A provincial championship wasn鈥檛 in the cards for the 91原创 Eagles.

Playing Cranbrook in the midget tier 2 championship final on March 21 in Saanich, the Eagles fell 4-1 in the gold medal game.

鈥淲e probably could have played two more games and not scored on that goalie,鈥� said Eagles coach Ron Leroux.

鈥淲e were destined not to score.鈥�

In the championship game, 91原创 hit five goal posts and missed several open nets, the coach lamented.

鈥淚 think we used it (goal scoring) all up in the previous two games,鈥� he quipped.

Leroux was referring to the team鈥檚 8-4 win over Rossland-Trail in the semifinals and their 7-2 victory over Prince George in the final round robin game.

The Eagles went 1-2 in round robin play to finish second in their pool.

They lost their first two games by identical 4-3 scores to Powell River and Penticton, but bounced back to defeat Prince George.

With 91原创, Prince George and Penticton all sporting 1-2 records, the Eagles received their pool鈥檚 second spot thanks to having the best goal differential of the three squads at plus-five.

Against Cranbrook, the Eagles played fantastic but were done in by a lack of finish.

But the silver medal is a nice feather in the cap for the team which went 37-7-10 and won a pair of tournaments: the season-opening Seafair Icebreaker in Richmond and then the New Westminster Herb House tournament in December.

The success doesn鈥檛 surprise Leroux.

鈥淕oing in, I knew we had a lot of top-end kids,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he team had the feeling of a top-level team right out of the gate.鈥�

鈥淚t was just a matter of having them work together.鈥�

One of the things that impressed the coach was what they were able to accomplish despite losing 180 player games to injury.

鈥淣othing like I have ever seen before,鈥� he marveled.

鈥淪o full credit to the group for staying the course.鈥�