The West Kelowna Warriors hit the midway point of their three-game Mainland Division road swing as they take on the Langley Rivermen at the George Preston Arena tonight.
Season Series:
Friday, November 25th @ George Preston Arena (7:15 PM)
Tuesday, February 7th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors enter Friday night’s action after scoring a season-high six goals as part of a 6-3 victory against the Surrey Eagles at the South Surrey Arena. Matthew Campese had a season-high four points while Parm Dhaliwal pitched in with a goal and two assists in his hometown. Delta native Cavin Tilsley also scored along with Stephen Kleysen netting his first career BCHL goal on the power play while Nicholas Rutigliano earned his second goal of the season to round out the scoring. Nik Amundrud made 33 saves on 36 shots for his 2nd BCHL victory.
The Warriors and Rivermen met twice last season with each team winning once on home ice. In late November, the Rivermen picked up a 4-2 win at the end of a three-game road trip for the Warriors while West Kelowna returned the favour back at RLP in mid-February as they squeaked out a 3-2 win to tie the season series up.
Matthew Campese may be a player to watch out for in the coming future as the 19-year-old is red hot right now with four goals in his last three games. The West Kelowna product turned in a two goal, two assist effort Thursday night in Surrey and now is averaging a point per game with the Warriors, sitting at 5 goals and 8 assists in his 13 games played with the club.
The youngsters had themselves a night on Thursday as well as homecoming forward Parm Dhaliwal dazzled in front of family and friends in his return to his old home. The Surrey native opened the scoring with a gorgeous goal and added two helpers while Chase Dubois found the score sheet three times with three assists en route to the 6-3 victory.
Funny how quickly things change in the Interior Division as no one has separated themselves from the rest of the pack as the Warriors, with the win on Thursday, sit just two points back of the Trail Smoke Eaters and Vernon Vipers for a tie of 2nd place in the division and remain just a point out of 4th place behind the Merritt Centennials entering Friday night’s action.
The Langley Rivermen come into Friday night with an 8-12-2-3 record and most recently have had six days off after a 3-3 tie with the Nanaimo Clippers last Saturday night at home. Ryan Barrow, recently invited to the Team Canada West camp roster for the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge held in Bonnyville, Alberta, provided all the scoring for the Rivermen on Saturday with his first career BCHL hat trick. Braedon Fleming started the game for the ‘Riv and made 7 saves on 8 shots before leaving the game due to an injury. The three-year veteran Bo Didur entered the game and allowed two goals on 14 shots in his 48:23 played.
Injuries have been a big part of the Rivermen’s season as Max Kaufman, third in team scoring with 11-14-25 in just 18 games, is currently sidelined and on injured reserve while a pair top end 17-year-olds in Angus Crookshank, committed to the University of New Hampshire, and Alec Capstick, committed to the University of Notre Dame, have only seen one game of action each so far this season.
The ‘Riv are led in scoring by 19-year-old Ryan Barrow as his 13 goals and 32 assists both lead the team. Defensemen, and another recently added player to the camp roster for Team Canada West, Cameron Ginnetti is second in scoring with two goals and 26 points but does lead the team with his 24 assists.
The puck drops at “The Lodge” (a.k.a George Preston Arena) at 7:15 PM with pre-game starting at 7:05 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and hockeytv.com. The Warriors finish up their three-game Mainland swing with a visit south of the border on Saturday against the Wenatchee Wild.
