The West Kelowna Warriors start a five game homestand from Royal LePage Place tonight in a matchup against the Merritt Centennials.
Season Series:
Tuesday, September 27th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 9th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 10th @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (7:00 PM)
Friday, January 6th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, January 7th @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (8:00 PM)
Friday, February 3rd @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 24th @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (7:30 PM)
West Kelowna comes into this matchup with three straight victories, including two at the Bauer BCHL Showcase with a 5-2 win on Wednesday night to open up the Showcase against the host Chilliwack Chiefs while sweeping their two-game Showcase schedule just 18 hours later in a Thursday afternoon 5-3 defeat of the Coquitlam Express.
Newly crowned BCHL Player of the Week Quin Foreman had a Showcase to remember, collecting a hat trick on Wednesday against the Chiefs while also picking up two goals the next day against Coquitlam for a five goal Showcase and a league leading seven goals coming into BCHL action Tuesday night. Connor Sodergren also had a strong Showcase, earning a goal and two assists in the two games, playing on a line with Foreman.
The Warriors went 2-5 last season against the Centennials in the seven game season series, a record which the Warriors will obviously want to turn around. The Warriors and Cents did meet twice in the pre season with Merritt winning both contests with a 4-3 win in West Kelowna on September 2nd before dropping the second game against the Cents by a 6-3 score the next night in Merritt at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
The Warriors will look to carry on the good habits they have had over the course of their three game winning streak. West-K scored a power play goal in each of the two games in Chilliwack at the Showcase, going 2/6 in total and had a perfect penalty kill of 6/6 over the two games. The Warriors got solid goaltending from their tandem of Xavier Burghardt and Shane Farkas and, with the help of a red hot Quin Foreman, outscored their opponents 10-5.
The Merritt Centennials come into action having done quite the opposite of what the Warriors did at the BCHL Showcase as the Cents dropped both of their games in Chilliwack. Merritt lost handily to the Prince George Spruce Kings by a 7-2 score on Thursday night while losing the next day to the Cowichan Valley Capitals by a 4-2 score in their final Showcase game.
The Cents are led in scoring by returning forward and captain Brett Jewell, who has three goals and five points along with fellow returnees Michael Regush and Tyler Ward as they also have five points. Merritt, in total, returns 12 players with Jewell, Regush, Ward, Mark O’Shaughnessy, Chase Bell, Zachary Zorn, Zach Court, Ryan Roseboom, Nick Fidanza, Tyrell Buckley, Mike Faulkner and Colten Lancaster all coming back from last season.
The Warriors continue on their homestand on Friday, September 30th with a date with the Penticton Vees as the two Interior Division rivals meet for the first time this season at Royal LePage Place. Puck drop is 7:00 pm on the Warriors Internet Network and live on pay-per-view at www.fasthockey.com with the pre game starting at 6:50 pm.
