The Salmon Arm Silverbacks fell 2-1 on the road in West Kelowna last night (Friday) in Game 2 of their BCHL pre-season schedule. The Silverbacks will host the Warriors tonight at 7pm, August 27th at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm.
The Warriors opened the scoring at 13:50 of the opening period on Friday, with 18-year-old Mitch Martan’s goal. The Silverbacks got on the board in the final minute of t…he first period, as 18-year-old Josh Latta tied the game 1-1 with 27 seconds remaining.Latta scored 19 goals and 68 points last season with the North West Giants of the BC Major Midget League. The North Vancouver native also had 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 regular season games with the Silverbacks in the 2015-16 BCHL season.
West Kelowna lead 12-9 in shots in the first, with Trevin Kozlowski starting in goal for the ‘Backs for his first pre-season action in the BCHL. The 19-year-old of Valencia, California is committed to Army NCAA Military Academy in the US.
The home team went ahead 2-1 in the second period and on the power-play with Latta serving a double minor for high-sticking, 18-year-old Mathew Rutigliano scored at 8:16.
The Silverbacks had the edge in shots, 9-8 in the middle period but trailed 2-1 into the third. Neither team found the back of the net in the final frame as they exchanged power-plays.
The Silverbacks finished 0-for-3 with the man-advantage, and 3-for-4 on the penalty-kill. The Warriors outshot the ‘Backs 16-4 in the final frame, and 36-22 West Kelowna total.
17-year-old Shane Farkas and 19-year-old Gunnar Neilson split the win in goal, while Kozlowski took the loss facing all 36 West Kelowna shots.
The Silverbacks will host the Warriors tonight (Saturday) at 7pm for the first pre-season action at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm.
The ‘Backs started with a 5-5 tie with the Merritt Centennials on Wednesday in the Nicola Valley. Meanwhile, the Warriors opened their pre-season with a 2-0 loss to the Vees in Penticton on Wednesday.
The ‘Backs dressed 11 forwards and 7 defencemen on Friday, and had 30 players in total remaining in camp from the 41 when training camp began on Monday morning. The roster is now down to 24 after last nights reassignments.
The Silverbacks pre-season will conclude on September 2nd and 3rd with a home-and-home set with the Vernon Vipers. The ‘Backs will host the Vipers on Friday, September 2nd at 7pm at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm.
The Silverbacks will begin the BCHL regular season on Friday, September 9th at home to the Vernon Vipers at 7pm.
Each Silverbacks game is available via Fast Hockey PPV bit.ly/1LWasN2, while each home game is available audio only/no charge at mixlr.com/sasilverbacks/ and each road game will be broadcast live audio only/no charge via the Voice of the Shuswap, Salmon Arm Community Radio 93.7FM bit.ly/1pkztY
