The West Kelowna Warriors (18-10-4-0) will rebrand for one night and become the Peachland Warriors as they host the Prince George Spruce Kings (17-12-2-1) on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. PRINCE GEORGE
Friday, November 25th @ Kopar Memorial Arena (2-1 Spruce Kings) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, November 26th @ Kopar Memorial Arena (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, December 7th @ Royal LePage Place (6-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, January 13th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, March 10th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
West Kelowna comes into the weekend set of games following a pair of victories to begin the 2023 portion of their schedule, concluding with a 5-3 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at Royal LePage Place on Sunday afternoon. Jaiden Moriello tallied twice in the win while Nic Porchetta, Luke Devlin and Ben MacDonald each added singles in the triumph. Cayden Hamming picked up his first win of the season and first as a Warrior with a 25 save performance on 28 shots.
The Warriors and Spruce Kings meet for the fourth of five times this regular season with West Kelowna earning the last win, coming up with a 6-3 triumph over Prince George at Royal LePage Place in early December. Isaiah Norlin, Luke Devlin, Brennan Nelson, Matt Fusco, Felix Caron and Ben MacDonald each combined to find the back of the net in helping in the win while Angelo Zol turned aside 19 of the 22 shots thrown his way for the win in net.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jaiden Moriello (18-11-29)
Rylee Hlusiak (7-19-26)
Ben MacDonald (11-13-24)
Isaiah Norlin (3-21-24)
Michael Salandra (9-13-22)
Warriors leading scorer and BC Hockey League All Star Jaiden Moriello has earned goals in each of his last three games and carries a four-game point streak into Friday night. The University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit is coming off of a multi-goal game on Sunday afternoon in the win over the Silverbacks, notching his 17th and 18th goals of the season. The Saugus, Massachusetts native has registered 4 goals and an assist for 5 points during his four-game point streak.
Following ten games without a point, Warriors forward Michael Salandra was held off the scoresheet on Sunday for the first time in five games. The Pleasantville, New York native earned two goals and four assists for six points over the course of his stretch of five consecutive games with a point.
After adding forward Nic Porchetta from the Powell River Kings, who also scored in his second game with the team, West Kelowna shored up their blue line by adding defenseman Landen Hilditch from the Surrey Eagles at the BCHL Trade Deadline. The Surrey, BC native stands at 6’3” and 193 pounds and joins the Warriors in his first season in the BCHL.
The Prince George Spruce Kings come into the second weekend of 2023 following back-to-back home games against the Penticton Vees, which concluded with a 3-0 win at Kopar Memorial Arena on Saturday night. Ty Gagno, John Herrington and Jake Schneider each scored in the triumph while Jordan Fairlie turned aside each of the 29 shots thrown his way in his 16th win of the season and 7th career BCHL shutout.
Spruce Kings Scoring Leaders:
John Herrington (17-13-30)
Jake Schneider (12-13-25)
Austin Fraser (8-15-23)
Luca Primerano (6-16-22)
Kilian McGregor-Bennett (7-14-21)
Being just the third team this season to defeat the Vees, the Spruce Kings come in feeling good about their game and one player who can feel very good about his performance is netminder Jordan Fairlie. A BCHL All-Star this season, Fairlie amassed his 7th career shutout and is one short of holding a spot in 6th in BCHL history in shutouts. The Fort St. John, BC native ranks in a tie for 6th in the league in goals against average at 2.69 while his 16 wins is 3rd in the BCHL.
A goal and an assist for Colgate University commit Jake Schneider helped the Spruce Kings topple the Vees last Friday and, in the process, pushed Schneider to earn points in four of his last five games. The Plymouth, Minnesota native has scored in three of his last four games, posting 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in his last 5 outings.
The Warriors and Spruce Kings play the fourth of their five games in their season series tonight on Peachland Warriors Night. The Warriors will be in special peach-coloured jerseys for the occasion. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM at Royal LePage Place with tickets available online at westkelownawarriors.ca as well as in-person at the Box Office.
