The BCHL champion West Kelowna Warriors locked up the second seed in the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup (WCC) playoffs with a 4-1 win over the SJHL champion Melfort Mustangs at Affinity Place last Thursday afternoon.
It took over five minutes for the Warriors (3-1) to generate their first shot on net, but once they did the club took over the play. Warriors forward Brett Mennear scored his fourth goal of the WCC round robin 12:07 into the first period when he picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated in along a diagonal line and fired a shot top corner glove side from the bottom of the faceoff circle.
The Warriors’ Jonathan Desbiens put West Kelowna up by two a little over two minutes later on a shot top corner blocker side from the hash marks off a won faceoff in the offensive zone. Kylar Hope notched the Warriors’ third goal with 47 seconds left in the frame on a break down the middle where he deposited the puck low stick side on a backhand deke.
“I don’t know if (the third goal) was a backbreaker,” said Ryan Ferster, head coach and general manager of the Warriors. It’s “a short-term competition.You want to get out to a good start and when they’re one-game showdowns almost, the quicker the start the better.”
The Warriors started the second period the way they finished the first by peppering Mustangs netminder Evan Plotnik with shots. Hope had the best chance four minutes in on a breakaway only to be stoned on a sprawling pad save, but Bryan Basilico did manage to light the lamp at the 14:13 mark on a deflection into the low corner off a Tyler Anderson pass from the side wall.
“He’s played hard for us and played well for us through playoff times and regular season and we felt he deserved an opportunity to play,” said Trevor Blevins, head coach and general manager of the Mustangs (1-3), about starting Plotnik in place of regular goaltender Richard Palmer. “He’s an excellent goaltender and a big part of our future. I thought he competed hard today.”
Mustangs left wing Travis Mayan ruined Warriors goalie Keelan Williams shutout attempt 8:16 into the third period when he popped in a rebound from the slot off a Tristan Frei shot from the bottom of the circle, but that was as close as they would get. In the four WCC round-robin games, the Canalta Cup champion Mustangs only found the back of the net four times with Mayan, Frei and linemate Justin Boyer accounting for 11 of the 12 points the team accumulated.
“I’m not worrying about the offence,” said Blevins, about their match-up with the MJHL champion Portage Terriers (2-1-1) in the three-versus-four playoff game. “I think we’ve generated enough cycles down low. We’ve had some confidence with the puck in the offensive zone. No doubt we’d like to score more, but we’re not pushing the envelope on that. We’ll be there when we need to. I think more importantly we got to focus on defending well, making sure that we’re in the right positions and doing the right things defensively in all three zones.”
