The North Island Atom Eagles continued their February road trip, travelling down island to play the Saanich Braves on Saturday afternoon.
“The kids as always played hard,” said coach Dennis Foster, “Saanich was tough.”
The Braves got on the scoreboard at 10:45 of the first period thanks to a goal from Josh Deringer.
The game would stay that way until late in the second period, when Kyle Rushton scored the game tying goal at 2:41, assisted by Travyn Foster.
The Braves took over in the third, scoring four goals courtesy of Jonathan Look, Ryan Helmkay, Carter Vall, and Travis Swanson.
The Eagles picked up two more goals from Dakota Knighton, assisted by Carter Henschke and Rushton, but it was too little too late, as the Braves held on to win 5-3.
Foster said the game could have gone either way, as the Eagles hit “a couple crossbars early in the game (that) bounced the wrong way … but they never gave up battling to the end.”
The Eagles played the Campbell River Atom B Tyees on Sunday on their way back up island, and this game went a little bit different than the last.
“The Campbell River game they all stepped it up a bit,” said Foster, “Their skating was quicker, passing was crisper.”
The Eagles opened the scoring in the first period with a goal from captain Rylan Krawietz, only for the Tyees to tie the game up at 4:31.
In the second period, the Eagles came out flying, scoring three unanswered goals courtesy of Robert Walkus, Rushton and Isabella Stewart, with assists coming from Maddox Petersen and Stewart.
The Tyees would score only once in the third period, as the Eagles held on for a strong 4-2 win.
Foster was proud of how the kids played, adding, “Lucas Handley held the net for the win.”
The Eagles will be back in action Feb. 17 at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy at 2:30 p.m. against their league rivals, the Powell River Kings.