By Derek Kaye,
Castlegar News contributor
Eastern Washington Eagles came out strong in the first period gaining a one goal lead before a minute had passed.
A bouncing puck off Tyler Mort from Paxton Bell and Uriah Machunga at 0:52 beat Saints goalie Chris Hurry who would have otherwise earned another shut-out to his top-of-league rating.
The Saints would have to wait till the second period before the beginning of the fall for the Eagles. They started scoring only 25 seconds after the puck had dropped. Colin Minardi (from Thomas Hardy and Darnel Dyck) beat Eastern Washington goaltender Jason Greenwell, who would let another six in as the Selkirk Saints played fast and furious.
Connor McLaughlin from Dylan Smith and Beau Taylor scored at 17:57. Stefan Gonzales from Darnell Dyck at 14:37 and one more in the second period with Beau Taylor from Connor McLaughlin and Scott Swiston at 8:55 on the Complex timepiece.
The first half of the third period began with some exciting back and forth between the teams before the Saints really began to put the pressure on the EW goalie, with a succession of three goals at 6:58 , 6:23 and 4:53 left in the game by Connor Stephens from Colin Minardi and Jared Seutter, Logan Proulx from Connor McLaughlin and Jackson Garret and one more for good luck by Scott Swiston from Matthew Luongo and Beau Taylor.
The Castlegar News asked Saints coach Jeff Dubois for his thoughts about the game. He replied, “We came out a little flat… after the first period it was clear we were going to have to work for it. We came out real strong in the second got a few right off the hop there and then followed it through.”
Coach Dubois was particularly happy for Captain Logan Proulx who continued a “15 game sweep of points in every game which began right from the start of the season.”
The Saints are squaring off against the Eagles again tonight but in the country due south of here. A win tonight and they will be tied with Simon Fraser for first in the standings. The Saints next home game is February 8 against Victoria. Game time is 7:30 in the evening at the Castlegar Complex.
