friday, October 29th against the Coquitlam Express. It’ll be the first time this season the Eagles will be able to host a full capacity inside the South Surrey Arena! Tickets are still available for the game, and they can be purchased online here. If you can’t make it to the rink, you can catch the broadcast live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV), and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
