Rorke Applebee stood on his head as he helped lead the West 琉璃神社 Warriors to their eighth win in a row, a 4-3 shootout victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday night.
The Warriors couldn鈥檛 have had a better start to the game as they scored three first-period goals. Eliot Compton scored his second goal of the season on the powerplay at the 4:57 mark of the frame. Next two of the Warriors going to the BCHL top prospects game found the back of the net as Cal Hughes scored his 11th goal of the season while defenceman Landen Hilditch scored his third goal of the campaign later in the frame.
Salmon Arm scored twice in the second period. Nathan Mackie found the back of the net for the fourth time this season while Maddux Martin scored his sixth goal, making it 3-2.
The Silverbacks continued to pepper Applebee with shots on goal and eventually they tied the game when Isaac Lambert scored his 11th goal of the season, with under two minutes to go in the game, to force overtime.
Nothing was solved in the 10-minute extra frame. The game went to a shootout.
In the shootout, Michael Salandra and Isaiah Norlin scored for the Warriors while Applebee stopped the two shots he faced, leading to the 4-3 West 琉璃神社 victory.
Applebee made 45 saves in the game and two in the shootout, leading to his 13th win of the season.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 18-6-2-0, sitting second in the BCHL鈥檚 Interior Conference. While Salmon Arm is one spot back with a 17-7-0-2 record.
This upcoming weekend is the last weekend before Christmas break and its a big one for the Warriors as they play a home-and-home series with the first place Penticton Vees. With two regulation wins, the Warriors will leapfrog the Vees in the standings.
The two teams play Friday night (Dec. 15) at the South Okanagan Events Centre and Saturday, Dec. 16 at Royal LePage Place in West 琉璃神社. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. both games.
Meanwhile, the Silverbacks have an one-game weekend as they are in Cranbrook to take on the Bucks on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
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