Eagles Advance to WCC Final

The Surrey Eagles advanced to the final of the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup on Thursday afternoon with a 3-1 win over the Yorkton Terriers in their final round robin game. As a result of the win, the Birds will now face the Brooks Bandits on Saturday night. The winner will advance to the Royal Bank Cup.

Both teams started the game with a lot of jump, but it was the Eagles who found the net first as Brady Shaw danced into the slot and ripped a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Terriers goalie Dawson MacAuley to open the scoring just 2:22 into the game. The Terriers had a good chance to even the score late in the period when Michael Santaguida robbed Jeremy Johnson on the doorstep after the Yorkton forward knocked a rebound on goal, but Santaguida kicked out the left pad to keep the puck out.

Demico Hannoun nearly put the Eagles ahead by two when he hit the goal post on a golden opportunity off a three-on-one midway through the second, and the Terriers tied the game a few minutes later when Nathan Murray beat Santaguida up high with a quick shot from the slot. The Birds responded well though as Shaw scored his second of the night a couple of minutes after the equalizer, going short side on MacAuley from the left circle after a quick transition play.

The two teams traded chances in the third, but the Eagles found the insurance goal on the power play as Adam Tambellini tallied his third of the tournament, burying a wrister into the back of the net. The Terriers fought hard until the end, pulling MacAuley in the final two minutes for an extra attacker, but the Surrey defence did a good job of keeping the Yorkton attackers to the outside, and the Birds clinched their spot in the tournament final.

There were only three penalties in the game as the Terriers went 0-for-1 on the power play while the Eagles were 1-for-2. Yorkton out shot Surrey 36-25.

The Birds' match-up with Brooks on Saturday will be a 7:00pm face-off at Frank Crane Arena. While the winning team will capture the Western Canada Cup, the losing team will still have a chance to move on as they'll have to play the winner of the game between the third place and fourth place teams in order to advance to the RBC.

Surrey Player of the Game: Devon Toews

Yorkton Player of the Game: Nathan Murray

My 3 Stars:
1. Brady Shaw - Surrey
2. Devon Toews - Surrey
3. Drew Best - Surrey