The West Kelowna Warriors play their final regular season game tonight as they head to the Shuswap to face-off against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Saturday night.
Season Series:
Friday, October 7th @ Royal LePage Place (5-3 Silverbacks) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 14th @ Shaw Centre (5-4 OT/Silverbacks) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 15th @ Royal LePage Place (6-4 Silverbacks) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, November 2nd @ Shaw Centre (4-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, December 6th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Silverbacks) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, February 15th @ Shaw Centre (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, February 25th @ Shaw Centre (7:00 PM)
The Warriors and Silverbacks play for the final time tonight with Salmon Arm leading the season series by a 4-2 margin but it was the Warriors coming away with the victory the last time these two teams faced off against each other. Logan Mostat and Quin Foreman tallied two first period power play goals while Chase Stevenson scored in each of the 2nd and 3rd period, with his empty net goal being the game winner, to give the Warriors a 4-3 victory in Salmon Arm. Gabriel Morency got the start in goal for the Warriors and picked up the win making 38 saves on 41 shots.
The Warriors come into Saturday night’s game after back-to-back losses with dropping a 5-1 final to the Penticton Vees on Tuesday night at RLP and falling on Friday night by a 8-3 score to the Merritt Centennials in the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Quin Foreman, Parm Dhaliwal and Chase Dubois scored in the defeat for the Warriors while Gabriel Morency made 12 saves on 17 shots in the loss, his fourth of the season, and was relieved by AP backup Owen Partrick as he faced his first BCHL action making 9 saves on 12 shots in the 3rd period of the game.
3rd place in the Interior Division is still up for grabs but the Warriors do not control their own fate as the Trail Smoke Eaters helped themselves out with a 3-1 victory on Friday night against the Vernon Vipers to put them to 58 points on the season and alone in 3rd place. If Trail beats Vernon on Saturday night, they will finish 3rd in the division with the Warriors finishing in 4th place and would see West Kelowna play Merritt in the opening round of the playoffs, If the Warriors win and the Smoke Eaters loss on Saturday, West Kelowna will earn 3rd place in the division and will play the Silverbacks in the first round of the playoffs that start next Friday, March 3rd at Royal LePage Place.
West Kelowna will look to pick up their third win against the Silverbacks this season and there has been plenty of success for one player in particular against Salmon Arm this season as Quin Foreman has torched the ‘Backs this season in the six games the two teams have played against each other. The Norwood, Massachusetts native has tallied four goals along with an impressive 11 assists for 15 points in just 6 games against the Silverbacks this season. The Dartmouth University commit continues to pace the Warriors in scoring as his 26 goals, 42 assists and 68 points all lead the team in each category.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks come into Saturday night’s game with a 23-28-3-3 record and sit in 6th place in the Interior Division with 52 points and enter the game with a four-game winning streak with the latest victory in Duncan on Wednesday night against the Cowichan Valley Capitals. In a makeup game for a cancelled contest on February 10th, the Silverbacks made the trip to Vancouver Island for the rare single game road trip which saw them come away with a 3-1 victory over the Capitals. Nathan Iannone, former Capital Trevor Ayre and Elijiah Barriga all tallied in the win for the ‘Backs while Trevin Kozlowski got the start in net making 30 saves on 31 shots on the Silverbacks goal for his 9th win of the season.
The Silverbacks enter the night sitting 10th in the BCHL in scoring with 176 goals for this season in 57 games. 20-year-old forward and captain Carson Bolduc leads the team assists with 3 and overall points with 57 while another 20-year-old forward in Elijiah Barriga leads the team in goals with 27 along with 11 of those markers coming courtesy of the power play.
The ‘Backs have seen an improved performance in the crease over the past four games as the club has only allowed two goals in those four games with shutouts coming against Alberni Valley and Merritt with just one goal allowed in games against Penticton and Cowichan Valley. Nic Tallarico earned his first career shutout in a game against the Bulldogs while Trevin Kozlowski has carried the mail over the past three games in the crease. The Santa Clarita, California native owns a 0.67 goals against average along with a .979 save percentage, including one shutout, over his last three starts which have all been victories.
The Warriors and Silverbacks will drop the puck at 7:00 PM from the Shaw Centre with the pre-game show starting at 6:50 PM with the voice of the Warriors Trevor Miller with free audio on the Warriors Internet Network and live pay-per-view video available at www.hockeytv.com. Whether it is against the Silverbacks or Centennials, the Warriors will open their playoff schedule next Friday, March 3rd at Royal LePage Place. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Warriors office or by calling Kim at (250) 769-7051.
