DUNCAN, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors got two goals from Matthew Fusco and a 26-save performance from Justin Katz to earn a season-opening 2-1 triumph over the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Friday night at the Cowichan Community Centre.
The Warriors started the game with plenty of pace and quickly threw as much rubber as they could to Capitals goaltender McCoy Bidewell in the opening period and, courtesy of a 5-on-3 power play marker, were able to score their first goal of the season coming from the blue line and rookie defender Matt Fusco.
Michael Salandra forced a puck back to the blue line where Fusco had to skate to corral the loose play and collect on his forehand before firing a shot through traffic and finding its way past the glove side of Bidewell for his 1st career BC Hockey League goal and the first goal of the season for the Warriors at the 6:09 mark of the opening period.
Fusco was at it again just over six minutes later to earn his second goal of the game at the 12:48 mark of the 1st period on a similar looking shot to his opening marker. A scramble in the middle of the ice saw Fusco gather the puck on the right side as he made his way to the offensive zone, snapping a shot from inside the right point and beating Bidewell on the glove side for his 2nd marker of the game and pushed the Warriors lead to 2-0.
West Kelowna kept their two-goal advantage heading into the 2nd period where they fired 14 shots on goal in the middle stanza but Bidewell remained solid after making 19 saves in the opening frame.
West Kelowna had a great chance to start the period as Jake Bernadet got a pass in front of the net from Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero and sent a backhand shot off the blocker of Bidewell in the opening minute of the period.
Bernadet had another opportunity later in the frame, being sent on a breakaway and made a move to the forehand before being stopped by Bidewell to keep the game at 2-0 heading into the final period of play.
In a similar fashion to the rest of the game, the Warriors continued to pile on shots and hit the 50 mark in the late stages of the 3rd period before Cowichan Valley earned a power play late in the game and were able to cash in to get within a goal.
Off of an offensive zone face-off, Aaron Brown threw a puck to the net from the middle of the point and had his shot deflected by Luke Strickland past the blocker side of Warriors goaltender Justin Katz to get the Capitals within a marker and make the score 2-1 with under a minute to play.
The Capitals pressed and kept West Kelowna hemmed in their own end but Katz and the Warriors stood tall to keep the lead in tact and open the season with a 2-1 victory in Cowichan Valley.
Justin Katz earned the win in net, his first of the season, making 26 saves on 27 shots while McCoy Bidewell took the loss while making 48 saves on 50 shots.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 50-27 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 1/4
WARRIORS PK: 1/2
3 STARS:
1) Matthew Fusco (2-0-2)
2) McCoy Bidewell (48 saves on 50 shots)
3) Justin Katz (26 saves on 27 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Luke Strickland (1-0-1)
Attendance: 400
The Warriors (1-0-0-0) conclude their opening weekend of action on Vancouver Island as they head to the Provincial Capital to take on the Victoria Grizzlies (0-0-0-1) on Saturday night at The Q Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game available to listen to on mixlr.com/bchlwarriors as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca.
