Photo Credit: Tami Quan Photography
March 5th, 2019
WEST KELOWNA B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors suffer a 6-2 loss at home in game 3 of the BCHL Interior Division Quarterfinal Tuesday night.
The Warriors started game 3 the same way they started game 2, with a Cavin Tilsley goal. It was a faceoff in the Wild zone won by Tilsley, and instead of passing the puck towards his defenders at the point Tilsley decided to quickly fire a wrist shot which surprised Wild goaltender Austin Park to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
The second period was all Wild. First with only a minute and a half into the period, Murphy Stratton was able to feed a wide open Lucas Sowder in the slot to tie the game up at one. Six minutes later the Wild would take the lead with the Wild Captain Sowder collecting a rebound near the the crease and capitalizing. Late in the period the Wild would keep taking advantage of a Warriors team that took their foot of the gas pedal. On their third power play of the game the Wild veterans would dominate play with the Wild Captain Lucas Sowder finding Murphy Stratton wide open in the back door to make it 3-1. Then with under a minute to go the Wild would continue to move the puck and skate circles around the Warriors in the attacking zone leading to Brandon Koch scoring his first of the playoffs to extend the lead to three with only 5 seconds remaining in the period.
The Warriors needed a spark after a lackluster second period but the Warriors would continue to play on their heels with numerous time spent in their own zone. The Wild would take only their second penalty of the series putting the Warriors back on the man advantage allowing Lucas Cullen to score his 4th of the playoffs cutting the lead to three. The Wild would add one late in the third from Josh Arnold to seal it 6-2.
Shots on goal 35-24 in favor of the Wild.
3 Stars
- WEN F Lucas Sowder (1G-2A)
- WEN D Brandon Koch (2G)
- WEN F Murphy Stratton (1G-1A)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW F Cavin Tilsley (1G)
The Warriors next game is Game 4 of the BCHL Interior Division Quarterfinal Wednesday night versus the Wenatchee Wild. Puck drop at 7:00pm from Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna. Catch Wednesday’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.
