Photo Credit: Julie Pringle(Snap Photography)
DECEMBER 7th, 2018
WEST KELOWNA B.C. – The return of Warriors Parm Dhaliwal still wasn’t enough to help defeat the Merritt Centennials Friday night.
The game started in favor of the Centennials as they scored in the first 1:56 of the opening frame to make it 1-0. The lead was quickly extinguished by the Warriors as Chase Dubois was able to put the puck past Cents goaltender Austin Roden to tie it up. Less than a minute later the Centennials would get another bounce with Matthew Kopperud deflecting a Mattias Dal Monte point shot to make it 2-1. The Warriors would get caught in their own zone again, this time by the fourth line of the Cents with Daniel Tkac finding Vincent Guy to make it 3-1. That was it for Warriors goaltender Brock Baier who was under siege in the first ten minutes. Baier was replaced by Connor Hopkins. The Warriors were able to score one late in the period and it was Chase Dubois off pretty passing by Mike Hardman and newcomer Anthony Bishop to give Dubois his second of the night and the period ended with the Cents leading 3-2.
The second period the Warriors were buzzing in the Cents zone throughout the first ten minutes. It was Parm Dhaliwal who was able to find Mike Hardman on the powerplay to tie the game at 3. It was the first time in 8 games the Warriors scored 2 or more powerplay goals in one game. In the final two minutes of the second it was Dhaliwal yet again making noise, this time scoring his 7th of the season putting it past Austin Roden to make it 2-1 going into the dressing room.
The Merritt Centennials dominated play in the final frame. The Warriors were unable to record a shot on goal until the 4 minute mark of the 3rd period. The Centennials were able to tie the game up with Brendan Schneider scoring his 11th of the season. Then with only 4 minutes to go in the third the Cents would send out the 4th line and Brett Roloson was able to put the puck past Connor Hopkins to give the Centennials the go ahead goal and the 5-4 lead. The Warriors pushed late in the game but were unable to put the puck past Austin Roden giving the Cents the two points.
Shots on goal: 41-24 in favor of the Merritt Centennials.
3 Stars
- WKW F Parm Dhaliwal (1G-1A)
- WKW F Chase Dubois (1G-2A)
- MER F Matt Kopperud (2G)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW D Kyle Koopman
The Warriors next game is Saturday night versus the Vernon Vipers. Puck drop at 6:00pm from Kal Tire Place in Vernon. Catch Saturday’s game and every other home and away game this season on Mixlr and Hockey TV. Just head to the Warriors website and click on the “Listen Live” column to get directed to a radio feed of each game.
