PHOTO: Andrew Knopf
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors will play for their playoff lives on Sunday as they dropped a 2-1 contest to the Vernon Vipers in Game #5 of their Interior Conference Quarter Final series on Friday night at Royal LePage Place and trail the series 3-2.
The Warriors came out and were the better team in the opening 20 minutes of play, firing 14 shots on Vipers goaltender Ethan David but the Vernon netminder was up to the task on all 14 shots, including a big save just over three and a half minutes into the game on Chris Duclair and a partial breakaway.
Duclair sped past a Vipers defenseman and got to the net to go from his forehand to his backhand and lifting the puck toward the goaltender but David was able to get a piece of it with a terrific left pad save to keep the game scoreless at that point and made the best save of his opening period.
Vernon rewarded their goaltender with a goal at the other end of the ice as Reagan Millburn scored for the second straight game and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. Ayden Third let a shot go from the left point that Millburn deflected at the front of the net and got past the glove side of Warriors goaltender Cayden Hamming at the 8:21 mark of the opening period for a 1-0 lead.
West Kelowna continued to push the pace in the 2nd period and pressured the Vipers while outshooting them by a 13-9 margin in the middle frame and got the game tied late in the period at the 18:20 mark as Jaiden Moriello forced the game on even terms.
The Warriors worked the puck from inside of the defensive zone and got through the middle of the ice as Rylee Hlusiak sent a pass ahead on the left wing as Moriello took the puck wide and drove to the net before finishing off on his backhand for his 4th goal of the playoffs, pushing it past the blocker side of David to get the game to a 1-1 score heading into the final period.
Vernon turned on the pressure in the final frame, outshooting the Warriors by a 13-4 margin and not giving West Kelowna much of a chance to generate anything inside of the offensive zone and it was a Kelowna native in Ethan Merner, in his first game of the series, to get the go-ahead marker.
Anson McMaster threw a shot on from the right point that Hamming got a piece of with the rebound coming off of his left pad and Merner there to collect the puck in the left face-off circle and knocked it past the blocker side of Hamming at the 8:56 mark of the 3rd period and gave Vernon another one-goal lead.
The Vipers kept their strong defending going through the remainder of the game, especially late in the contest as the Warriors had a power play opportunity in the final minute and a half of play to force a 6-on-4 attack but David and the Vipers stood tall and skated away with a 2-1 Game #5 victory.
Cayden Hamming was strong in the Warriors goal, turning away 30 of the 32 shots thrown his way in his 3rd loss of the playoffs while Ethan David was once again rock solid, putting in a 30-save effort on 31 shots in his 3rd win of the playoffs.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 Vipers
SHOTS ON GOAL: 32-31 Vipers
WARRIORS PP: 0/3
WARRIORS PK: 4/4
3 STARS:
1) Ethan David (30 saves on 31 shots)
2) Chris Duclair (0-0-0)
3) Ethan Merner (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Nic Porchetta (0-0-0)
ATTENDANCE: 1,508
The series heads back to the North Okanagan on Sunday night for the final time in the best-of-seven Interior Conference Quarter Finals between the Warriors and Vipers with West Kelowna playing for their playoff lives. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game being broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed online at BCHLTV.ca.
