For most of the year, the Langley Eagles struggled to ice their full line-up, missing players either because of injury or family commitments.
But finally, the Eagles had their full complement of players and the result was victory at the Langley Cup.
The atom hockey team captured the Langley Minor Hockey Association year-end crown with a 5-3 victory over the Langley Raiders on Sunday morning at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
“Finally we had everybody and it all came together,” said Eagles coach Vince Nelles.
The Eagles had lost their opening round game at the double-knockout tournament, which meant they had no margin for error. And the team delivered, winning their next four games — including two by shootout — to advance to the championship final against the Raiders.
“It was do-or-die for us,” the coach said. “We had no choice.”
In Sunday’s final, the Eagles raced out to a 2-0 lead after one period on goals from Conner Nelles and Eric Lim.
And then off the opening face-off in the second period, Devon Chescoe made it 3-0. Nelles and Lim had assists on the goal and both players had three-point games.
A few minutes later, Shaine Hoy got the Raiders on the board. But before the period let out, Colby McMurray made it 4-1, scoring the eventual game-winner.
Lleyton Shearon rounded out the Eagles scoring with the team’s fifth goal, which came with eight minutes to play in the game. 
Gary Ahuja
Lleyton Shearon celebrates his goal during his team’s 5-3 victory to capture the atom Langley Cup trophy at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
And the goal was big as Curtis Goode and Jared Gebenus struck 49 seconds apart to make it a two-goal game with just under five minutes to play.
But the Raiders could not get any closer, hitting the post on one attempt.
Nelles said the Raiders really began pressing in the second period and took full control in the third. It didn’t help that his team continued a steady stream to the penalty box.
With the Raiders pressing in the late stages, the coach was impressed by his team’s effort, noting that the players were sacrificing their bodies to block shots.
Nelles said his team was willing to put in the work necessary to get to this point.
“This was our 96th ice time,” he said, pointing out it didn’t matter if it was an early morning practice.
“We grabbed as much free ice time as we could.”
