Salmon Arm fought right to the finish, but was unable to complete the comeback taking on the West Kelowna Warriors in Royal LePage Place.
A strong opening 20 minutes had West Kelowna leading 2-0 after one. Parm Dhaliwal scored his first goal of the season as Mike Hardman won a faceoff back, and the veteran forward’s shot found it’s way through a maze of players into the back of the net. Willie Reim scored his first goal of the game for the Warriors with six minutes left on the clock. On an odd man rush, he was able to slide the puck under the stretching leg of Ethan Langenegger doubling the lead.
Salmon Arm was able to come back in the second though after a strong penalty kill showing against the top ranked Warriors power play. Following four straight Warrior power plays, the Salmon Arm man advantage would finally get put to work late in the second period. A nice tic-tac-toe play with Justin Wilson and Matthew Verboon was finished off above the crease by Olson Werenka scoring his second goal of the season. Seven minutes later Justin Wilson came down the right wing, and snapped the puck across to Noah Wakeford who tapped the puck in for his first of the season.
Langenegger was spectacular in the second period stopping four glorious opportunities and keeping his side in the game.
Scoring in the third took a while to get rolling, but once it did, fans Royal LePage Place saw four goals in the span of 5:09. The home side had excitement to start as Reim went glove side on Langenegger to restore the Warriors lead at 3-2 with 7:13 left on the clock.
Salmon Arm replied three minutes later with Justin Wilson coming down one on one against a defender and snapping a shot through the legs of Connor Hopkins who was last week’s BCHL player of the Week. Two and a half minutes later, West Kelowna would go ahead again with Wyatt Head digging the puck from the left corner and out to the slot for Mike Hardman who was all alone. With four goals in six games coming in, the veteran forward made no mistake putting the puck inside the right post.
The Silverbacks would take a late penalty but nearly scored shorthanded as Hudson Schandor was sprung on a breakaway Hopkins made the glove save though to avoid making it a 4-4 game. West Kelowna would eventually come the other way, and the number one power play converted with Willie Reim scoring his third goal of the night.
With the 5-3 win, West Kelowna takes sole possession of first in the Interior Division with 10 points. Salmon Arm remains at 6 points tied with Penticton for 6th in the division. Game two of the home and home takes place Saturday night in the Shaw Centre with West Kelowna coming to town.
Star Performers:
Ethan Langegger – Always giving his side a chance to win this season, the young netminder played another brilliant game Friday night despite the five goals against him. A number were on odd man rushes and chances right above the crease and in the slot. His second period performance gave Salmon Arm a chance to win the game.
Justin Wilson – It was a three point night for the 20 year old forward, and he looked dangerous all evening. It was his second three point effort in a week, and he is now tied with Matthew Verboon in team scoring with nine points.
