Article by I. Schoonderbeek/Media by C. Archer
The Eagles are back in the win column.
After a tough loss in Georgina and a disastrous performance in Schomberg, the Junior ‘C’ club headed to Port Perry Sunday afternoon, looking to get the ship righted.
“We had played a good game up in Georgina until we gave up the shorthanded goal on the five-minute powerplay in the third. Then we lost our composure, and I got myself tossed, which didn’t help matters,” said Eagles head coach Dean Baumhauer. “I watched the tape of our game in Schomberg last week. It was probably the worst game I’ve seen us play in four years. But a little adversity can be a good thing from a coaching standpoint. We had an opportunity to redeem ourselves against a good Port Perry team that had won six straight heading into this game.”
The Eagles got on the scoreboard just under the 15-minute mark of the first period Sunday afternoon. Adam Klaas skated the puck down the right wing on the play before dropping a pass to the trailing Nate Burelle. Burelle made no mistake picking the top corner with a perfect shot for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Before the period was up, Clarington struck again. This time Klaas was the finisher, slamming home a rebound at the top of the crease from a Nolan Matheson point shot for his 5th of the season.
The Eagles kept rolling in the second. Just over three minutes into the frame, Matheson found Mitch Davies streaking down the left wing with a long breakout pass. Davies blew by a flat-footed defenseman to walk in alone and roof the puck over the Lumberjacks goaltender.
Kyle Smith made it 4-0 Clarington a few minutes later. With the Eagles swarming the offensive zone, Smith finished off the play from the side of the Port Perry goal for his 8th of the year from Matheson and Trevor Urquhart.
There was no let-up from Clarington in the third.
With the Eagles shorthanded early in the period, Davies blocked a Port Perry point shot and turned it into a long breakaway from his own blue line. The Port Perry goalkeeper managed to stop Davies’ first attempt, in which he appeared to try to slip through the 5-hole. But Davies stopped at the edge of the crease and chipped in his own rebound for his 8th of the year.
Later in the frame, Eagles rookie Owen White turned a Lumberjacks forward inside-out at the offensive blueline before walking in to the hashmarks and blowing a wrist shot past the goaltender.
Port Perry pushed late in an attempt to spoil the shutout bid, but the Eagles held on for a 6-0 win. Jairus Ford was perfect in goal, stopping 17 shots for his first shutout of the season.
“Our guys played hockey today,” said Baumhauer. ”Our back end was solid from top to bottom. No energy was wasted on after-the-whistle stuff. Our top guys up front were all excellent, and our depth guys like Boates, Mathieson and Whitey were all solid as well.”
Rookie forward Logan Jackman drew high praise from Baumhauer for his efforts. ”Jacko is earning my trust defensively, so his ice time will go up,” said Dean. “I’ve been using him on the penalty kill. He’s been playing wing and centre. I’m really happy with his development so far this year.”
“Overall, I’m proud of the bounce back after that last two games. You need to see whether the last couple of games are a hiccup, or do we have to start thinking about looking to add something to the lineup earlier than I hoped to? This afternoon was a total team effort. When you’re up four or five nothing, guys sometimes start thinking they need to score, and they cheat the game. We kept playing defense and playing below the puck, and that’s what I want to see.”
Veteran forward Nate Burelle appears to have taken no time adjusting to his new surroundings after being acquired by Clarington in the off-season. Once a Clarington rival dating back to his minor hockey days in the Quinte Red Devils system, the crafty winger now leads the Eagles in scoring with 22 points through the first 12 games of the season. He has done so while playing a solid 200-foot game, making him a perfect fit with Baumhauer’s brand of hockey.
Like most players who make the Eagles’ dressing room home, Burelle quickly focused on the team when discussing his early season success. “All the guys here are great,” said Nate. “Playing with a guy like Mitch makes it easy. He just works so hard every shift and draws a lot of attention which gives me a little extra space to work.”
The Eagles will be looking to put last week’s 6-2 defeat clearly in the rearview mirror when they host Schomberg in a rematch at home this Thursday at Rickard Arena. Puck drop is 7:25 as usual.