Surrey, BC – On a Saturday night inside the South Surrey Arena, the Surrey Eagles came back not once, but twice en route to a 4-3 victory to keep their B.C Hockey League season alive against the Chilliwack Chiefs. The best of 7 series between the 2 teams now sits at 3 apiece, with game 7 tomorrow night in Chilliwack.
After another shutout loss in game 5, the Eagles played their first elimination game of the BCHL playoffs. Things didn’t start off too hot for the boys, as they gave up 2 1st period goals in the first 10 minutes of the hockey game. Ethan Bowen jammed home a puck just 3:09 into the 1st period, and Brett Willits deflected a Nathan Kelly shot past Tommy Scarfone 6 minutes later to give the Chiefs their 2-0 cushion. Gabe Schovanek got the Eagles on the board with his 4th of the post-season late in the 1st to give the Eagles some life to end the opening frame.
Carter King tied up the game in the 2nd, but the Chiefs got their 3rd and final goal late in the period to give them a 3-2 lead heading into the decisive final frame.
Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith noticed his starter wasn’t completely there to start the game. “It looked like he had some nerves early on. He was fighting the puck a little bit, wasn’t soaking up rebounds like he normally does. But Tommy’s a kid who’ll always compete, he’ll never give up and he always turn his game around, and he did.” Scarfone stopped 25 of 28 shots on the night to improve to 3-2 in the playoffs.
However, the 3rd period belonged to the new look Eagles top line of Christian Fitzgerald, Hudson Schandor and Schovanek who all had 2 points on the night. Schandor’s game tying goal in the 3rd period brough the Eagles back to life. Then Fitzgerald did it all himself as he dug the puck free from the Chiefs defender, worked his way to the front of the net and slid the puck through the five-hole of Mathieu Caron for the game winning tally with under 4 minutes to play in the 3rd.
Cam had a lot of good things to say about his 2 17 year old forwards who propelled the Eagles to the win. In addition to the top line all having 2 points, Brandon Santa Juana picked up 2 assists on the Eagles first 2 goals, getting himself on the board in the BCHL playoffs. Keith added, “I mean, we’ve all seen the transformation Fitzgerald has had in the 2nd half of the season. He played on the top line tonight, and contributed. Santa Juana is a kid we need to contribute, he’s a huge part of our secondary scoring, and we’re going to need it again tomorrow.”
Cam ranked tonight’s win among the best of his coaching… and playing career. “I scored a triple overtime goal when I was playing in pro. I also coached Trail over a win against Penticton in a game 7 situation. However, this feels the best! It’s so authentic to this group of young kids, it was the first time they experienced an elimination game and they prevailed. I’m so happy they got to experience it.”
The Eagles will look to one up themselves, and knock the Chiefs out of the playoffs tomorrow night in a game 7 showdown. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00pm inside the Chilliwack Coliseum.
