It’s been quite the impressive start for the North Island Bantam Eagles this season.
After winning an exhibition game against a Tier 1 team in Courtenay on Sept. 15, the Eagles then spread their wings and flew back home for two games in the North Island the very next weekend. The first game was on Saturday, Sept. 21 against league rivals the Powell River Kings, and it definitely did not disappoint.
Jack Barrett opened the scoring early on for the Eagles in the first period with a beauty of a shot top shelf at 10:39, assisted by Kale Hunt, and they kept on scoring from there. Landon Turgeon, Hunt, William Grant, Zach Spafford, and Barrett all scored in the second period to make it 6-0, with assists going to Grant, Turgeon, Lucca Stewart, Christopher Topfer and Hunt. The third period featured more of the same, with Spafford, Jonah Johnson and Tye Morash all finding the back of the net, assists going to Stewart, Adam Russell and Spafford.
Powell River managed to net two goals in the third, courtesy of Dreyden Harris, but that was all she wrote for the Kings, as the Eagles skated away with a blowout 9-2 victory.
Head coach Glenn Moore was proud of the team after the game, noting the lines are now “starting to come together” and that the team still has “lots of work to do on our side of centre.”
The Eagles, riding high on momentum after the win against the Kings, squared off against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs the next day at the Chilton Regional Arena in Port McNeill. This game ended up being a massive blowout, as the Eagles hammered the Bulldogs 13-0 over three periods. Goals were scored by Turgeon (x4), Morash (x2), Johnson, Barrett (x2), Spafford, Hunt, and Aren Kufaas (x2).
“We had some really good moments where everything was clicking,” said Moore after the game, “then there were times when we got away from the system and fell into old habits. All in all I would say it was a successful weekend. All of our lines contributed. Defence did their part and our goaltending was good.”
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