The West Kelowna Warriors (6-2-1-0) look to rebound with a rematch against the Vernon Vipers (7-1-0-0) in the second half of the team’s home-and-home set on Friday night at Kal Tire Place.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. VERNON
Wednesday, October 18th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Vipers/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 20th @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, November 29th @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 10th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, March 2nd @ Kal Tire Place (6:00 PM)
The Warriors will look to get back into the win column on Friday night following their first loss in overtime this season, dropping a 4-3 decision in extra time to the Vipers on Wednesday night at Royal LePage Place. Isaiah Norlin, Johannes Løkkeberg and Frédéric Deschênes each found the back of the net while Rorke Applebee was terrific in goal, making 34 saves on 38 shots in his 1st overtime loss of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Michael Salandra (5-6-11)
Johannes Løkkeberg (4-6-10)
Felix Caron (3-6-9)
Brennan Nelson (3-6-9)
Jack Pridham (5-3-8)
The season-long point streak of Michael Salandra’s continued on Wednesday as the 20-year-old forward posted an assist in the overtime loss. The Pleasantville, New York native has earned 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points over the first 9 games of the season and owns the longest point streak of any BCHLer. Salandra sits at 22 goals and 49 points in 66 career games following a season in which he had 17 goals and 38 points in his first BCHL campaign.
Points from the blue line have been coming in waves for the Warriors over the past handful of games, including a three-point contest from Isaiah Norlin on Wednesday. The Clarkson University commit has posted 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points through 9 games this season and ranks 4th in scoring amongst all defenders in the league. The Minneapolis, Minnesota native has registered points in back-to-back games following a four-game point streak to start the season.
Another player on the backend that has had some offensive success recently is Frédéric Deschênes, who has posted points in three of the last four contests as well as earning goals in back-to-back games. The Trois-Rivières, Quebec native has garnered two goals and three assists for five points over his eight games played this season while the Michigan State commit has earned multi-point games in two of his last three games.
The Vernon Vipers enter play following their seventh consecutive victory on Wednesday at RLP in a 4-3 overtime triumph. Connor Elliott scored the game winner while Julian Facchinelli, Erik Pastro and Georgios Stavrianeas scored in regulation to help Vernon to the win. Ethan David made 21 saves on 23 shots in his 5th win of the season.
Vipers Leading Scorers:
Hank Cleaves (4-8-12)
Julian Facchinelli (5-6-11)
Erik Pastro (5-4-9)
Owen Kim (2-7-9)
Isaac Tremblay (5-2-7)
The point streak of returning forward Hank Cleaves, who sits 6th in the league in scoring with 12 points, continued with an assist on Wednesday night. His 4 goals and 8 assists on the year have all been amassed in the past seven games while the Dartmouth University commit while the native of Riverside, Connecticut, Cleaves has earned an assist in each of his last six contests.
Collecting at least a point in all but one game of the season thus far, Viper forward Julian Facchinelli brings his 5 goals and 11 points in Friday’s contest. The University of Princeton commit posted a goal and an assist in Wednesday’s game and ranks 7th in league scoring, right behind Cleaves. Along with teammate Erik Pastro, the three remain in the Top 20 in BCHL scoring heading into Friday’s matchup against the Warriors.
Sitting with 10 power play goals on the season and a man advantage operating at 33.3%, Vernon owns the league’s top ranked power play unit. When it comes to playing at Kal Tire Place, the Vipers are 3-for-8 on the power play and enjoy playing in their home confines, recording a 3-0 record this season and outscoring teams by a 12-6 margin.
The Warriors and Vipers play the second of their five head-to-head matchups on Friday night at Kal Tire Place. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game being streamed live on FloHockey or available with an free audio-only stream at mixlr.com/bchlwarriors.
