The West Kelowna Warriors (12-3-2-0) make their first trip of the season to the South Okanagan to battle the undefeated Penticton Vees (18-0-0-0) on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. PENTICTON
Saturday, October 1st @ Royal LePage Place (10-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 28th @ Royal LePage Place (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 18th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 3rd @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 17th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 30th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 17th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
The Warriors come into the weekend following just their third regulation loss with a 7-4 setback to the Wenatchee Wild south of the border at Town Toyota Center last Saturday. Brennan Nelson, Chris Duclair, Luke Devlin and Kailus Green each found the back of the net for West Kelowna while Nicholas Cristiano turned aside 27 of the 34 shots thrown his way in his 2nd loss of the season.
West Kelowna and Penticton will play the third of their seven-game season series on Friday night with the Vees having won each of the first two games of the season set, including a 4-1 score at Royal LePage Place in late October. Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero scored the lone goal for the Warriors with Nicholas Cristiano making his first appearance as a Warrior, making 37 saves on 40 shots in the loss.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jaiden Moriello (11-8-19)
Michael Salandra (7-9-16)
Ben MacDonald (6-8-14)
Isaiah Norlin (2-12-14)
Brennan Nelson (6-7-13)
The first wave of voting for the BC Hockey League All-Star Game, set to be played in Penticton in January, with Warriors forward Jaiden Moriello being named to the squad. The University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit has posted a team-leading 11 goals and 19 points in his 17 games played in his first season with the club. The Saugus, Massachusetts native is currently riding a three-game point streak into Penticton on Friday, registering 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points in that span.
When it comes to playing away from home this season, the Warriors have been one of the better teams in the BCHL in that regard. Just Penticton (8-0-0-0) and Nanaimo (6-0-0-0) have better records when away from home than the Warriors, who come into Friday night with just one regulation loss on the season on the road, posting a 5-1-2-0 record. West Kelowna holds the second-best goal differential in the league when playing on the road at +13 and have surrendered the fourth least goals against at 20 in their 8 road games.
With two assists in the game on Saturday night in Wenatchee, Warriors rookie forward Ben MacDonald saw his point streak climb to five games. The 91st overall selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft has earned 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in that span while scoring in three of his last five contests.
The Penticton Vees come into action on Saturday night having won the opening 18 games of their schedule including a tight 2-1 shootout victory in their last game on Saturday against the Trail Smoke Eaters at Cominco Arena. Thomas Pichette scored the lone regulation goal while Josh Nadeau tallied the only shootout marker in the winning cause. Luca Di Pasquo made 31 saves on 32 shots through 65 minutes while stopping all three shooters in the shootout in his 13th win of the season.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Bradly Nadeau (17-19-36)
Josh Nadeau (9-25-34)
Aydar Suniev (12-12-24)
Brett Moravec (8-11-19)
Ryan Hopkins (6-11-17)
The Vees continue to roll along through their 2022/23 season, having not lost a game and having posted a +71-goal differential through just 18 games of the season. Penticton is the only team to have over 100 goals on the season, sitting at 103, with the Nanaimo Clippers (76) and Warriors (75) the closest other teams in that department.
First year goaltender Luca Di Pasquo has been a rock in between the pipes for the Vees this season, even with the team’s high offensive numbers. The Michigan State commit leads the league in wins with 13 and is the only goaltender to have a goals against average of under 2.00, sitting at 1.60 coming into Friday. The Livonia, Michigan product sits 2nd in the league in save percentage at .929 and has been particularly dialed in his last four appearances, posting a 0.73 GAA and a .968 SV% in that time, having not allowed more than a single goal in any of those games.
Penticton, as they do with most statistical categories, are at the top of the league in power play percentage, operating at 34.7% on the season. Where they have been particularly good has been at the SOEC where the Vees hold a staggering 44.1% power play, a full 15 points ahead of the next best team. The Vees have gone 15-for-34 on home ice with their power play and have held an 88.9% penalty kill while inside of the SOEC.
The Warriors and Vees play the third of their seven-game season series on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game being broadcasted live on the Warriors Broadcast Network (mixlr.com/bchlwarriors) as well as streamed online on BCHLTV.ca.
