After being defeated by the West Kelowna Warriors all season long, the Chase Broncos brought in a big win on home ice Feb. 10 in front of an excited hometown crowd.
With just 3:28 left on the clock in the first period, Alex Sauls-Kenoras got the first goal of the game, with the assist going to Marvin Mathis. The crowd was on their feet cheering.
At 16:52 in the second, Chase brought the score up to 2-0 with a beauty of a shot by Cody Hodges, with an assist from Jonas Rivas. The Warriors finally made it on the board at 9:19, and a battle began between the teams.
The Kelowna boys tied it up just two minutes later, bringing the score to 2-2. Less than a minute later the Broncos pushed into the lead again with Rivas once again setting up the puck up for a great goal from Cole Zimmerman.
The fans watched as the Warriors retaliated, landing another shot with less than five minutes left, bringing the score to 3-3.
Austin Willier potted a goal with just 1:05 remaining, thanks to an assist by Sauls-Kenoras and John Bentley. Then, with just 17.3 seconds left, the crowd went wild as Hodges sank the puck and the period ended.
The Broncos entered the third with a 5-3 lead over the Warriors and a very excited fan base watching from the stands. Sauls-Kenoras got the first goal of the period for Chase, and their last shot of the game at 18:48 with an assist from Michael Sam. Levi Chwartacki continued to guard the net, keeping all but one goal at bay in the third.
The fans erupted as the Broncos earned a 6-4 win.
“We’re playing good hockey right now,” says coach Dan Stevens. “From our defence and forwards, the key is to keep firing on all cylinders and take it one game at a time. We have one goal as a group and that is to be champions in March.”
The Broncos take on the Warriors in West Kelowna Saturday, when they could advance to round three of the playoffs.
