Photo Credit: Garrett James Photography
October 26th, 2019
TRAIL – The Trail Smoke Eaters steamroll the West Kelowna Warriors 8-2 Saturday night.
The Smoke Eaters got off to a hot start in the first. It started with a quick faceoff win by Kent Johnson giving Mike Colella a shot beating Brock Baier to make it 1-0 Smoke Eaters. Only 6 seconds later after another faceoff win for the Smoke Eaters allowing Colella to find Corey Clifton to make it 2-0 Smoke Eaters. Things didn’t get better for the Warriors after frustrations set in. Kris Pietroniro was penalized for after whistle roughing putting the Smoke Eaters back on the power play. In the final stages of the man advantage Powell Connor was able to find an open Corey Clifton to make it 3-0 Smoke Eaters after one period of play.
Things didn’t get better for the Warriors in the second period. Kent Johnson would add not one but two goals in the second frame to make it 5-0 Smoke Eaters. The Warriors would get a couple quality scoring chances, but Smoke Eaters goaltender Logan Terness made a couple great saves keeping the shutout in tact.
The Warriors needed something in the third period to get some confidence down 5 goals. It didn’t start in their favor with the Smoke Eaters scoring their sixth goal under a minute in courtesy of Corey Clifton who picked up the hatrick. The Warriors would add a pair with goals from Ryan Upson and Brandon Dent to cut the lead, but the Smoke Eaters were quick to restore the six goal lead after adding another pair of goals. Ryan Novecoksy would be ejected for fighting and David Vieten would be ejected for hitting Smoke Eaters defender Diarmad DiMurro from behind. The Smoke Eaters spent majority of the third period on the power play holding on to the 8-2 victory.
Final shots on goal: 40-21 in favor of the Smoke Eaters.
Three Stars:
- TRA Corey Clifton (3G-2A)
- TRA Kent Johnson (2G-3A)
- TRA Mike Colella (1G-4A)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
TRA D Powell Connor (2A)
The Warriors next game is Friday November 1st versus the Coquitlam Express. Puck drop 7:00pm from Poirier Sports and Recreation Complex in Coquitlam. This game will be streamed on Hockey TV and will be broadcast on the Warriors radio network on Mixlr.
