Two teams from the BC Hockey League’s Interior Division left the South Surrey Arena with two points last weekend, as both the Merritt Centennials and Vernon Vipers topped the Surrey Eagles.
The Cents edged the Eagles 5-4 Friday night, while Vernon won 5-3 on Sunday evening.
With five consecutive losses in as many games this month, the Eagles are now 7-31-3 (won-loss-overtime loss) with 17 games remaining on the schedule. They are 18 points out of a playoff position, trailing the fourth-place Coquitlam Express in the Mainland Division standings.
Surrey tried to come from behind in both losses. In each of the first two periods against the Vipers, the Eagles scored first only to give up the next two goals.
Surrey’s Ben Vikich notched the game’s first goal after nine minutes of play, but the Lakers led 2-1 after 20 minutes.
A goal from Latrell Charleson four minutes into the second period pulled the Eagles into a 2-2 tie, but the Vipers netted a pair of late goals for a 4-2 advantage after two periods.
Vernon made it 5-2 with a powerplay effort early in the third period, before Surrey native Jordan Funk notched his second of the year with 11 minutes to play.
Vernon had a wide edge in play, outshooting the Eagles 33-18.
The Eagles were also outshot by a wide margin Friday night as the Centennial had a 34-23 edge, but Surrey came up only one goal short after a rally in the last 21 minutes.
Darius Davidson scored Surrey’s first goal, which cut a Merritt lead to 2-1 in the first period. The lead was 5-1 in the second period when the Eagles started chipping away at the deficit.
Quinn Lenihan got the home team’s second goal with 28 seconds left before the second intermission. Latrell Charleson then tallied twice early in the third to get the Eagles to within one.
Davidson assisted on three goals to finish with four points on the night.
A pair of Mainland Division teams are the opponents next weekend, as the first-place Langley Rivermen visit the South Surrey Arena Friday night at 7:11 p.m. The Eagles are in Chilliwack to play the second-place Chiefs Saturday.