Photo Credit: Pure Life Photography
September 8th, 2019
SALMON ARM, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors start the season 0-3 after losing 4-1 Sunday afternoon to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks,.
The Silverbacks showed early that rust wasn’t an issue not having a single game played in the regular season. First on the man advantage the Silverbacks used their veteran Trevor Adams to capitalize on a rebound to make it 1-0. Then midway through the first period the Silverbacks would go on the attack. Tony Andreozzi would fire a shot from the point going past about 4 players in front of Johnny Derrick and that made it 2-0. Warriors would have 3 power play opportunities but couldn’t get much going in terms of setting things up in the Silverbacks zone. It was evident that the absence of Parm Dhaliwal and Jake Harrison were affecting the Warriors powerplay woes this weekend. The Warriors would get 12 shots on Silverbacks goaltender Ethan Langenegger but couldn’t cash in on any quality rebounds. Shots after the first period, 16-12 Silverbacks.
The second period started with the Warriors on the penalty kill. After allowing the first power play goal of the season, the Warriors would kill a total of 4 power play opportunities in the second frame shutting out the Silverbacks in the second period. The Warriors would get a boost from their stellar penalty killing, allowing Drew Vieten to create a goal from Ryan Novecosky after Rob Christy crashed the net to cut the lead to one.
The Warriors came out strong in the third period with plenty of chances but it was Silverbacks goaltender Ethan Langenegger who stood tall stopping all 12 shots he faced. Warriors were also unable to capitalize on the three power play opportunities ending up with eight failed chances on the man advantage Sunday afternoon. The Silverbacks would add a goal in the final couple minutes to add the insurance and then tally an empty net goal to make it a 4-1 final. Shots on goal 39-31 Silverbacks.
Three Stars:
- SA Ethan Langenegger (30 Saves)
- WKW Johnny Derrick (36 Saves)
- SA Akito Hirose (1A)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
SA F Coalson Wolford
The Warriors next game is Friday September 13th versus the Langley Rivermen. Puck drop 7:15pm from George Preston Arena in Langley. This game will be streamed on Hockey TV and will be broadcast on the Warriors radio network on Mixlr.
