When head coach Dan Andreassen says that goaltending is the key to his team, it is no exaggeration.
The Langley LY1 Eagles were seeded fifth for the seven-team Langley Cup bantam playoffs over the weekend at Sportsplex, but emerged No. 1 when the dust had settled.
And their goaltender played a big role in that.
“Our goaltender is the backbone of our team,” Andreassan said.
With Nicholas Cristiano in goal, the Eagles won back-to-back games in the shootout to claim the Cup.
Cristiano stopped all four shooters he faced while Teagan Brayshaw was able to convert on his opportunity to send the Eagles to a 2-1 victory over the Langley LY3 Raiders in Monday’s championship final.
The Raiders entered the Cup playoffs seeded third.
In the final game, Ian Bolli put the Eagles up 1-0 early in the first period and that was the game’s only goal until the opening moments of the final frame when Brandon Watson was finally able to solve Cristiano.
Neither team scored in the five-minute four-on-four overtime, sending the game to a shootout.
In their march to the Cup, the Eagles knocked off the top three seeds.
“We just got hot at the right time,” Andreassen said.
The team is made up of: Nicholas Cristiano, Wyatt Andreassen, Tayten Berkey, Ian Bolli, Teagan Brayshaw, Carson Brown, Benjamin Casey, Luke Casey, Aidan Clark, Scott Crowell, Austen Grummett, Shaanraj Malhi, Adrian May, Luke Meyers, Logan Schroeder and Sean Wade.
The coaches are: Dan Andreassen, Mark Casey and Jason Grummett and Heather Wade is the manager.
sports@langleytimes.com
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