The West Kelowna Warriors look to continue their hot stretch on home ice and for a sweep of the season series as they take on the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Sunday afternoon from Royal LePage Place.
Season Series:
Saturday, October 29th @ Island Savings Centre (3-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, January 15th @ Royal LePage Place (2:30 PM)
The Warriors and Capitals have met up once this season late in October in Duncan at the Island Savings Centre with the Warriors coming away with the 3-2 victory. Reed Gunville, Chase Dubois and Braiden Epp scored three goals in a 2:58 span through the midway point of the 2nd period before the Caps got a 2nd period marker from Rhett Kingston to pull them within two. A late goal from Ayden MacDonald made it a one goal game but it would be the Warriors who would come away with the victory by a 3-2 score.
The Warriors enter Sunday afternoon’s affair off of a 5-2 victory on Friday night at home against the Surrey Eagles. Braiden Epp, Connor Sodergren, Stephen Kleysen, Chase Dubois and Quin Foreman all scored in the win with Epp finishing the game with a trio of points as he added two assists later in the game. Friday night also marked the first start for new Warriors netminder Gabriel Morency who made 24 saves on 26 shots for his 1st win as a member of the Warriors and in the BCHL.
The Warriors, with their win on Friday versus Surrey, made it six in a row for victories at Royal LePage Place. During the stretch of hot play, West Kelowna has outscored their opponents by a 23-9 over the six games and not allowing more than two goals against over that span as well. The more impressive part of this recent run of success for the Warriors is that they have used four different goaltenders in the six wins and still have kept the puck out of their goal very well.
Connor Sodergren has continued his tear over the last month or so for the Warriors as he has scored in four straight games and has 6 goals and 7 points over those last four games. Since December 3rd vs. Alberni Valley, Sodergren has earned a point in 10 of 12 games, earning 8 goals and 18 points over that span. The stretch has resulted in team success as well as the Warriors have gone 9-3 over those 12 games.
Special teams was of a big concern heading into Friday night but the Warriors silenced that with two power play goals in the game courtesy of Sodergren and Quin Foreman. The penalty kill, which has been good over the last few games, has gone 11/13 over the last four games, a category in which the Warriors are starting to turn around after a rough start to the season.
The Cowichan Valley Capitals enter Sunday afternoon’s contest having lost the first two games of their three-game road trip that saw stops in Coquitlam and Wenatchee. The trip started with a 6-3 loss on Friday night to the Coquitlam Express before heading south of the border on Saturday and falling by a 6-0 score to the Wenatchee Wild at Town Toyota Center. Lane Michasiw started in goal for the Caps on Saturday, making 31 saves on 37 shots.
It’s been a rough stretch of hockey over the last six games for the Capitals who have lost five of their last six games. The Caps are 1-4 in 2017 so far but did make the biggest noise at the BCHL Trade Deadline, acquired forwards Mitch Skapski and Haydn Hopkins from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in exchange for forwards Ryan Hogg and Trevor Ayre. The two former ‘Backs made their Capital debuts over the weekend with Hopkins tallying in his first game on Friday night against Coquitlam.
The Capitals sit 12th in the BCHL in goal scoring with 127 goals for so far in 43 games played this season. Former Trail Smoke Eater Max Newton leads the team in goals and points with 23 goals and 43 points in 43 games this season as returning defensemen Chris Harpur leads the club in assists with 27. Goaltender Lane Michasiw sits 4th in the BCHL in save percentage at .919 and has had an outstanding season so far for the Capitals.
The puck drops this afternoon at 2:30 PM with tickets available for purchase at the Warriors office or by calling Kim at (250) 769-7051. Make sure to bring your skates as immediately following the game will be a public Skate With The Warriors! West Kelowna is back in action on Friday, January 20th versus the Vernon Vipers at RLP.
