FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 24th, 2017
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors scored five 3rd period goals and got tallies from seven different goal scorers in a 7-2 victory over the Merritt Centennials on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
The Warriors erupted for five goals in the final period of play in what was a penalty filled contest that saw West Kelowna on the power play 12 times, scoring four goals on the man advantage en route to their 16th win of the season.
RJ Murphy stared the scoring for the Warriors at the 17:50 mark of the opening period as he deflected in a Jake Harrison point shot from the left point on the power play for his 8th goal of the season and gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead and would be the only goal of the opening period.
The Warriors lead was extended to two goals late in the 2nd period at the 16:04 mark as Parm Dhaliwal took a pass from Chase Dubois from inside of the Warriors zone and cut to the right face-off and beat Centennials netminder Jacob Berger post and in for his 6th goal of the season and a 2-0 Warriors lead.
The Centennials got themselves on the board in a fortunate way as a dump in to the Warriors zone banked off corner stanchion and right to the slot as Henry Cleghorn was first to it for the Cents and got Merritt on the scoreboard at the 18:36 mark of the 2nd period.
West Kelowna began to add on to their lead and restored a two-goal advantage at the 2:35 mark of the 3rd period as Spencer Hora made a nice move to the inside of the Merritt zone and snuck a shot through the legs of Berger for his 1st goal of the season and his 2nd career marker to put the Warriors ahead 3-1.
On another power play, Willie Reim gave the Warriors a 4-1 lead as he wheeled up to the high slot and caught Berger cheating to the glove side as he slid the puck by on the blocker side for his 7th goal of the season at the 4:07 mark of the 3rd period.
Warriors captain Jared Marino added to the scoring with another power play marker at the 5:49 mark of the 3rd period as Marino snapped a shot from the right face-off circle by Berger, closing out his night and giving the Warriors captain his 10th goal of the season and a 5-1 lead.
The Warriors scored their fourth power play goal of the night as Jordan Todd collected his 2nd goal of the season after a Centennials defenseman tried to clear the puck from the crease but not before Todd poked his stick in the way and forced the puck over the goal line at the 8:46 mark for a 6-1 Warriors lead.
Christian Sabin added a goal for the Centennials at the 13:06 mark of the 3rd period before Michael Lombardi finished off the scoring in the final frame of the game at the 17:33 mark as he sped past the defense and slid the puck through the legs of Austin Roden for a 7-2 Warriors lead.
Nik Amundrud made his return to the lineup after missing nine games and was very solid in the Warriors crease, making 35 saves on 37 shots for his 7th win of the season while Jacob Berger turned aside 32 of the 37 shots he faced in his 13 loss of the season while Austin Roden stopped 5 of the 7 shots he faced in a relief appearance.
FINAL SCORE: 7-2 Warriors
FINAL SHOTS ON GOAL: 44-37 Warriors
Warriors PP: 4/12
Warriors PK: 4/4
3 Stars:
1) Chase Dubois (0-3-3)
2) Cavin Tilsley (1-1-2)
3) Nik Amundrud (35 saves on 37 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Spencer Hora (1-0-1)
ATTENDANCE: 928
The Warriors (16-10-0-1) close out their weekend at home as they take on the Vernon Vipers (18-6-4-0) at Royal LePage Place as the Warriors finish up their annual Parent’s Weekend. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office ahead of the opening face-off.
