By: Isabella Urbani PHOTO: Brandon David (BrandonDavidImages)
SURREY – The Surrey Eagles (9-8-2-0) played the Cowichan Valley Capitals (9-8-1-0) for the third time, taking a 2-1 lead in the season series.
Cowichan scored their only two goals in the first period. Ben Portner opened the scoring for the opposition with his eighth goal of the season, snapping home a loose puck from the top of the slot. 1-0 Cowichan. Gavin Rocha scored his third goal of the season and first of two in the game, 1:25 seconds later, tipping home a point shot from captain Jackson Anderson and Brady Kudrick.
For the second night in a row, a goal was reviewed. Rocha’s goal was looked at for a possible kicking motion. While the puck made contact with Rocha’s skate near his stick, there was no distinct kicking motion, making it a good goal. 1-1.
The Capitals regained the lead 0:37 seconds later with their second goal in as many minutes as Jordan Bax rifled home his second of the season. 2-1 Cowichan. Surrey’s power play, looking as strong as ever, made it a tie game before the end of the first. Cam Russo’s second of the season slid through the five-hole of Cowichan goalie Alexei Noskov after he followed up a point shot from Sihwan Kim. 2-2. Surrey headed to the second period with a 12-8 shot lead.
Affiliate goalie Tanner Ferrill started the second period for the Eagles and was perfect through two periods, stopping all 26 shots he faced. His performance rallied the team who scored three unanswered goals.
The game’s eventual game-winner was scored in the middle frame by Dean Toskos and assisted by Kim and Rocha for their respective second points of the night. Toskos’ fifth goal of the season started with an interception by Kim, who played give-and-go with Rocha. Toskos was the third Eagle in, burying Rocha’s rebound after Kim tapped the puck back to him in the slot. 3-2 Surrey. Shots 14-6 Cowichan.
Cameron Caron extended the Eagles’ lead with his fifth goal of the season, tallying three goals on the two-game homestand for Surrey. Caron got a stick on the centring feed from linemates Ryan Evenhuis and Massimo Fazio. Evenhuis picked up his third point of the homestand with the assist while Fazio extended his point streak to four games. 4-2 Surrey.
Cowichan pulled their goalie to try to bring the score within one as Surrey took a penalty with 2:32 seconds remaining. But Surrey’s opening goal scorer Rocha dug out the puck on the penalty kill on the nearside boards, holding off two attackers to score the empty netter. 5-2 Surrey. Shots 34-22 Cowichan.
The Eagles swept the postgame awards as Russo picked up the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game, and Ryan Evenhuis (2G), Dean Toskos (1G), and Ferrill (first BCHL game and shutout) picked up the three stars.
Surrey (10-8-2-0) will play their last home game of November against Langley (9-7-4-1) on Sunday, November 24, for a chance to pull ahead in the season series, 3-1. Puck drop is at 3:00 p.m. The Eagles will also be celebrating Autism Awareness Night. The version of the in-arena goal horn and flashing lights will be modified, and music volumes will be lowered. A Skate with the Eagles, including photos and autographs with the coaches and players, will follow the afternoon’s game. Skates can be rented at the arena.
