PHOTO: Tami Quan
The West Kelowna Warriors will fight to keep their season alive as they head to the North Okanagan for Game #6 of their Interior Conference Quarter Final series against the Vernon Vipers on Sunday night trailing the series 3-2.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. VERNON
Friday, November 4th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, November 8th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 2nd @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 16th @ Kal Tire Place (5-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, February 11th @ Kal Tire Place (4-3 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE vs. VERNON
Game #1: Friday, March 31st @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Game #2: Saturday, April 1st @ Royal LePage Place (5-4 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
Game #3: Tuesday, April 4th @ Kal Tire Place (5-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Game #4: Wednesday, April 5th @ Kal Tire Place (7-0 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
Game #5: Friday, April 7th @ Royal LePage Place (2-1 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
Game #6: Saturday, April 9th @ Kal Tire Place (6:00 PM)
*Game #7: Monday, April 11th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
*- If Necessary
West Kelowna comes into Sunday looking to force a Game #7 following a 2-1 loss to the Vipers in Game #5 of the Interior Conference Quarter Finals on Friday night at Royal LePage Place. Jaiden Moriello scored the lone Warriors goal in the 2nd period to even the score before the Vipers tallied the winner in the final frame. Cayden Hamming turned aside 30 of the 32 shots thrown his way in his 3rd loss of the playoffs.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jaiden Moriello (25-30-55)
Rylee Hlusiak (22-29-51)
Ben MacDonald (23-27-50)
Isaiah Norlin (6-38-44)
Brennan Nelson (12-28-40)
Warriors Playoff Leading Scorers:
Chris Duclair (3-4-7)
Brennan Nelson (2-5-7)
Isaiah Norlin (1-5-6)
Jaiden Moriello (4-0-4)
Dylan Brooks (2-1-3)
Scoring four times in five games in the series, Jaiden Moriello comes into Game #6 in Vernon needed to provide more of that scoring if the Warriors wish to force a decisive Game #7 back in West Kelowna on Tuesday night. The University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit has scored in four of the five games this series following leading the team in scoring in the regular season with 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points while playing in all 54 games.
The first goal of this series has proven to be a big turning point as teams to score first have gone on to win four of the five games in this series, with Game #3 of the series being the lone omission. West Kelowna has been strong this season when scoring the first goal of the game, boasting a 21-3-3-0 record when finding the scoresheet first and 1-0 in the playoffs, opening the scoring in the series in Game #1.
The Vernon Vipers come into Game #6 looking to punch their ticket to the second round following the 2-1 win in Game #5. Reagan Millburn scored in the opening period before Ethan Merner tallied the winning marker in the 3rd period to help the Vipers to victory. Once again, Ethan David was outstanding in goal as he turned aside 30 of the 31 shots thrown his way in his 3rd win of the series.
Vipers Leading Scorers:
Lee Parks (23-25-48)
Reagan Millburn (19-29-48)
Luke Pakulak (17-23-40)
Hank Cleaves (13-25-38)
Seiya Tanaka-Campbell (13-20-33)
Vipers Playoff Leading Scorers:
Lee Parks (6-2-8)
Hank Cleaves (2-3-5)
Isaac Tremblay (0-5-5)
Reagan Millburn (2-1-3)
Dylan Compton (1-2-3)
Goals in back-to-back games has Vipers forward Reagan Millburn feeling confident heading into the first elimination game of the series. The Lake Superior State University commit scored three times in last year’s opening round series against the Warriors while the Kamloops, BC native registered 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points in 51 games played with Vernon throughout the course of the regular season.
After a 30-save performance in Game #5, goaltender Ethan David has been a big key to the Vipers success in the last two games, including an opening period in which he made 14 saves on Friday night. Since surrendering 4 goals in Game #2, the Vancouver, BC product has given up just two goals against in his last three games, posting a .942 save percentage in the series through his opening four games.
The Warriors will look to stave off elimination and force a decisive Game #7 with Game #6 of this series coming Sunday night at Kal Tire Place. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM with the game broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed online on BCHLTV.ca.
