Eagles win fourth straight


By
February 22, 2015

Soo Eagles have moved into a tie for second place in the North Division of the North American Hockey League.

Backed by a sharp, 36-save outing from goalie Chad Catt, the Eagles completed a weekend sweep of the visiting Michigan Warriors on Saturday with a 3-1 triumph before close to 700 fans at Pullar Stadium.

If not for the cool Catt between the pipes, the Eagles probably would have lost this one. The Warriors out-shot the Eagles 37-17 but a first-period goal by Dalton Skelly was all that got past the quick Catt.

Rookie forward Raymond Brice, who turned in his second straight strong two-way effort of the weekend, got the Eagles on the scoresheet in the second period with a nifty shorthanded goal before veteran pivot Sandis Zolmanis gave the Soo the lead before the end of the stanza.

Second-year forward Bruno Birzitis, who had been lacklustre for most of the weekend, made amends with a third-period insurance goal that sealed the Soo victory.

Along with Catt and Brice, hard-boiled defenceman Pat Gazzillo and hard-hitting winger Denver Pierce played exceptional games for the Eagles.

The win for the Eagles was their fourth straight — all with Catt in the net — and moved them into a second-place tie with the Keystone Ice Miners. Both teams have 53 points with 12 games to play in the regular season.

Catt, who was acquired by the Soo from the Aberdeen Wings at the February 6 NAHL trade deadline, now has a 4-0 record, 1.72 goals against average and .941 save percentage in an Eagles uniform.

HERNANDEZ DEBUTS

Saturday’s game marked the NAHL debut for Eagles 1995 birth-year forward Jacob Hernandez.

Hernandez, who was signed by the Eagles from the Detroit Fighting Irish of the lower-level Midwest Jr. Hockey League on February 10, played eight shifts in his NAHL debut and did not look out of place.

In fact, the 6-foot-3, 215 pound Hernandez dished out a half-dozen solid body checks in his first game action since playing for Detroit back on January 30.

On hand to watch Hernandez play his first NAHL game were eight family members from the Downriver Detroit area, including his father, mother and two older brothers.

UP NEXT

The Eagles are home for three more games, beginning on Thursday, February 26.

Springfield Jr. Blues will head to the Soo for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night games at Pullar Stadium.


What you think about “Eagles win fourth straight”

  1. Its hard to admit but I say the turning point of Saturday night’s game was when Warriors starting goaltender Ryan Wischow left and they had to go with backup Munroe who allowed 3 goals on the fist 4 shots by the Soo. While I don’t like seeing any of these young players injured, the first star of the game might have been Mitch Vanderberg, as it was apparently he who tangled with Wischow. Any word Randy on Wischow’s injury?

  2. #24 Hernandez did OK for his 1st game at this Level .. Big kid , good skater , likes to hit as RR says. I am more impressed with him when I read that he had not played in a game for 3 Weeks. Taking in to account where he has come from I think that he did pretty dam good.
    Catt well what a pick-up by the Eagles , also the big D-man #3 Hamilton is looking good to.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *