Gillis leads Eagles to Victory with Shutout of Merchants

After dropping their first three games of the season—a back-to-back contest with Port Perry and a 5-1 defeat to Uxbridge—the Little Britain Merchants came into Thursday’s battle at the Garnet B. Rickard Complex-Toyota Pad against the Clarington Eagles with their first win of the year, when they defeated Caledon 10-0. On the other side of the ice, the Eagles were looking to kick their offense into gear, in three games this season they have only scored four goals.

1st Period

The Eagles came out controlling the play and would get the best chance early, as there was an open net at the side of the goal, but the puck just hopped over the stick before being deposited into the back of the net. But the Eagles’ offense continued, and with that comes reward: a shot by Carson Mackenzie is stopped by Merchants Goaltender Colton Webster, but sitting on the doorstep to put in his third goal of the year was Blake Peters-Davey to make it 1-0 Eagles.

Little Britain did not muster many chances in the first. At the eight-minute mark, they would get their first real opportunity with a shot by Kyle Allan just inside the Eagles’ zone. It was steered off to the right by Eagles Goaltender Nate Gillis. The Eagles had a great chance to go up by two, as Gage Ford would sneak into the slot on an attempt at a one-time shot, passed by Blake Peters-Davey, but did not convert. The Eagles led 1-0 after one period of play.

2nd Period

Carson Mackenzie would score his first as a Clarington Eagle just 56 seconds into this second period. And the Eagles would keep things coming after that. A two-on-one attack with Gianluca Meli and Ben Stycuk resulted in Ben Stycuk finishing off a great play and making it a 3-0 Eagles’ lead at 6:41.

The Eagles had another two-on-one in the period, but not the same result, as Owen White and Caeden Allenby failed to click on their chance in front of the goal.

3rd Period

In the third, the Eagles had a chance to pull ahead by more. They would be given a shortened two-man advantage, but nothing became of it. Before the end of this one, some rough stuff played a part in the game, with some misconducts being given out the rest of the way. Nate Gillis would earn the shutout, stopping all 19 shots coming his way. A big night for Eagles #15 Carson Mackenzie with one goal and two assists helped lead the charge.

Now the Eagles will play their closest geographical rival for the first time this season, the Port Perry Lumberjacks, at the Scugog Arena, Sunday, September 28, at 2:25 PM, before returning home for their first game of a new month, Thursday, October 2nd, against the Caledon Golden Hawks at 7:25 PM.

Come Fly with Your Clarington Eagles! 🦅

Mike Jackman