The West Kelowna Warriors clinched second place in the round robin and a date with the Brooks Bandits for the Western Canada Cup Championship Game on Saturday night after a 4-1 victory over the Melfort Mustangs on Thursday afternoon.
Brett Mennear, Jonathan Desbiens, and Kylar Hope all scored in the first period, as Bryan Basilico added a marker in the second and Keelan Williams made 20 saves in picking up his second win of the tournament.
After a hard checking opening 10 minutes, Mennear broke in over the Melfort line and went around the defenseman, out-waiting the goaltender and firing a puck into the upper portion of the net to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
Just over two minutes later, Mennear would win the draw and Desbiens would pick up the loose puck, taking his time to snap it to the perfect spot and make it 2-0.
In the final minute, another great play by Mennear and Desbiens would pop the puck free to Kylar Hope who beat Evan Plotnik and made it 3-0 after the opening 20 minutes.
The lone goal of the second period belonged to Basilico, as he tapped in his third of the tournament on a great pass from Tyler Anderson, who finished with 2 assists.
Melfort would break the shutout at 8:16 of the final frame, as an unfortunate fall from Nick Rutigliano allowed a shot from the left circle, before Travis Mayan buried the rebound.
West Kelowna finished the game out-shooting the Mustangs 43-21, aided by eight power plays. The Warriors would go 0/8 on the man advantage, while the Mustanges went 0/5.
Puck drop for the Western Canada Cup Championship Game is at 7 PM local (6 PM in BC) on Saturday night against the Brooks Bandits. Catch the action at www.mixlr.com/bchlwarriors.
