The West Kelowna Warriors (26-20-5-0) will look to get back in the win column in their only matchup of the season against the Coastal Conference-leading Nanaimo Clippers (34-13-3-0) on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. NANAIMO
Saturday, March 18th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors enter play on Saturday night looking to earn their first win in five games after falling to the Cranbrook Bucks by a 6-3 score on St. Patrick’s Day on Friday night at RLP. Isaiah Norlin, Chris Duclair and Ben MacDonald each found the back of the net while Angelo Zol turned aside 19 of the 25 shots thrown his way in his 6th loss of the season.
Saturday night’s meeting between the Warriors and Clippers will make their first since November 30th, 2019 in a game that saw Nanaimo come away with a 4-3 overtime win. John Evans, Max Bulawka and Tyler Cristall scored that night for the Warriors before Ethan Scardina ended the game in the extra period. West Kelowna’s last win against Nanaimo came a year before that on November 30th, 2018.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jaiden Moriello (23-24-47)
Ben MacDonald (22-24-46)
Rylee Hlusiak (18-25-43)
Isaiah Norlin (5-36-41)
Brennan Nelson (11-23-34)
Despite still searching for their first win in the month of March, the Warriors have gotten a fair bit of a success out of their power play, which ranks 2nd in the league at 25.7% and have scored 55 goals courtesy of the man advantage, ranking 2nd in the BCHL in that regard as well. The Warriors have boasted a power play that is 8-for-23 in March so far, operating at 34.8% in that span.
Warriors forward Ben MacDonald forged his way into 6th place in the league in terms of power pay goals on the season, notching his 11th of the year as part of a goal and assist night for the 18-year-old. The Harvard University commit is now just one point off of the team lead with his 46 and has collected a point in 7 of his last 8 games and 9 of his last 11 outings.
The Nanaimo Clippers enter play on Saturday night looking to forget their Friday night in Penticton against the Vees, falling by a 9-2 score at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Ethan Mistry and Jake Hewitt gathered the goals for the Clippers on the night while Aidan Campbell made 34 saves on 40 shots in his 11th loss of the season before Shane Shelest came on in relief and turned away 27 of the 30 shots he saw.
Clippers Scoring Leaders:
Kai Daniells (32-34-66)
Brody Waters (20-36-56)
Ethan Mistry (11-43-54)
Jake Hewitt (24-28-52)
Michael Craig (9-34-43)
Third year Clippers forward Kai Daniells enters play on Saturday as the league’s 5th leading point getter, notching 32 goals and 34 assists for 66 points on the season in just 51 games pleased. The Whistler, BC native ranks 4th in the league with 32 goals while Daniells brings an 11-game point streak with him into the game in West Kelowna. A Princeton University commit, Daniells has amassed 9 goals and 6 assists for 15 points over his 11 consecutive games with a point and has had a knack for clutch goals this season with 8 of his 32 goals on the campaign counting as game winning markers, 2nd best in the league to just Bradly Nadeau of Penticton who has 10 GWG’s.
The Clippers pose many threats of offense and another layer of their attack is from the blue line where they possess two of the top five point getters amongst defensemen in the league in Ethan Mistry and Michael Craig. Mistry is in his second season with the team and has notched 16 goals and 65 assists for 81 points in his 104 game BCHL career thus far and leads all defenders in assists (43) and points (54) while Craog, also in his second season with the team, sits 5th in defender scoring with 9 goals and 34 assists for 43 points on the season.
The Warriors and Clippers will play the one and only game of their season series on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online at the Warriors website or in-person at the Box Office ahead of the game.
