Photo Credit: Tami Quan Photography
March 10th, 2019
WENATCHEE WAS. – The Wenatchee Wild defeat the West Kelowna Warriors in game 6 of the BCHL’s Interior Division Quarter Final by a score of 3-1 Sunday night.
The Warriors knew the Wild would come out strong with their backs to the wall facing elimination. The time of attack in the first was mainly spent in the Warriors zone and after a too many men penalty on the Warriors the Wild would capitalize. Great puck movement on the man advantage gave Wild Captain Lucas Sowder a chance to fire not just one shot but two shots on Connor Hopkins with the second beating him to make it 1-0 Wild. The Warriors would answer back very quickly though. Only 26 seconds later after a Parm Dhaliwal face off win Wyatt Head would cross ice the puck to Austin Chorney who would wire a slap shot past a crowd into the Wild net to tie the game up heading into the dressing room.
The second period was mainly a puck possession period for the Wenatchee Wild. The Warriors would have a couple scoring chances but couldn’t beat Wild goaltender Austin Park who was making his first start of the series since game three. Connor Hopkins also continued to play sharp for the Warriors not allowing any rebounds for the Wild to score on.
The third was contested until the Warriors would go on the powerplay trying to break the tie. During the man advantage the Wild would force the Warriors to make quick decisions while with the puck forcing a couple turnovers. One of those turnovers led to a shorthanded 2 on 1 for the Wild allowing Josh Arnold to find a wide open Matt Gosiewski to make it 2-1 Wild. The Warriors would find a way to tie it with under 3 minutes to go in the hockey game with Lucas Cullen being sprung loose on a breakaway, but the goal would be disallowed creating more controversy regarding officiating south of the border. The Warriors would allow an empty net goal in the final minute to make it 3-1 Wild.
Shots on goal 52-26 in favor of the Wild.
3 Stars
- WEN F Lucas Sowder (1G-1A)
- WEN F Matt Gosiewski (1G)
- WEN G Austin Park (25 saves)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW G Connor Hopkins (50 saves)
The Warriors next game is Game 7 of the BCHL Interior Division Quarterfinal Monday night versus the Wenatchee Wild. Puck drop at 7:05pm from the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee. Catch Monday’s game and every other home and away game this season on Mixlr and Hockey TV. Just head to the Warriors website and click on the “Listen Live” column to get directed to a radio feed of each game.
