PORT McNEILL—The North Island Eagles hockey program enjoyed a solid weekend of play at Chilton Regional Arena last weekend, with the midget squad rolling to a pair of impressive wins and the bantam and peewee squads cruising to individual victories in Vancouver Island Hockey League Division 3 play.
Midgets
Goalie Nyck Ruel enjoyed a strong weekend in net, posting a 3-1 win over Nanaimo Saturday and a 7-0 shutout of Comox Valley Sunday.
The wins allowed the midgets (5-2-0) to leapfrog Nanaimo into second place in the Division 3 standings, just a point behind Juan de Fuca.
Thomas Symons had two goals in Saturday’s win, both assisted by Brandon Purdey, and Cameron Grant also found the net.
On Sunday, Sean Pineda scored two goals and Grant, Purdey, Emma Mitchell, Alex Scott and Darryl Coon all had singles as the midgets spread the wealth against Comox.
Bantams
Tanner Roberts had two goals and two assists as the Tier 3 Eagles rolled to a 5-1 win over Victoria Racquet Club’s Tier 2 club, continuing a streak of strong home showings against higher-ranked teams. The win left the bantams (2-3-1) in a fourth-place tie in league play, just two points behind second-place, Tier 2 Juan de Fuca with three games in hand over the Grizzlies. Previously, the bantams tied undefeated and league-leading Oceanside 2-2 at Doug Bondue Arena in Port Alice.
Bree-Anna Henderson, Michael Perez and Devin White also scored in the win. Nigel Walkus claimed the win in goal.
Peewees
Rhys Dutcyvich scored five goals and Mathew Saunders and Luke Gage added two apiece as the peewees raced past Cowichan Valley 10-4 Saturday.
The first meeting between the teams ended in a 17-10 Eagles win that coach Marty Gage described as a “football score”. Goalie Kayden Jones and the Eagles defence was much stronger this time, but the offence still put up football numbers, with Chelsea Noel adding a goal and Ryan Patterson and Liem Wadhams contributing assists in the big win.
The peewees improved to 2-2-2 in league play, placing them in the middle of the league standings but just two points behind league-leading Peninsula.