Eagles hit midway point in third place

BOWMANVILLE -- It's taken half of the season, but Curtis Hodgins feels things are falling into place for his Bowmanville Eagles.

Sitting third in the Central Canadian Hockey League's East Division with a record of 14-8-3, the Eagles are coming off a weekend in which they captured three of four available points in an overtime loss to the potent Burlington Cougars and a victory over the Lindsay Muskies.

"We had a good weekend and we'll take the three out of four points," Hodgins said matter-of-factly.

In the 2-1 win over Lindsay, the Eagles played a complete game, shutting down the Muskies offence and taking advantage of their own opportunities when it mattered most as Mitch Moffatt tallied the game-winning goal just after the midway mark of the third period.

However, it was Friday's effort in a 3-2 setback to the high-powered Cougars that impressed Hodgins the most, specifically in the defensive end. The Bowmanville defenders and goalie Jackson Teichroeb held Burlington's big guns, Greg Carey and Josh Jooris, at bay for most of the evening, allowing the game to reach overtime.

The dynamic duo, who had combined for 98 points and were only held scoreless three times in 20-plus games heading in, finally broke loose in overtime and combined on the game winner.

"Carey walked out from the top of the circle and buried a wrist shot," Hodgins said in explaining the overtime goal, assisted by Jooris. "Until then we had kept them in check. They are dangerous and probably played 40 minutes of that game. All things considered, we did a pretty good job on them."

With exactly half the schedule remaining for the Eagles, including Friday's game at home (7 p.m.) to Newmarket, Hodgins reflected on the first half, and although he has often preached a desire to see more consistency, for the most part he can't complain with the results.

"I would give the offence a B-minus right now. We certainly haven't scored as much as we'd hoped but the offence is there. I think it will come here with a little bit of time," he said.

The defence?

"I would say it has been a B. They've played pretty well as a group, but there is some improvement that can be made there. We'd like to see them create a little more offence."

And in goal, Teichroeb and Luke Bierworth, who got the win against Lindsay, have certainly proven their worth.

"Our goaltending, I would say has been a B-plus. For two 17-year-old goalies, they've both played really well and kept us in games and provided us with the goaltending we need to win here," noted Hodgins.