PHOTO: Cherie Morgan
PENTICTON, B.C. – Jaiden Moriello scored his 20th goal of the season as the West Kelowna Warriors dropped an 8-2 score to the Penticton Vees on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The opening period saw Penticton score a total of six times as West Kelowna struggled in the opening 20 minutes of play. Owen Simpson got the scoring going just 38 seconds as he sent a shot to the front of the net that deflected off of a Warriors stick in front of the net and past the glove side of Warriors goaltender Angelo Zol to give Penticton an early 1-0 advantage.
Jackson Nieuwendyk added to the lead with a shot at the front of the net off of a pass from Bradly Nadeau from the right wing at the 7:38 mark of the opening frame before Billy Norcross gave Penticton a 3-0 lead just over a minute later at the 8:40 mark with a shot past the glove side of Zol on a feed from Spencer Smith.
Back-to-back power play goals gave Penticton a 5-0 edge with Brett Moravec and Josh Nadeau scoring just over two minutes apart and ended the night for Zol, who surrendered 5 goals on 12 shots as Cayden Hamming came on in relief.
Jaiden Moriello was a bright spot in the opening period as he scored his 20th goal of the season. On a Vees turnover, Moriello gathered the puck in the left face-off circle and went from his backhand to his forehand before beating Vees goaltender Luca Di Pasquo on the glove side at the 18:42 mark of the 1st period before Aydar Suniev gave Penticton a five-goal lead once again with 10 seconds remaining in the 1st frame.
Only one goal was scored between the two sides in the middle frame as Penticton added to their advantage and took a 7-1 lead with Spencer Smith adding to the scoring. Smith deflected a Ryan Hopkins shot from the right point and forced the puck over the blocker shoulder of Hamming at the 9:50 mark of the frame as the Vees took their six-goal advantage into the final period of play.
The 3rd period featured a pair of goals with one coming from each side as Beanie Richter forced the Vees to a seven-goal advantage before Ben MacDonald closed out the scoring with his 18th goal of the season and his power play marker made the final score of 8-2.
Moriello set up MacDonald with a pass from the right wing side as he spotted the Warriors forward going to the front of the net where he collected on his forehand and lifted a shot over the glove side of Di Pasquo at the 13:56 mark of the 3rd period with the power play goal being the final marker of the game.
Angelo Zol started the game for the Warriors, turning aside 7 of the 12 shots thrown his way in his 4th loss of the season while Cayden Hamming came on in relief in making 14 saves on 17 shots. Vees goaltender Luca Di Pasquo pushed aside 22 of the 24 shots he faced throughout the night in his 27th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 8-2 Vees
SHOTS ON GOAL: 29-24 Vees
WARRIORS PP: 1/4
WARRIORS PK: 1/3
3 STARS:
1) Spencer Smith (1-2-3)
2) Beanie Richter (1-1-2)
3) Billy Norcross (1-1-2)
Attendance: 3,307
After 23 days, the Warriors (22-16-4-0) will finally return home to Royal LePage Place as they are set to host the Trail Smoke Eaters (16-20-2-3) on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM on the 13th annual Faith Night as Warriors Chaplain Pastor Don Richmond has many local churches on hand for the game. Tickets are available for purchase on the Warriors website as well as at the Box Office ahead of the opening puck drop.
Playoff ticket packages are now available for purchase ahead of the 2023 Warriors playoffs! Packages are priced at $128/adult, $104/seniors & students and $64/child and based on an eight-game basis. Get yours today by completing this form! Packages are available until Friday, March 10th.
