The West Kelowna Warriors raised the banner on the 2016/17 BCHL season with a 3-1 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters.
The Warriors defense was their backbone tonight and it showed in the result of two of the three goals coming from the backend. The first came from Jake Harrison on the power play mid-way through the first frame.
Harrison let go of a point shot through traffic that found it’s way into the back of the net for a 1-0 Warrior lead at the 12:56 mark of the 1st period.
Trail tied the game at the 16:32 of the first frame as Tyson Slater found a loose puck in the faceoff circle and wristed a shot past Warrior netminder Shane Farkas to tie the game at one.
A scoreless 2nd period led to an interesting third period in which the Warriors would take the lead mid way through the frame.
Michael Ryan potted his first BCHL goal with a seeing-eye point shot over the outstretched glove of Smoke Eaters netminder Zach Dyment to give West Kelowna a 2-1 lead.
Reed Gunville closed out the scoring in the third frame with a fluttering shot off a Trail defender’s stick and past Dyment for the 3-1 lead.
Shane Farkas made 24 saves for his first BCHL win while Zach Dyment was the loser, making 32 saves on 35 shots.
The Warriors are back in action Saturday night when they head to Trail to take on the Smoke Eaters once more. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm with pre game starting at 6:50 pm on pay-per-view FASTHockey and on the Warriors Internet Network.
