On Saturday night the West Kelowna Warriors won with a 4-2 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

The first period of the game was drawn to a scoreless tie as both teams played well defensively. Strong goaltending in the opening twenty minutes of action deterred either team from scoring.

Cole Demers turned aside 13 shots in the first period in the Warriors crease, while Spruce Kings netminder Evan DeBrouwer stopped all 8 shots he faced.

It took well into the latter point of the 2nd period before the game got its first goal and came courtesy of a scramble that was capitalized by the Warriors. A 2-on-1 saw Chase Dubois and Willie Reim unable to connect with the puck going off of the end boards off of Reim’s stick. The puck bounced to the right face-off circle for Michael Ryan to slap in for his 3rd goal of the season at the 17:29 mark of the frame and give the Warriors a 1-0 lead heading into the 3rd period.

The Warriors didn’t take long to add to their lead as just 29 seconds into the 3rd frame, RJ Murphy scored his second goal. A point shot from Jake Harrison went behind the net for an awaiting Murphy who wrapped the puck around on the glove side of DeBrouwer for a 2-0 Warriors lead.

Photo credit: West Kelowna Warriors

West Kelowna added to their advantage just 1:29 after the Murphy goal with Willie Reim joining the scoring on another scramble at the goalmouth. Reim was standing at the top of the crease and banged in a rebound for his second goal at the 1:58 mark on the power play. This pushed the Warriors lead to 3-0.

Warriors captain Jared Marino capped off an impressive start to the 3rd period for the visitors with a goal at the 3:58 mark of the frame to extend the lead to 4-0. Marino buried in a pass from the left side for his 8th goal of the season just as a power play came to an end.

The Spruce Kings scored a pair of goals to round out the scoring in the 3rd period. A nice pass from Ethan de Jong allowed Dustin Manz to score at the 7:44 mark of the period. 

Prince George added one more goal at the end of the game with just 21 seconds remaining. It looked as though the Warriors goaltender had covered the puck up but the officials thought otherwise as Kyle Johnson got the last touch on the puck and closed out the scoring in a 4-2 Warriors victory. This is Johnson's 12th goal of the BCHL season.

Cole Demers of the West Kelowna Warriors turned aside 29 of the 31 shots he faced in the game for his 8th victory of the season. Evan DeBrouwer of the Spruce Kings stopped 29 of the 33 shots faced.

FINAL SCORE: 4-2 Warriors

FINAL SHOTS ON GOAL: 33-31 Warriors

Warriors PP: 1/5

Warriors PK: 4/5

3 Stars:

• 1) Michael Ryan (1-1-2)
• 2) Willie Reim (1-0-1)
• 3) Dustin Manz (1-0-1)
• Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Nolan Welsh (0-0-0)

ATTENDANCE: 847

The Warriors (15-10-0-1) return back home to Royal LePage Place to begin a two-game weekend and kick off Parents Weekend as they host the Merritt Centennials on Friday night for a 7:00 p.m. face-off. Tickets are available for purchase through the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the door.

Prince George (12-10-2-3) sits third in the Mainland Division. The Spruce Kings return home next Friday and Saturday to face-off against the Coquitlam Express at 7 p.m. For tickets call (250) 564-1747.