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BCHL  

Warriors comeback

It was about as bad an opening two minutes as the West Kelowna Warriors could have imagined.

But, down 2-0, they slowly took over the game, and skated away with an important 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Merritt Centennials Friday at Royal LePage Place.

Merritt jumped on Warriors mistakes to grab the early lead.

After a giveaway at the blueline, Zach Risteau found himself in all alone, and beat Nik Amendrud with a wrist shot blocker side with just 62 seconds gone. Less than a minute later, Cade Gleekel took an innocent shot as he stepped over the blueline that Amundrud misplayed.

Two goals on two shots spelled the end of his night as Shane Farkas came off the bench. He stopped all 35 shots he would face the rest of the way, including several spectacular stops in the third period when the game was even at 2-2.

"It's tough for any player or any goalie to come in cold, but fortunately or unfortunately they got two quick ones so I was only on the bench for a minute or so," said Farkas.

"My pre-game preparation was a little different, but at the end of the day, you just have to do your job. You owe it to the guys."

The Warriors got back into the game in a second period in which they scored twice, but could have had two or three more.

Logan Mostat got one back for the Warriors seven minutes into the second when he banged home Quin Foreman's rebound. For Mostat, acquired last week in a deal that sent goaltender Keelan Williams to Surrey, it was his first in a Warriors' uniform.

Foreman tied it four minutes later. He took the puck along with left boards, curled into the circle, and fired a shot that beat Colton Lancaster to the far side.

It was his team-leading 17th of the year.

Despite some good chances on both sides, the game would need overtime to decide.

The Centennials peppered five shots on Farkas early in overtime and thought they had scored the winning goal during a scramble in front of the Warriors goaltender.

The officials said no, and off the ensuring faceoff, the Warriors stormed down the ice and, on their only shot of the extra period, Braiden Epp converted a perfect backdoor pass from Foreman for his ninth.

"It was definitely a character comeback for us, especially after that first period, actually the first five or 10 minutes," said assistant coach Shae Naka.

"We played a descent first period, then in the second we were able to tie it up. The third period, we probably hung on a little bit and got it to overtime."

He said Merritt carried the play, but the Warriors were able to make the most of their one opportunity.

It was a big win for a Warriors team trying to climb out of the basement in the tight Interior Division. They moved to within a single point of fifth place Salmon Arm and two back of fourth place Merritt.

Only five points separate second from sixth, and the Warriors hold games in hand on all but the Centennials.

The Warriors and Centennials conclude their weekend series tomorrow night in Merritt.



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