FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 12th, 2017
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors extended their home-winning streak to six games with a 4-3 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Sunday afternoon at Royal LePage Place.
The Warriors opened the scoring on Sunday afternoon as Lucas Cullen chipped a puck by a Spruce King defender to force an odd man rush for the Warriors. Cullen fed a pass for Jared Marino on the right wing who went back for Cullen as he shot it past Prince George netminder Bradley Cooper for a 1-0 Warriors lead at the 5:24 mark of the 1st period.
Chase Stevenson doubled up the Warriors advantage on the power play at the 12:56 mark of the first frame after a nice tic-tac-toe passing play. Parm Dhaliwal got the puck down low for Chase Dubois as he centered to the left face-off circle for Stevenson as he fired his 6th goal of the season past Cooper on the blocker side for a 2-0 Warriors lead.
Just 59 seconds after that goal, on another Warriors power play, the Spruce Kings struck shorthanded at the 13:55 mark of the 2nd period as Kyle Johnson tapped in a puck from the crease on a pass from the corner to make it a 2-1 game in favour of the Warriors.
The Warriors started the 2nd period with lots of jump and it resulted in a goal just 35 seconds into the period as Michael Lombardi tucked in a wraparound for his 6th goal of the season and restored a two-goal advantage for the Warriors as they took a 3-1 lead.
The Spruce Kings again were able to get the game to within a goal as Dustin Manz converted from the right face-off circle on a similar play to the Warriors second goal as a pass from the corner came out to Manz at the 15:13 mark of the 2nd period and diminished the Warriors lead to 3-2.
Another early period goal, and the eventual game winner, got the Warriors lead to two goals once more as Jared Marino scored his 7th goal of the season on another power play. Marino got a pass from below the goal line and put it past Cooper from the front of the crease for a 4-2 Warriors lead at the 1:57 mark of the 3rd period.
The Spruce Kings got the game back to within one as on a power play, Ben Brar fired a shot up and over the blocker side of the Warriors goaltender Cody Porter to make the final three minutes interesting.
Prince George pulled their goaltender for a 6-on-5 opportunity but the Warriors defended the front of their net well and pulled away with a 4-3 victory. Cody Porter picked up his first win of the season with 31 saves on 34 shots while Bradley Cooper turned aside 24 of the 28 shots he faced in his 4th loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Warriors
FINAL SHOTS ON GOAL: 34-28 Spruce Kings
Warriors PP: 2/3
Warriors PK: 2/3
3 Stars:
1) Jared Marino (1-1-2)
2) Pam Dhaliwal (0-2-2)
3) Ethan de Jong (0-3-3)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Michael Lombardi (1-0-1)
ATTENDANCE: 903
The Warriors (14-9-0-0) are back in action on Wednesday night as they head to Kal Tire Place for the third and final time in the regular season as they take on the Vernon Vipers (15-5-4-0). Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the pre-game show starting at 6:45 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and HockeyTV.com with the voice of the Warriors, Trevor Miller.
The Warriors are holding a live auction for their Remembrance Day jerseys that were wore in honour of the veterans on Wednesday, November 8th against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Visit www.westkelownawarriors.ca/auction for more information and to learn how to bid on your favourite Warriors players jersey! The bidding comes to a close on Tuesday, November 14th at 3:00 PM.
