Image Credit: West Kelowna Warriors
March 01, 2015 - 10:08 AM
WEST KELOWNA - The West Kelowna Warriors snuck into the BCHL playoffs with a 6-4 win over the Surrey Eages at Royal LePage Place.
Warriors fans found out during the second period Saturday, Feb. 28 that all they needed to do was win and they would make the Interior Division Playoffs.
The players were notified by the coaches after two periods that all they needed to do was keep the 3-0 lead they had built up through 40 minutes against the Surrey Eagles and they would play Penticton in the first round.
Tanner Campbell opened the scoring for the Warriors in the opening frame, as he put a shot through traffic that eluded Christian Short while on the power-play.
Scott Patton was forced to make a couple of key saves in the final five minutes of the first period to keep it a 1-0 score through 20 minutes.
The power-play would continue to be hot in the second period, as both Brayden Gelsinger and Kristian Blumenschein scored 59 seconds apart on separate man-advantages.
The intermission speech turned into an adventure from Rylan Ferster, as Mac Ferner said he let slip that "the Vees lost" which would have ended West Kelowna's season. He quickly corrected himself as he referred to Jack Ramsey's Game Winning Goal in overtime against the Silverbacks.
A fourth goal by the Warriors was Gelsinger's second of the night, again with the extra skater as the power-play finished four-for-four.
The Eagles had a solid few minutes about five minutes into the third period as they scored twice when Andy Chugg got a power-play goal, and Cole Plotnikoff scored against his former team.
Jason Cotton restored the three-goal lead at 14:55 and Campbell got his second into an empty net with 3:49 left to go.
The Warriors will now turn their attention to their third straight playoff appearance under Ferster.
The series begins on Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 in Penticton, while games three and four will be Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 at Royal Lepage Place. Tickets will be on sale Monday, March 2 at the Warriors office.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015