The West Kelowna Warriors open up a three-game home stand when they host the Vernon Vipers for the third time this season from Royal LePage Place.
Season Series:
Friday, September 17th @ Royal LePage Place (3-1 Warriors)
Saturday, October 8th @ Royal LePage Place (3-2 Vipers)
Friday, November 18th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 2nd @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, January 20th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, February 1st @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, February 11th @ Kal Tire Place (6:00 PM)
The Warriors come into Friday night’s action after a bit of a layoff, not having played for eight days with a 5-3 defeat to the Trail Smoke Eaters at Cominco Arena last Thursday their latest game action. Chase Dubois, Jared Marino and Quin Foreman all tallied for the Warriors while Shane Farkas took the lose in goal, making 26 saves on 31 shots.
The Warriors and Vipers haven’t met since October 8th, which was a 3-2 victory in favour of the visiting Vipers. Cole Demers was excellent for the 2nd straight time against the Warriors, making 41 saves on 43 shots while Braiden Epp scored both West Kelowna markers as Vernon got two goals from Austin Adamson and a single from Jagger Williamson to round out the scoring on the night.
West Kelowna will look to start the game off on a better foot than they have in their previous two games, allowing a total of seven first period goals in their last two contests. The Warriors fell behind to the Prince George Spruce Kings by a 3-0 score two Sunday’s ago while the Smoke Eaters fired four goals past the Warriors on last Thursday night in Trail. The Warriors will look for better starts as they have scored 15 first period goals while allowing 24.
Two more additions have been made to the 2016/17 Warriors in the likes of forward Cavin Tilsley and goaltender Nik Amundrud. Tilsley, 18, comes to the Warriors from the Prince George Spruce Kings where he played 22 games this season while scoring two times and added nine points, along with 47 penalty minutes. Amundrud, 19, comes to West Kelowna from the Western Hockey League after spending two seasons split with the Saskatoon Blades and the Calgary Hitmen, amassing a 3.17 GAA and a .887 SV% between the two teams last season.
The Warriors also get another boost as defensemen Michael Ryan will return to the lineup after a lengthy stint on the injured reserve. The Marion, Massachusetts native has not played since October 4th, a 1-0 overtime victory for the Warriors against the Chilliwack Chiefs, a span of 13 games. The Union College commit was off to a terrific start in his rookie season in the BCHL with two goals and six points in his first 8 games.
The Vipers enter Friday night’s action with a 11-11-0-2 record and their most recent game being a 5-2 victory over the Langley Rivermen. Jesse Lansdell, Austin Adamson, Michael Ufberg, Steven Jandric and Christian Cakebread all tallied in the victory for Vernon while Ty Taylor made 23 saves on 25 shots for his 8th victory of the season.
Vernon is led in scoring by returning forward Jagger Williamson, who has 5 goals and 20 points on the season but was absent in the 5-2 win on Wednesday night against Langley. His 8 power play assists also leads the club and that has been a strong point for the Vipers this season as their power play is ranked 5th in the BCHL at 26.0%. Vernon’s power play has been hot lately as well, scoring in each of the last four games and going 4/13 in the process.
Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available at the Warriors office or by calling (250) 769-7051. If you can’t make it to the rink, pre-game starts at 6:50 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and hockeytv.com.
