Surrey, B.C. – On a Friday night in which the Surrey Eagles (3-4-0) unveiled their Retro jerseys for the first time, they gave the home fans a lot to cheer about in a huge 6-2 win against the Coquitlam Express (2-5-1).
It was a back and forth affair between the two lower mainland clubs until Surrey soared away with the game with 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd period. Eli Pulver got the call in net and made 21 saves in the victory. Jake Bongo led the way with 2 goals in the game, while Tio D’Addario, Jimmy Darby, Jacob Slipec, and Holden Cardinal rounded out the scoring for the Eagles.
Coquitlam scored the 1st goal of the game on the powerplay when Arlo Merritt ripped a one-timer from the right circle past Pulver’s glove hand, but the Express never built on their lead and couldn’t find an answer in the final frame. Ryan Hamlin had the other goal for Coquitlam, and Connor Mackenzie gave up 6 goals on 27 shots in defeat.
While the Eagles offense flew high in the win, Eagles head coach Cam Keith was quick to praise his defense for their best effort of the season. “I thought our defense was the difference tonight. Their puck movement, how quickly they moved pucks up to our forwards and their ability to manage the puck when we were in trouble. We used the wall a lot for indirect passes, and there wasn’t a lot given to Coquitlam off of mistakes.”
Another big key for Surrey was their ability to play a full 60 minutes. The Eagles never let their foot off the gas, and they were rewarded in the 3rd period. For the head coach, this is another step in the right direction for this young team. “It was a full 60 minutes of steady energy and consistent plays. We didn’t really have any lulls, our penalty kill was good when we needed it to be and we had some great shutdown shifts. We were caught in our own zone a couple of times but for the most part we did a really good job of never consistently playing in our own end. We were able to counter punch effectively which helped us preserve our energy and find success in the 3rd period.”
For Eli Pulver, he earned his 3rd straight win to start the season for the Eagles, helping them climb to a game within .500 on the season. He earned more praise from Keith after another strong outing. “He’s very aggressive and very athletic. He has a good sense of the game and made some great athletic saves in the game which other goalies might not have made. We’re very excited about where Eli’s at and hopefully he carries his momentum and can be relied upon when we need him.”
The Eagles will look for their 3rd straight win tomorrow evening against the Chilliwack Chiefs (3-4-0) inside the Chilliwack Coliseum. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm, and you can catch the broadcast live on BCHL TV (Powered by HockeyTV) and on mixlr.com/eaglesbchl.
