Sicamous Eagles netminder Kolby Pauwels may be seeing a lot more ice time.
The Kamloops native was a wall Sunday night, Nov. 10, when the Eagles played Doug Birks Division rivals the 100 Mile House Wranglers. While the two teams are separated by 19 points in the standings, the underdog Sicamous team managed to shake their seven-game losing streak and best their 100 Mile hosts with a 3-2 win. A big factor behind that win was Pauwels’ performance in net, stopping 26 out of 28 shots on net, and going on to be named the game’s first star.
When Pauwels’ wasn’t blocking shots, his teammates were busy bombarding the Wranglers’ net, with 40 out of 43 shots being intercepted by goalie Adam Derochie.
Scoring began with a Wranglers’ power-play conversion in the first minute of the game. At 16:54, Eagles d-man Landon Fuller tied things up with a marker off Danny O’Donnell and Scott Robinson. In the last quarter of the frame, fellow d-man Arlyn Semeschuk potted a goal off Brendan Sime-Vivian and Tyler Collens, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead going into the second.
Robinson was the only player to find the back of a net in the second period with a goal off O’Donnell. The Eagles held on to the 3-1 lead right up to the last two seconds of the game, when the Wranglers were able to convert their man advantage – the result of an interference call on Astasiewicz – into one more goal before the final buzzer.
The exciting win followed some home ice frustration earlier in the week, including a 5-4 defeat to the Columbia Valley Rockies and a serious 6-1 upset courtesy of the Golden Rockets.
In the latter game, played Saturday, Nov. 14, neither team was able to find the back of the net until 13:27 in the second frame, when the Rockets finally found a way past Eagles’ netminder Patrick Kasper. Minutes later, Landon Fuller, assisted by Ian Jarvis and Sime-Vivian, shot a rocket from the blue line that became his first goal of the season. The Eagles continued to play an energetic game, with great defence and two power-play opportunities. But the Rockets returned fire, and able to score two more goals before the period’s end.
A quarter of the way into the third, the Rockets’ Travis Kelley added his second goal of the night. In the last quarter of the frame, with the score still at 4-1, the Eagles pulled their goalie. This gave Kelley an opportunity to earn the hat trick. Golden’s final goal of the night was delivered on a power play at 1:19.
The Eagles Nov. 10 contest versus the Rockies was a solid, action-filled game throughout. Thirty-three seconds in, Nicholas Cuglietta lit up the board for the Eagles with a power-play conversion off William Mizuik. Minutes later, Nathan Plessis kept Sicamous’ energy going with an unassisted goal. The Rockies returned fire though, and managed to tie the game up by 10:53 in the first period, keeping it that way until the buzzer. The Rockies’ Kolten Nelson potted two more in the second. But the Eagles kept the pressure up. At 5:38, Jayden Hay, assisted by Jarvis, potted his first goal with the Eagles. Minutes later, Astasiewicz was able to tie the game at 4-4, with assists by Bradley Whitehead and Semeschuk. The tie was broken seconds later with a late marker by the Rockies.
While busy on the ice, the team has also been giving its time to give back. Team members recently enjoyed reading and skating with Sicamous preschool kids. Also, November is Food Bank month, and the team is seeking the community’s help in filling the shelves at the local food bank. Donations of non-perishable food items are being accepted at home game throughout the month. On Sunday, Dec. 13, during a 2 p.m. game versus Summerland, the Eagles will be holding their annual Toque and Mitt toss, where attendees are asked to bring toques and mitts to toss on the ice during intermissions, to be collected for gifts for locally-distributed Christmas hampers.
The Sicamous Eagles will soon have a calendar available for the gift-giving season, to be available for purchase at home games.