The West Kelowna Warriors wrap up their three-game road trip looking to hit the win column as they take on the Chilliwack Chiefs at Prospera Centre for the third and final time in their season series on Sunday evening.
Season Series:
Wednesday, September 21st @ Prospera Centre (5-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, October 4th @ Royal LePage Place (1-0 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, January 29th @ Prospera Centre (5:00 PM)
The Warriors come into Sunday’s action still searching for their first win of the road trip after a 7-2 defeat to the Powell River Kings at Hap Parker Arena on Saturday night. Chase Dubois tallied his 13th goal of the season in the first period while Logan Mostat picked up his 16th goal of the season in the 2nd period. Cole Demers took the loss in the game with seven saves on 11 shots while Gabriel Morency came on in relief with 31 saves on 34 shots.
The Warriors and Chiefs will play the final of their three-game season series with West Kelowna winning both of the previous meetings with a 5-2 win at the BCHL Showcase and also a 1-0 victory at RLP in October. Reed Gunville scored the overtime winner in the one-goal win while Shane Farkas earned his first BCHL shutout with a 42 save effort for the win.
West Kelowna will look to bump a recent skid of four losses in a row with the schedule ahead not very favorable to the Warriors either. After returning from the road trip, West-K heads to Vernon on Wednesday to battle the Vipers followed by a matchup against the Merritt Centennials in the Nicola Valley. Over the four-game stretch, the Warriors have been outscored by their opponents to the tune of a 20-7 margin.
A milestone alert for Sunday’s game as 20-year-old forward Braiden Epp will play in his 200th career BCHL regular season game this evening when the Warriors take on the Chiefs. The Prince George, BC native played in 166 games with the Prince George Spruce Kings and will be playing in his 34th as a member of the Warriors. Epp also is sitting on another milestone as he has tallied 53 goals and 46 assists for 99 points in his BCHL career, just one off of the century mark.
The Chilliwack Chiefs enter play on Sunday in 2nd place in the Mainland Division with a 32-10-0-5 record and have won 11 of their last 12 games with only one loss since the Christmas break with the most recent victory a 3-0 shutout win in Coquitlam against the Express. Cole Poliziani, Aaron O’Neill and Kohen Olischefski all tallied in the victory while Mark Sinclair made 23 saves for his 26th win of the season and his 2nd shutout on the campaign.
The Chiefs sit tied for fourth in the BCHL in goal scoring with 197 goals for and are led in scoring by 3rd year forward Jordan Kawaguchi as the University of North Dakota commit has 28 goals and 35 assists for 63 points on the season in 43 games played. The Chiefs captain is having another outstanding season for Chilliwack and it goes with his resume in the BCHL so far with 110 goals and 110 assists for 220 points in 204 career games.
The Chiefs have been making a charge for the lead in the Mainland Division as they sit just seven points back of the Wenatchee Wild for top spot and their play at Prospera Centre has been a big reason as to why. Chilliwack sits with a 16-3-0-1 record on home ice this season which gives them the 2nd least amount of losses on home ice this year and have won their last six games at home with their last defeat at Prospera Centre coming on December 2nd against the Powell River Kings.
The Warriors and Chiefs drop the puck at 5:00 PM tonight with the pre-game show getting underway at 4:50 PM where you can listen for free on the Warriors Internet Network or watch live on pay-per-view at www.hockeytv.com. West Kelowna returns to the Interior with a matchup on Wednesday night against the Vernon Vipers at Kal Tire Place.
