West Kelowna, BC – On Friday night in Trail, the West Kelowna Warriors were bad. They were bad in every sense of the word, as they got spanked by the Smoke Eaters 8-2 at Cominco Arena.
In the rematch on Saturday night in West K, the West Kelowna Warriors were great. They were great in every sense of the word, as they exacted a bit of revenge on the Smokies in a 3-1 win at RLP.
After a scoreless first, and lengthy stretch in the second period, the game finally got its first goal on a West Kelowna powerplay. A nifty feed from the goal line into the slot for Dylan Krayer, who fanned on his initial attempt, unintentionally sent a perfect pass over to the far side of the crease to Eliot Compton, who pumped the puck past a confused Teagan Kendrick to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
The Warriors would add to their lead in the latter stages of the third, when the newest member of the Warriors, Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia’s Sam LeDrew scored his second goal in as many games in the BC Hockey League, an absolute SNIPE from the right faceoff circle over the right shoulder of Teagan Kendrick to give West K a two goal lead. Trail would answer back less than 90 seconds later, when Dylan Lariviere knocked home the garbage in a scramble to cut the lead in half. Callum Hughes put the game out of reach with four seconds left in the third, sealing it with an empty netter for his third goal of the season.
Between the pipes, Dawson Labre stopped 23 of 24 for his second win of the season. His best stop of the night came in the second period, when he denied Gryphon Bucci not once, but twice. First with the left toe, then with the trapper on the rebound. Labre now improved to 2-1 on the year.
Next week, the Warriors are on the road for a pair of divisional matchups. On Friday, they’re back at Kal Tire Place for another matchup with the Vernon Vipers. On Saturday, they travel to the newly renamed Rogers Rink for their first matchup of the season with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Both games will be available on BCHLTV and Mixlr with the voice of the Warriors, Joey Pitt.
Photo: Tami Quan Photography
