PHOTO: Matthew Abrey/West Kelowna Warriors
The West Kelowna Warriors came out energized and earned a 3-1 victory over the Vernon Vipers on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
The Warriors started the game with great pace, throwing 16 shots towards Vernon netminder Cole Demers but the 17 year-old stood tall, as did new Warrior Xavier Burghardt who made his first start with the club and stopped all four shots he faced in a scoreless opening frame.
West Kelowna broke through the scoreless tie in the dwindling moments of a penalty filled second period and came courtesy of their captain.
After a penalty from Tyler Anderson stemmed to a 5 minute major, the Vipers took one of their own and made the final two minutes of the major penalty a 4-on-4, which is when the Warriors struck. Solid play down low below the goal line from Mitchell Barker as he centered the puck for Nick Rutigliano, who made no mistake going over the glove of Demers for a 1-0 Warrior lead at 17:42 of the 2nd.
The third period saw the Vipers get back in the hockey game and tie it a goal a-piece with a bouncing puck getting past Burghardt on the penalty kill off the stick of Jagger Williamson for a 1-1 tie at the 7:59 mark of the third period.
West Kelowna took their lead back just 1:19 after Vernon tied the game as a Viper turnover led to the Warriors go ahead marker. Jon Russell scooped up the loose puck in the Viper zone and found Quin Foreman down low. Foreman went backhand forehand upstairs on Demers for the 2-1 lead at the 9:18 mark of the third stanza.
Mitchell Barker tallied his first goal as a Warrior for some insurance at the 11:02 mark of the 3rd period, burying a sweet feed from Foreman on the left wing who spotted Barker cutting to the goal and found his tape perfectly.
West Kelowna got a big effort from their penalty kill tonight, going 8/9 on the PK over the course of 60 minutes. Warrior goaltender Xavier Burghardt picked up his first BCHL win with 25 saves on 26 shots. He was also named first star.
The Warriors are back in action at the Bauer BCHL Showcase on Wednesday night when they open the Showcase against the host Chilliwack Chiefs for a rematch of the 2016 BCHL Finals. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm with pre game starting at 7:20 pm on the Warriors Internet Network and live pay-per-view on FASTHockey.com.
