PHOTO: Tami Quan
The West Kelowna Warriors clash against the Vernon Vipers in the best-of-seven Interior Conference Quarter Finals for the second consecutive season beginning with Game #1 on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. VERNON
Friday, November 4th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, November 8th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 2nd @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 16th @ Kal Tire Place (5-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, February 11th @ Kal Tire Place (4-3 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE vs. VERNON
Game #1: Friday, March 31st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Game #2: Saturday, April 1st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Game #3: Tuesday, April 4th @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
Game #4: Wednesday, April 5th @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
*Game #5: Friday, April 7th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
*Game #6: Saturday, April 9th @ Kal Tire Place (5:00 PM)
*Game #7: Monday, April 11th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
*- If Necessary
The Warriors concluded the regular season with a big win in Salmon Arm over the Silverbacks and helped them drive their way into 3rd place in the Interior Conference with a 4-3 shootout win last Saturday at the Shaw Centre. Rylee Hlusiak, Michael Salandra and Jaiden Moriello scored in regulation while Salandra and Chris Duclair scored in the shootout to help for the win. Cayden Hamming started in goal for the Warriors, turning away 38 of the 41 shots thrown his way before denying four of the five shooters faced in the shootout in his 9th win of the season.
A season series between the Warriors and Vipers was decided with a second left on the clock the last time the two teams met in the North Okanagan in early February. The Vipers won that game to avoid the season sweep at the hands of the Warriors while West Kelowna came away with four of the five wins in the season set with four games finishing in 4-3 scorelines and two Warrior victories coming in a shootout.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jaiden Moriello (25-30-55)
Rylee Hlusiak (22-29-51)
Ben MacDonald (23-27-50)
Isaiah Norlin (6-38-44)
Brennan Nelson (12-28-40)
This marks the second season in a row that the Warriors and Vipers will meet in the opening round of the BCHL Playoffs, powered by Shaw. West Kelowna took the series in five games, despite Vernon earning a Game #1 victory a season ago at this time. The two teams stack up similarly when it comes to playoff experience as the Warriors possess 64 games total of postseason experience while the Vipers hold a total of 57 playoff games under their belt.
One returnee for the Warriors who had a lot of success in postseason play last year, especially in a five-game series win over the Vipers, was forward Brennan Nelson. The Penticton, BC native posted 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points in 14 playoff games last season while Nelson was particularly good in the series against the Vipers as he registered 4 goals and an assist for 5 points in the series.
Finishing the regular season on a three-game point streak, Warriors forward and leading scorer Jaiden Moriello will be looked upon for his offense once again in the new season of the playoffs. The Saugus, Massachusetts native posted 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points in the final three games of the regular campaign and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit concluded his first season in the league with 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points, placing him in 14th in the BCHL in scoring.
The Vernon Vipers finished the regular season with 6 wins in their last 7 games including a final regular season game in Merritt against the Centennials as they earned a 14-1 win at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Thomas Tien, Reagan Millburn and Lee Parks each scored twice while Julian Facchinelli, Griffen Barr, Jonathan Horn, Ethan Mercer, Seiya Tanaka-Campbell, Walker Erickson, Hank Cleaves and Anthony Cliché each tallied singles in the win. Ethan David turned aside 20 of the 21 shots thrown his way in his 13th win of the season.
Vipers Leading Scorers:
Lee Parks (23-25-48)
Reagan Millburn (19-29-48)
Luke Pakulak (17-23-40)
Hank Cleaves (13-25-38)
Seiya Tanaka-Campbell (13-20-33)
Despite some early season struggles for the Vipers, their play in the second half of the season, in particular in March, makes them one of the hottest teams in the BCHL heading into the postseason. Vernon completed the final month of the season boasting a 6-2-0-0 record in 8 games, including four consecutive wins on home ice. Vernon recorded a strong record on home ice this season, going 18-6-1-2 compared to their road record of 9-15-1-2.
One battle to key on throughout the course of the series is the special teams battle and the 2nd ranked Warriors power play going up against the top ranked Vipers penalty kill. Vernon finished the season in the number one spot on the PK, operating at an 85.5% clip. Vernon’s penalty kill stymied many power plays throughout the season, including West Kelowna’s as it held the Warriors to just 8% on the power play in the five-game season series, going 2-for-25.
Finishing the season as the team’s leading scorer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit Lee Parks sits atop the Vipers scoring with 23 goals and 25 assists for 48 points after his first BCHL season. The Stittsville, Ontario native has been especially good against the Warriors this season as he has posted 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points, the most of any player in the season series.
The Warriors and Vipers begin their best-of-seven Interior Conference Quarter Final series tonight with Game #1 taking place at 7:00 PM at Royal LePage Place. Tickets are available for purchase online on the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Box Office ahead of puck drop.
