Surrey, B.C. – For the first time in 18 months, the Surrey Eagles played a meaningful game in front of fans inside the South Surrey Arena. The result was not one the Eagles were going for, as they dropped a 7-4 decision to the hands of the Coquitlam Express on Friday night. In a limited capacity sell out in South Surrey, the Eagles never looked comfortable from puck drop. Despite having the lead in the 2nd period, they never pulled away and Coquitlam wound up scoring 5 unanswered goals to come away with the win.
Eagles Head Coach Cam Keith was disappointed in his team’s performance which was the first time points were on the line since the end of the 2019-20 regular season. “It was an up and down affair. We rode our emotions tonight unfortunately. When it was good we were flowing, but when it wasn’t we really crashed hard. It was a learning experience for some of our younger guys on what the league is like and how hard our guys will have to work to be successful.”
The Eagles trailed in shots by a whopping 42-25 margin, and despite scoring 3 goals (2 of them in 28 seconds), to take multiple 2 goal leads in the 2nd period, the team never found their footing in the game. Trent Wilson, Buddy Johnson, Jake Bongo, and Cole Galata scored for the Eagles in the loss, with Max Prazma giving up 7 goals on 42 shots in defeat. The Eagles had no answer for the Coquitlam top line, specifically Ryan Tattle who had 4 points on the night, including the 7th goal of the game. Jaeger Murdock, Ray Hamlin, Tyler Kopff, Carter Cochrane, and Arlo Merritt rounded out the scoring for Coquitlam. Connor Mackenzie picked up the win allowing 4 goals on 25 shots.
The Eagles looked a little nervous playing in front of fans in a meaningful game, and they couldn’t shake off the butterflies throughout the game. “I think for everyone tonight, especially the younger guys, it was the first time in front of a crown in a game that matters. We showed our immaturity and our emotions got the best of us tonight.” The immaturity showed in the penalty column. Surrey went to the box 7 times, including a double minor to Tio D’Addario for spearing in which Coquitlam capitalized 3 times with the man advantage. To Surrey’s credit, they were 1 for 1 on the powerplay.
The Eagles will need a better performance against the Langley Rivermen tomorrow night if they want to get their 1st win of the season, and Cam would like to see his team stick to their formula and play a more controlled game moving forward. “We just have to play a better, well rounded game. Shorter shifts, manage the puck out of the defensive zone, and play less of a gamble style where we’re trading chances. We need to play more of a chess match than a run and gun style.”
You can catch tomorrow’s game live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV), and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl. Puck drop is slated for 7:15pm inside the George Preston Arena. The broadcast will start 10 minutes prior.
