The North Island Midget Eagles had a rough first round playoff game against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Sunday at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy, falling 5-1 over three penalty-filled periods.
The Bulldogs got out to an early lead when Nick Sexton wristed the puck past Eagles goaltender Nigel Walkus at 14:26, and then the Bulldogs scored two more goals after that, courtesy of Noah Fatur at 8:03 and Carter Nelson at 7:10.
The Eagles would gain a bit of revenge with 3:52 left in the first period, thanks to Carson Strang scoring from the side of the net off a beautiful setup by linemate Clayton Bono.
However, the Bulldogs poured on the heat from there. Carter Elder found the back of the net at 11:33 of the second period, and then Sexton and Elder notched their second goals of the game in the third period to take a 5-1 victory back to the Alberni Valley.
The Eagles had a bit of an up-and-down season this year, posting a 4-7-1 record with 41 Goals For and 63 Goals Against in Tier 2 play.
The Eagles will look to rebound from the playoff loss against the Kings in Powell River on Feb. 10.