The North Island Eagles atom development hockey team turned road warriors last weekend, sweeping a pair of games on a trip south while unleashing an impressive offensive display.
Saturday was a wire-to-wire romp, with Mathew Saunders scoring a hat trick and Luke Gage posting a five-point game with two goals and three assists in a 10-4 win at Sooke.
Sunday was a back-and-forth affair at Cowichan Valley, with the Eagles overcoming a late deficit with three straight third-period goals from Keenan Saunders, Gage and Saunders to win 9-7.
The atoms jumped to a 3-0 lead, surrendered five straight goals to the Capitals, then rallied with five scores of their own in the final period to regain the lead and cap the weekend sweep.
Mathew Saunders and Gage, two of the team's six returning veterans, each had hat tricks in Sunday's win, and Rhys Dutcyvich and Ryan Patterson added scores. Keenan Saunders (no relation), one of the half-dozen newcomers to the program, finished with goals in both games, first-year member Peyton Dugas added a goal Saturday and fellow rookie Koen Harwood added his first goal of the season and earned player of the game honours in Saturday's win as the first-year players displayed continued growth.
Goalie Kayden Jones, another first-year atom, got the win in net both days as the Eagles improved to 10-5-1.
In Saturday's win at Sooke, Patterson added two goals and an assist and Dutcyvich had a goal and two assists. Keenan Saunders also had two assists and Liem Wadhams and Dugas chipped in helpers.
On Sunday, assists went to Dutcyvich, Mathew Saunders, Aidan Watson and Dugas, who was selected player of the game.