PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The West Kelowna Warriors wrap up their four-game home stand with a visit from the Island Division’s Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
Warriors vs. Capitals 2017/18 Schedule:
Thursday, September 21st @ Prospera Centre (2-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 21st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 9th @ Island Savings Centre (7:00 PM)
The Warriors and Capitals met exactly one month ago at the Bauer BCHL Showcase with West Kelowna coming away with a 2-1 victory. Chase Dubois scored 44 seconds into the game while Stephen Kleysen tallied the eventual game winning goal midway through the 2nd period. Cole Demers was very good in between the pipes with 26 saves on 27 shots for the victory.
West Kelowna enters Saturday night’s affair with back-to-back wins coming in the form of a 4-1 victory over the Nanaimo Clippers before a 5-2 win against the Langley Rivermen on Tuesday night. Chase Dubois scored twice in the win while RJ Murphy, Jared Marino and Peter Tomaras added singles in the Warriors win. Nik Amundrud turned aside 22 of the 24 shots he faced for his 6th win of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jared Marino (6-7-13)
Cavin Tilsley (3-9-12)
Michael Ryan (1-10-11)
Matt Kowalski (5-5-10)
RJ Murphy (5-5-10)
The Warriors are off to one of their best starts in franchise history with ten wins in their first fourteen games. West Kelowna picked up their 10th win on October 17th, just over a month before they did so one year ago as the Warriors won their 10th game on November 18th of last season. The Warriors currently sit tied for 2nd in the Interior Division, along with the Vernon Vipers, with 20 points.
There will be a new face in the Warriors lineup on Saturday night as forward Michael Lombardi will make his Warriors debut. The Barrington, Rhode Island native was acquired from the Chilliwack Chiefs on Thursday where he collected two goals and five points with the Chiefs in 13 games so far this season.
RJ Murphy has begun to find his game at the BCHL level as he has been a strong producer for the Warriors over the last half a dozen games or so. The Needham, Massachusetts native has collected points in 5 of his last 6 games and has vaulted to 5th on the Warriors in scoring with 5 goals and 10 points.
The Cowichan Valley Capitals come into Saturday night’s action with a record of 1-10-0-2 and sit in the 5th place spot in the Island Division. The Caps started their Interior road swing with a 4-1 loss to the Trail Smoke Eaters last night at Cominco Arena. Azzaro Tinling scored the lone Capitals marker while Adam Marcoux was busy in goal, turning aside 47 of the 51 shots he faced in the game for his 9th loss of the season.
Capitals Leading Scorers:
David Laroche (1-7-8)
Andrew Jackson (2-5-7)
Ty Pochipinski (5-1-6)
Ethan Scardina (4-2-6)
Hugh Larkin (3-3-6)
The Capitals are searching for their first victory in 10 games with a record of 0-8-0-2 in that span, having not won since September 17th against the Coquitlam Express on home ice. Cowichan Valley is the lowest scoring team in the BCHL with 30 goals so far in 13 games and has tallied one in each of their last three contests along with having given up the most goals in the league with 65 allowed through those 13 games.
In between the pipes for the Caps, Adam Marcoux, the three-year BCHL veteran, gets the night off after a 47 save performance one night ago in Trail. The Warriors will see Terrebonne, Quebec native Yann Dery who gets into his 6th game of the season. Dery owns a 0-3 record to go along with a 4.19 GAA and a .881 SV% and has faced a total of 119 shots in the three games he has started this season.
The Warriors and Capitals drop the puck at 7:00 PM tonight from RLP with tickets available at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the door ahead of puck drop. West Kelowna will be paying their respects to the legendary Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, who lost his battle with brain cancer on Wednesday, as music man Kris Patzer will be rocking “The Hip” all night long.
The Warriors have introduced a new Fan’tatstic Five ticket package that gives fans a chance to experience five of the most highly anticipated games of the season for just $55.55 with games against the Wenatchee Wild, Penticton Vees, Salmon Arm Silverbacks, Vernon Vipers and Victoria Grizzlies. For more information on these packs and all ticket info, visit the Warriors office or call (250) 769-7051.
