PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The West Kelowna Warriors head back on the road with another Mainland day-and-back trip to face-off against the Coquitlam Express for the second time this season on Wednesday night at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre.
Warriors vs. Express Schedule:
Wednesday, September 20th @ Prospera Centre (7-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 4th @ Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre (7:00 PM)
Tuesday, January 23rd @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors come into the game on Wednesday after what might have been their most complete performance on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place in a 6-0 victory over the 2018 RBC Cup host Chilliwack Chiefs. Cavin Tilsley paced the scoring for West Kelowna in the game with a pair of goals and an assist for three points while Willie Reim, Peter Tomaras, Michael Ryan and Jake Harrison added singles in the Warriors victory. Cole Demers continued his early season success with his first career BCHL shutout on Saturday, making 22 saves for his 3rd win on the season.
These two teams will be well acquainted with each other once the puck drops at 7:00 PM as they met just 14 days ago at the Bauer BCHL Showcase, a game in which the Warriors were victorious by a 7-2 score. The Express opened the scoring in the game courtesy of Joshua Wildauer before the Warriors scored seven unanswered goals from seven different goal scorers to will them to the win. Matt Kowalski, Stephen Kleysen, Willie Reim, Chase Stevenson, Max Bulawka, Matthew Campese and Jared Marino all scored in the contest while Nik Amundrud was solid in the Warriors goal with 30 saves on 32 shots to earn the win.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Matt Kowalski (5-3-8)
Michael Ryan (1-6-7)
Chase Dubois (2-4-6)
Stephen Kleysen (2-3-5)
Parm Dhaliwal (2-3-5)
Jumping back to the game on Saturday, and more specifically in the crease, the 18-year-old Kelowna, BC native Cole Demers has been outstanding in his four appearances so far in the 2017/18 season. Demers leads the BCHL with a 0.66 GAA and a sparkling .980 SV%, stopping 98 of the 100 shots he has faced so far this season and is currently the only goaltender with a goals against average of under one.
A veteran of 110 BCHL games, Cavin Tilsley had himself his best game statistically on Saturday night with his pair of goals and an assist for three points. Four other occasions did the Delta, BC native score three points but never had two goals like he did a game ago. The Warriors assistant captain is having a strong season so far with two goals and five points and has been one of the best face-off and penalty killing forwards on the Warriors roster.
West Kelowna continued their strong special teams play on Saturday night with two power play goals and improving their PP percentage to 26.2, good for 3rd in the BCHL while scoring a goal on the man advantage in 6 straight games and 7 of their 8 games this season. The penalty kill has been even hotter for the Warriors, after going 4/4 on Saturday, sitting at 90.3% and 2nd place in the league, just behind Wenatchee at 90.5% for 1st place. What’s even more impressive is that West Kelowna has not given up a power play goal against in 6 consecutive games while killing off their 24 straight penalties.
The Coquitlam Express enter play on Wednesday night after picking up their first win of the 2017/18 season, which came in the form of a 3-2 win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Sunday on home ice. Colby Pederson, Joshua Wildauer and Eric Linell scored in the game for the Express while Clay Stevenson turned aside 25 of the 27 shots he faced in the game for his first win of the campaign.
Express Leading Scorers:
Christian Sanda (3-4-7)
Alex Ambrosio (2-5-7)
Sam Kozlowski (3-2-5)
Mitch Newsome (1-4-5)
Jordan Schulting (1-4-5)
The Express picked up their first win of the season after a rough start to the year, going 0-6-1-0 in the month of September, including six straight losses after a season-opening tie against the Surrey Eagles on September 10th. The win was also the Express’ first at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre as they still search for their first victory away from home.
Keeping the puck out of the net has been a problem for the Express as they sit in 15th in the BCHL with 35 goals against this season and are tied with Surrey, the Penticton Vees and the Chilliwack Chiefs for last in the league in terms of goals for with 21. Christian Sanda and Sam Kozlowski lead the Express with 3 goals apiece with Sanda leading the team outright in points with 8.
The Warriors and Express drop the puck at 7:00 PM tonight from Coquitlam with the pre-game show starting at 6:45 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and HockeyTV.com with the voice of the Warriors, Trevor Miller. The Warriors return to Royal LePage Place on Saturday, October 7th when they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
The Warriors have introduced a new Fan’tatstic Five ticket package that gives fans a chance to experience five of the most highly anticipated games of the season for just $55.55 with games against the Wenatchee Wild, Penticton Vees, Salmon Arm Silverbacks, Vernon Vipers and Victoria Grizzlies. For more information on these packs and all ticket info, visit the Warriors office or call (250) 769-7051.
