PHOTO: Wayne Moore/Castanet
The West Kelowna Warriors came back from two goals down after 20 minutes to defeat the Merritt Centennials 3-2 in overtime on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
The Cents came ready to play in the opening frame and it showed in the form of two quick goals to start the first period. At the 1:02 mark of the 1st, Zach Risteau was fed in alone after a turnover in the Warriors zone and led to the Cents striking early and taking a 1-0 lead.
Just 53 seconds later at the 1:55 mark of the 1st period, the Cents doubled their lead courtesy of a knuckle puck from just inside the blue line by Cade Gleekel. That shot ended the short night for Warriors starting goaltender Nik Amundrud, making no saves on the two shots he faced and Shane Farkas was forced into action.
The Warriors played well through out the remainder of the 1st period and it carried over into the 2nd frame with their good play paying off in the form of a goal. Logan Mostat buried his 1st goal as a Warrior and his 12th overall on the season on the blocker side of Cents netminder Colten Lancaster as he banged home a rebound of a Quin Foreman shot.
The Warriors tied the game at the 11:51 mark of the 2nd period and it came in the form of a gorgeous shot off the stick of Quin Foreman. He snapped home his 17th goal of the season from the top of the left circle over the glove side with a gorgeous shot to tie the game at two goals apiece.
A scoreless third period saw the Centennials with a lot of pressure but the Warriors held on to get the game into overtime. Merritt fired 12 shots on goal toward netminder Shane Farkas but the 17-year-old stood tall with some key saves in the frame.
The Centennials took five shots toward the Warriors net in overtime but Shane Farkas remained perfect through out his night before the Warriors scored on their first shot of overtime. Braiden Epp tapped in a Quin Foreman pass from below the left face-off circle for his 9th goal of the season and a 3-2 overtime win for West Kelowna.
The win gives the Warriors 14 on the season and pushes their overtime win total to four, now an impressive 4-1 in extra time. Nik Amundrud started the game, going 0/2 before Shane Farkas relived him with a perfect 35 saves on 35 shots for his 8th win of the season. Colten Lancaster made 29 saves on 32 shots in the loss in overtime.
FINAL SCORE: 3-2 Warriors (OT)
SHOTS: 37-32 Centennials
PP: Warriors (0/3) Centennials (0/3)
3 STARS: 1) Shane Farkas (35 saves on 35 shots)
2) Quin Foreman (1-2-3)
3) Zach Risteau (1-0-1)
Attendance: 626
The Warriors (14-16-0-1) are back in action on Saturday night when they head to Nicola Valley Memorial Arena for the first time this season to take on the Merritt Centennials (12-12-1-6) in the second half of the home-and-home weekend set. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the pre-game show starting at 6:50 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and hockeytv.com. West Kelowna is back on home ice on Friday, December 16th when they host the Powell River Kings on their Teddy Bear Toss Night at RLP.
