Photo Credit: Julie Pringle(Snap Photography)
November 27th, 2018
WEST KELOWNA B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors jump back into the win column after a 4-3 victory over the Langley Rivermen Tuesday night.
The Warriors once again got off to a hot start dominating play in the first ten minutes of the hockey game. Rivermen goaltender Braeden Fleming made numerous saves but couldn’t stop Bennett Norlin who drew first blood to make it 1-0. This was a new top line that the Warriors were forced to make with Parm Dhaliwal still out with injury and Lucas Cullen serving a suspension. Both Willie Reim and Bennett Norlin are committed to Air Force next year and show they have chemistry with one another especially with Captain Cavin Tilsley centering the line. The Rivermen tied the game up late thanks to a Tanner Versluis goal. Shots on goal 13-13 after one.
The second period was all offense. The Warriors would pounce with a grab bag of scoring chances in the first five minutes of the period and it was Union College Committed Mike Hardman who scored not once but twice to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead. The two goal lead was short lived with Rivermen forward Tanner Versluis scoring his second of the night making it 3-2. Midway through the period the Warriors would regain the two goal lead thanks to some stellar play from that Air Force driven second line. It all started with Lucas Bahn keeping the puck in the attacking zone and instead of throwing the puck deep Lucas made a nifty move stickhandling around a Rivermen forward allowing for Bennett Norlin to receive the pass deep in the corner. Norlin immediately cross iced the puck to a wide open Willie Reim who made no mistake and it was 4-2 at the end of the second. Shots on goal 31-24 in favor of the Rivermen after two periods.
The Warriors would get caught in their own zone to start the third period. A couple mistakes and neutral zone turnovers would lead to an Alec Capstick shot from the point which was tipped in by Rivermen forward Daneel Lategan and the lead was cut to one yet again. The Warriors would hold on thanks to some great goaltending from Brock Baier who would finish the game stopping 39 of 42 shots.
Shots on goal: 42-32 in favor of the Rivermen.
3 Stars
- WKW F Mike Hardman (2G)
- WKW F Bennett Norlin (1G-1A)
- LAN F Tanner Versluis (2G)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW F Willie Reim (1G-1A)
The Warriors next game is Friday night versus the Nanaimo Clippers. Puck drop at 7:00pm from Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo. Catch Friday’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.
