PHOTO: Lisa Mazurek
VERNON, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors came back from two separate two-goal deficits before a goal in the final second of the 3rd period saw them fall to the Vernon Vipers by a 4-3 score on Saturday night at Kal Tire Place.
A special teams filled opening period saw 5 power plays split between the two sides with the Vipers being able to wear down the Warriors penalty kill and strike with a pair of goals immediately following their man advantages.
A penalty at the beginning of the game forced the Warriors shorthanded and moments after the penalty expired, Walker Erickson got the puck in the left face-off circle and wired a shot over the blocker side of West Kelowna goaltender Justin Katz for a 1-0 lead just 2:18 into the opening period of action.
Similarly after that, with the Warriors spending over two minutes inside of their own zone following a penalty kill, Reagan Millburn took a pass in the right face-off circle and rocketed a wrist shot over the blocker shoulder of Katz at the 7:01 mark of the 1st period to push Vernon’s lead to 2-0.
West Kelowna had three power play opportunities following that in the opening frame but couldn’t find their way past goaltender Roan Clarke or the Vipers and looking to rebound from a 2-0 deficit in the opening 20 minutes.
The Warriors started the 2nd period with pace and cut the deficit to one goal just under five minutes into the frame with the captain Aiden Reeves putting his team on the scoresheet. Reeves took the puck at the right point and sent a shot through traffic that slipped past the blocker side of Clarke for his 3rd goal of the season and got the Warriors within a goal at 2-1.
Just about a minute and a half later at the 6:39 mark of the 2nd period, Vernon increased their lead to two goals once again courtesy of Hank Cleaves. Griffen Barr sent a shot to the net from the top of the left face-off circle with Katz kicking the puck away with the rebound being put in by Cleaves to push the home side back ahead by a pair of goals at 3-1.
The game changed a bit late in the 2nd period with a major penalty taken by Jonathan Horn, who checked Nic Porchetta with a high hit and the Warriors took advantage of the five-minute major to get within one goal before the 2nd period came to a close.
Ben MacDonald worked the puck to the goal line as Riley Sharun gathered from the right corner and walked to the edge of the right face-off circle before lifting a backhand shot over the blocker side of Clarke for his 4th goal of the season and, in his 100th career regular season BCHL game, getting West Kelowna within a goal at the 17:45 mark of the middle frame.
The Warriors were not able to score again during the 5-minute major power play but did get a goal early in the 3rd period to level the score at 3-3. Brennan Nelson, also suiting up in his 100th career regular season game, sent a pass from the left face-off circle to the side of the net as Rylee Hlusiak was driving the goal on the glove side as he tapped in his 12th goal of the season and brought to Warriors to a tie game early in the 3rd period.
The teams had chances to take the lead before the dying seconds as the Vipers sent the Warriors home with a heartbreaker. Luke Pakulak sent a pass to the front of the net where Seiya Tanaka-Campbell collected his own rebound in front and beat the right pad of Katz with 1.1 seconds remaining on the score clock to give Vernon the late win.
Justin Katz turned aside 35 of the 39 shots thrown his way in his 8th loss of the season while Roan Clarke pushed away 17 of the 20 shots he saw in his 11th victory of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Vipers
SHOTS ON GOAL: 39-20 Vipers
WARRIORS PP: 1/6
WARRIORS PK: 2/2
3 STARS:
1) Seiya Tanaka-Campbell (1-1-2)
2) Rylee Hlusiak (1-1-2)
3) Anthony Cliché (0-0-0)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Hank Cleaves (1-0-1)
ATTENDANCE: 2,304
The Warriors (22-15-4-0) will conclude their seven-game stretch away from home with a trip to the South Okanagan and facing off against the Penticton Vees (36-3-0-1) on Friday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM from the South Okanagan Events Centre with the game broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed live on BCHLTV.ca.
