PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The West Kelowna Warriors are back on home ice for an inter-divisional matchup against the Mainland Division’s Surrey Eagles in their lone visit to Royal LePage Place on Tuesday night.
Warriors vs. Eagles 2017/18 Schedule:
Tuesday, October 10th @ South Surrey Arena (3-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, February 6th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors and Eagles play in the second and final meeting of their season series on Tuesday with West Kelowna coming away with a 3-2 victory in Surrey in early October. The Eagles scored twice in the first 3:44 of the game but goals from Jared Marino, Peter Tomaras and Bennett Norlin helped the Warriors to the victory. Cole Demers started the game, making a save on three shots before Nik Amundrud turned aside all 31 shots he faced in the game for the win in between the pipes.
West Kelowna enters Tuesday night with a 24-24-1-1 record and sits in 5th place in the Interior Division after back-to-back losses on the weekend to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday before a 6-3 loss to the Merritt Centennials on Saturday. RJ Murphy, Chase Dubois and Ryan Steele found the back of the net for the Warriors while Cole Demers stopped 21 of the 27 shots he faced in his 9th loss of the season.
Warriors Scoring Leaders:
Jared Marino (19-31-50)
Chase Dubois (17-28-45)
Ryan Steele (13-28-41)
RJ Murphy (19-20-39)
Michael Ryan (5-31-36)
RJ Murphy continued his hot stretch of play on Saturday night by scoring the Warriors first goal of the night and tied Warriors captain Jared Marino for the team lead in goals with 19. The Harvard University commit has been red hot over his last four games with six goals and nine points during that four-game stretch. Murphy is one of three Warriors to have played in all 50 games of the regular season along defensemen Michael Ryan and Wyatt Head.
Three other Warriors forwards have had a spark offensively as of late with Ryan Steele, Chase Dubois and Parm Dhaliwal all seeing plenty of success over the last handful of games. Steele has registered 5 goals and 11 points on a five-game point streak while Dubois has 2 goals and 8 points in his last five games, with points in four of five games. Dhaliwal has also been impressive with a four-game point streak with 3 goals and 6 points in that span and has collected points in six of his last seven games.
With back-to-back losses on the weekend, the Warriors look to get back in the win column and may have just what the doctor ordered with the Mainland Division’s Eagles coming into town. The Warriors hold an 8-1-0-0 record against Mainland Division foes this season including a victory over the Eagles earlier this season in October. Dating back to January 25th, 2015, West Kelowna has won six straight head-to-head matchups between the two teams.
The Surrey Eagles come into Tuesday night’s affair with a 24-18-2-5 record and sit 2nd in the Mainland Division after a 6-0 loss to the Coquitlam Express in a rare Thursday afternoon contest at the South Surrey Arena. Daniel Davidson stopped 31 of the 37 shots he faced in the game in his 14th loss of the season and was the 2nd time the Eagles have been shutout this season.
Eagles Leading Scorers:
Ty Westgard (12-46-58)
John Wesley (33-23-56)
Desi Burgart (17-23-40)
Ryan Brushett (17-22-39)
Jeffrey Stewart (14-24-38)
The Eagles are in the midst of their best season since their appearance in the 2014 Fred Page Cup as their 24 wins ranks them tied for 8th in the BCHL. With former Warriors assistant and Salmon Arm Silverbacks head coach Brandon West at the helm, the Eagles are one win shy of their total from the last two seasons combined. Surrey will also be making an appearance in the BCHL playoffs for the first time since 2015.
There’s plenty of offence to be weary of as they boast a pair of players in the top 3 in the BCHL of both goals and assists in the likes of John Wesley and Ty Westgard. Wesley, who will play in his 100th career BCHL game on Tuesday, has had a strong season with 33 goals and sees him tied for the top spot in goal scoring with the Wenatchee Wild’s Jasper Weatherby. Westgard, a veteran of 125 career BCHL games, is 2nd in the league at 46 assists, trailing Wenatchee’s Cooper Zech who leads the charge with 51 helpers.
The Eagles made a big move at the Trade Deadline with the acquisition of goaltender Mario Cavaliere and the move has paid immediate dividends. The Mississauga, Ontario native was picked up from the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and in six games has compiled a 3.04 GAA and a .926 SV% to go along with a 3-3 record. The 20-year-old has three shutouts in his six starts and has faced over 40 shots in four of those six games including in each of his last three games.
The Warriors and Eagles drop the puck at 7:00 PM with $2.50 draft beer and 25 cent chicken wings being offered! Tickets are available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office one hour prior to the opening face-off.
