The West 琉璃神社 Warriors fought hard but fell short in a 5-4 loss to the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday (Nov. 23).

The Capitals jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the midway point of the second period with two goals from Hayden Russell (7) and another from Carter Streek (5). The Warriors responded late in the second, with Tyler Grahme (2) scoring a power-play goal with just one second left in the period. Early in the third, Kelsen Podworny (4) brought the Warriors within one, making it 3-2 at the 2:00 mark.

Cowichan Valley regained momentum as Ben Portner extended their lead to 4-2 just 1:30 later. However, the Warriors fought back. Ian Alonso (2) scored, and Nathan Drapeau (2) added a power-play goal just over three minutes later to tie the game at 4-4 midway through the final period.

The Capitals sealed the win with Gavin Giesbrecht鈥檚 fifth goal of the season, finding the back of the net with under three minutes remaining.

West 琉璃神社 outshot the Capitals 41-28 and went 2-for-5 on the power play. The loss capped a tough Vancouver Island road trip for the Warriors, where they finished 1-2. They lost 3-2 in overtime to Victoria on Friday (Nov. 22) but secured a 4-2 win over Alberni Valley on Wednesday (Nov. 20).

The Warriors currently sit in seventh place in the BCHL Interior East Division with a record of 8-10-4-1 and 21 points.

West 琉璃神社 begins a four-game homestand on Friday (Nov. 29), hosting the Trail Smoke Eaters at Royal LePage Place. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.