PHOTO: Tami Quan
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors used a three-goal 3rd period to help them to a 5-2 victory over the Wenatchee Wild on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
The game started with a bang as the Warriors scored just 11 seconds into the opening period and came courtesy of Michael Salandra, who buried his 3rd goal of the season from in tight to the net to give West Kelowna the early edge and a 1-0 lead.
The Wild came back just over two minutes later at the 3:12 mark with Mario Gasparini tallying a marker to get the game on even terms and would be where the score would stay after 20 minutes with both teams tallying 12 shots on goal.
Like they did in the opening period, West Kelowna got the scoring going quickly and it was Ben MacDonald who collected his 1st goal of the season and his first in the BCHL. The puck was swept from the front of the net as MacDonald collected in the left face-off circle and fired a shot past the blocker side of Wild netminder Andy Vlaha and the power play goal pushed West Kelowna ahead by a 2-1 margin.
Wenatchee had a response, again, and came from Luke Weilandt as he scored at 11:33 to even the score at 2-2. Gabe Dombrowski freed the puck on the right wing for Weilandt in the middle who collected his own rebound off the left pad of Cayden Hamming and flipped it over him to level the score heading into the 3rd period.
The Warriors penalty kill was busy all night but turned in a terrific performance, going 7-for-7 in the game and had two big PK’s to begin the 3rd period with Justin Katz coming on to relieve Hamming in the final period.
West Kelowna took the lead for the third time in the game as Kailus Green notched his 3rd goal of the season to give the Warriors a 3-2 edge. Jake Bernadet passed to the right side as Green got around a defender and deked to his backhand, sliding the puck past the blocker side of Vlaha to push West Kelowna ahead at the 14:05 mark of the 3rd period.
The Warriors added to their lead, jumping ahead by a pair of goals with Jaiden Moriello notching his team-leading 4th goal of the season to give West Kelowna a 4-2 lead. MacDonald stole the puck off of a Wild defender and slid it to the right side as Nolan Hayes cut to the net, dropping a pass to the back door for Moriello to push in and give the Warriors a two-goal lead for the first time on the night.
With the net empty in the final minute of play, Chris Duclair battled to work the puck free to the neutral zone, shielding off a couple of Wenatchee defenders to get the puck on his stick and hit the empty goal for his 3rd goal of the season and a 5-2 lead with just 55 seconds remaining.
Cayden Hamming turned aside 24 of the 26 shots thrown his way in his 40 minutes of action while Justin Katz made saves on all 16 shots he faced in his 4th win of the season. Andy Vlaha stopped 24 of the 28 shots he saw in the game in his first regulation loss of the campaign.
FINAL SCORE: 5-2 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 42-29 Wenatchee
WARRIORS PP: 1/4
WARRIORS PK: 7/7
3 STARS:
1) Ben MacDonald (1-1-2)
2) Nolan Hayes (0-2-2)
3) Michael Salandra (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Matt Fusco (0-0-0)
Attendance: 986
The Warriors (4-1-2-0) will hit the road once again, this time for the BCHL Showcase, taking place in Chiliwack as they kick-off the event on Monday morning with a matchup against the Victoria Grizzlies (2-3-0-2). Puck drop is slated for 10:00 AM and the game will be broadcasted live on the Warriors Broadcast Network as well as streamed online on BCHLTV.ca.
