The playoffs have arrived for the Squamish Eagles midget rep hockey team, but the club stumbled at home against Semiahmoo on Sunday (Feb. 24).
The Eagles fell behind 3-0 early in the third period and fought back to within one goal only to see the momentum disappear moments later and lost 4-2.
“It’s a little disappointing,” said head coach Tony Mahood. “We beat them [Semiahmoo] all year long. We also took a couple of bad penalties and just couldn’t beat their goalie until we got desperate in the third.”
Mahood said it’s the Eagles’ fifth playoff game and Squamish sits in second place in postseason play after Sunday’s result. The playoffs are played in a round-robin format with the top teams moving on to the next round.
Both goalies were perfect in the first period, but Semiahmoo got on the board seven minutes into the second and beat Eagles goalie Mason Beauregard again four minutes later to skate away with a two-goal lead after two periods. Squamish’s best chance in the first two periods was Ryan Fraser ringing a shot off the post late in the first period.
Semiahmoo added another five minutes into the third but Squamish replied a minute later when forward Tyler Hitchmough scored on the power play. Hitchmough was a force for most of the game, delivering several bone-crushing hits and being a constant threat offensively.
Three minutes after Hitchmough broke the Semiahmoo shutout, Mason Moberg added an unassisted goal to draw the Eagles within one. However, the momentum was stalled when Beauregard misplayed the puck on a dump-in and Semiahmoo took advantage to grab the 4-2 win.
The Eagles will continue playoff action in the coming weeks, with the team’s next home game taking place on March 14. The squad will play its final playoff home game of this round robin on March 17.
For more information on local minor hockey, visit www.squamishminorhockey.com.
