The Warriors lost three more key players during their game in Langley on Saturday, limping to a gutsy overtime loss to the Rivermen.
Already missing a slew of players due to injury and World Junior ‘A’ Challenge tryouts, the Warriors got dealt another massive dose of adversity when star goalie Andy Desautels was knocked out of the game late in the first period. The challenge got even bigger when defenceman Braxton Bilous and forward Carl Hesler were unable to finish.
16 year-old Cody Porter replaced Desautels for his first game-action in the BCHL. The Warriors also called up two forwards (Zach Andrusiak and Brandon Duhaime) for the evening, with both playing key minutes all game.
Down to just four defencemen, the Warriors did everything they could to survive the game and hang onto an early lead. They managed to get to overtime before a powerplay goal from Will Cook delivered the victory for the Rivermen.
Connor Bucsis and Jordan Masters staked the Warriors a 2-0 lead when they scored back-to-back 5-on-3 goals early in the second period after concurrent blow-to-the-head major penalties to Rivermen James Robinson and Austin Azurdia.
His first BCHL tally, Bucsis described his goal as “really relieving” after missing an “easy one” earlier in the game.
The exhausted 18 year-old also admitted to mixed emotions after the defeat. “We didn’t lose from a lack of effort” Bucsis stressed, also adding “You’ve still got to be disappointed after a loss.”
Having claimed three points in two games so far on the weekend, the Warriors conclude the road-trip in Surrey on Sunday afternoon.
The General’s Report offers multimedia coverage and analysis of the West Kelowna Warriors.
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