The West Kelowna Warriors conclude their four-game home stand on West Kelowna Minor Hockey Day as they host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at Royal LePage Place.
Warriors vs. Bulldogs 2017/18 Schedule:
Sunday, January 7th @ Weyerhaeuser Arena (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, January 28th @ Royal LePage Place (2:30 PM)
The Warriors and Bulldogs cap off their season series with today’s matchup at Royal LePage Place with West Kelowna looking for the season sweep after a 4-3 victory in early January. Max Bulawka, RJ Murphy, Wyatt Head and Cavin Tilsley provided the scoring for the Warriors while Nik Amundrud turned away 22 of the 25 shots he faced in the game for the victory.
West Kelowna comes into Sunday afternoon with a 23-22-1-1 record and sits in 5th place in the Interior Division after a 7-4 defeat to the hands of the Vernon Vipers on Friday night at RLP. RJ Murphy scored twice in the game for the Warriors while Ryan Steele and Bennett Norlin added singles in the losing cause. Nik Amundrud started the game for the Warriors, turning aside 20 of the 24 shots he faced before being relieved by Cole Demers who stopped 12 of the 15 shots thrown his way for his 7th loss of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jared Marino (19-30-49)
Chase Dubois (16-23-39)
Ryan Steele (12-23-35)
Michael Ryan (5-30-35)
RJ Murphy (15-17-32)
Michael Ryan has been one of the leading offensive forces for the Warriors on the back end this season as he has points in three of his last four games and sits 4th in team scoring with 35 points in 47 games this season. The Marion, Massachusetts native currently sits 4th in the BCHL in scoring amongst defensemen with his 35 points and ranks tied for 1st in the league in power play assists with 19 alongside Trail Smoke Eaters defender Jeremy Lucchini.
Ryan Steele faces off against his former team in this afternoon’s contest as the former Alberni Valley Bulldog of 96 games has been a welcomed addition to the Warriors forward core. In a deal involving defenseman Spencer Hora being shipped to Alberni, Steele has collected five goals and seven points in as many games in a Warriors sweater and has had a big week for West Kelowna with a four-point night on Tuesday against Coquitlam (3 goals, 1 assist) followed by another goal on Friday against the Vipers.
The Warriors will look to keep their success against Island Division foes going in their matchup against the Bulldogs as West Kelowna holds a 5-1-1-0 record against the Island Division this season, including a win against Alberni Valley earlier this month. The Warriors have won their last three matchups against the Bulldogs, dating back to last season, while outscoring Alberni Valley by a 10-6 margin in that trio of contests.
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs enter Sunday afternoon with a 14-25-4-4 record, sitting 4th in the Island Division and are on the final leg of a three-game Interior road trip that has seen a double-overtime defeat against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night before falling by a 4-2 score to the Vernon Vipers one night ago at Kal Tire Place. Cole Poliziani and Julian Benner provided the scoring in the game for the Bulldogs while Brock Lefebvre stopped 17 of the 21 shots he faced in the game for his 3rd loss of the season before being relieved by John Hawthorne, who stopped all 25 of the shots thrown in his direction.
Bulldogs Leading Scorers:
Keaton Mastrodonato (15-19-34)
Cole Poliziani (9-25-34)
Mitchell Oliver (9-23-32)
Jackson Doucet (12-16-28)
Paul Selleck (15-12-27)
The Bulldogs have shown that they have the ability to score and a trio of forwards have found plenty of success offensively as of late. Cole Poliziani has compiled an impressive six-game point streak where he has registered a pair of goals and ten points in that stretch while Keaton Mastrodonato just had a lengthy point stretch end on Saturday but has points in five of his last six games with three goals and eight points in that stretch. Jackson Doucet has also been a factor offensively with a three-game point streak that sees him with two goals and five points during that time.
The likely starter for Sunday’s contest for the Bulldogs has been having a very strong season and has picked up 13 of the 14 wins Alberni Valley has on the season. Rookie netminder John Hawthorne has been solid for the Bulldogs in the crease with a 13-18-2 record to go along with a 3.37 GAA and a .907 SV%, which ranks him 12th in the league when it comes to save percentage. The Chemainus, BC native has logged the third most minutes amongst goaltenders with 2,075 minutes played this season and was excellent in the last meeting between the two teams with 39 saves on 43 shots.
Alberni Valley looks to try and turn around what has been a rough season thus far against the Interior Division as the Bulldogs hold a 1-8-2-1 this season in 12 games against the Interior this year. The Bulldogs have two more games after Sunday afternoon matchup against West Kelowna against the Interior Division as they host the Vipers and Wenatchee Wild to finish out their schedule against Interior Division foes.
The Warriors and Bulldogs do battle at 2:30 PM on West Kelowna Minor Hockey Day as there will be the final Skate with the Warriors of the season immediately following the final buzzer so make sure to bring your skates and helmets! Tickets are available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office one hour prior to the opening face-off.
