The Squamish Midget Rep Eagles soared home with gold medals after snatching four consecutive victories to win the Abbotsford Hawks Memorial Midget Tournament on Nov. 11.The Tier 3 tournament victory is a positive indication of how the team will fare in March when Squamish hosts the Midget Tier 3 Provincial Championships. The Eagles faced hockey teams from Vancouver Island and the Interior while there were teams as far away as Whitehorse competing."I knew they had it in them," said head coach Tony Mahood. "It shows them that they can do it, that they can be successful in league play and in these tournaments."Squamish beat the Coquitlam Chiefs 3-2 in the final game. Goaltender Corey Koop made a critical stop on a third period penalty shot to keep the lead and Spencer Johnston scored the game-winner. Coquitlam pulled its goalie for the extra attacker but the Eagles held on tight. Colten Mahood received MVP honours for the championship game.Good conditioning proved to be an important key to success because the team had to stay strong through five games over four days. Moreover, each game consisted of three 20-minute periods rather than the two 15-minute periods and one 20-minute period games featured in league play throughout the Lower Mainland. The Interior teams are used to the long games but Squamish had to adjust. Mahood likes the longer format because it gives him more time to gauge new teams and make strategic adjustments. The players did there part by powering through lots of dry land training and hard skates during pre-season preparation, he said."They just kept going - especially against the Interior team, which are used to playing like that. These guys just never quit." The tournament didn't go smoothly right from the beginning, however. The Eagles got off to a slow start and lost to Ridge Meadows 6-4 in the tournament's opener. Squamish bounced back huge the following day and thumped North Vancouver 9-1, which started the impressive winning streak."They came out very strong and completely dominated North Van," said Mahood. "It was good because everybody got in on the scoring and it was a good game to get back into it and keep the momentum up all the way through."Squamish followed with a 4-2 win over the Peninsula Eagles of Vancouver Island and a 4-0 victory over Kelowna's Edge of Excellence Academy. Jacob Melville, Jacob Dickau, Bryce Hurlbert and Kevyn Sander earned game MPV honours and both Koop and Lyndon Jhuty played exceptional between the posts, said Mahood.Squamish plays its regular season home opener on Sunday at Brennan Park Arena at 6:30 p.m.
