Sylvie Paillard
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The Squamish Pee Wee Rep team barely had time to breath in back-to-back home games last weekend, which gave goaltenders a chance to show their stuff.
The Eagles faced North Vancouver Saturday night (Jan. 7) at the Brennan Park rink.
"It was a very exciting game," said coach Joe Webber.
The 11 and 12-year olds displayed their improved defensive zone coverage and special teams, killing penalties and taking advantage of power plays during the weekend games.
"We were having a little trouble taking too many penalties because for some of the kids it's their first year body checking and we're working on the team aspect of the game," said Webber. "Now we've turned that around."
Mitchell Roberts blocked the net for Squamish in all but three shots during the game, and the rest of the team banded together to grab the lead and a 4-3 victory.
"I think it's a team effort right from the goalies out," said Webber. "Our defence are playing really well and our forwards are playing really well."
With barely time to rest, the team took the ice again Sunday (Jan. 7) to face the league's first place team from Chilliwack."It was very fast, few penalties to slow it down," said Webber. "It was just end-to-end."
Squamish goaltender Russell Sanderson also showed his talent by stopping numerous shots on goal and allowing only three in net."Russell Sanderson played very well in the loss because our team was outshot," he said.
The weekend games have placed the Eagles in a tie for fourth place in the nine-team league.
And captain Dalton Thrower is helping to lead the team to a stronger position.
"He's taken a real leadership role," said Webber. "He's an older boy and he has a lot of experience so he's helping us out quite a bit just with his efforts both defensively and offensively. He's leading by example."
The Eagles now go on the road to face West Vancouver on Saturday (Jan. 14).
